Chapter 2

Adam headed for the Ganges River in Varanasi. The river was filthy but was considered to be sacred. When he arrived in India, he fainted in the airport from a high fever. His fever abated by the time his group reached the Ganges. On the way, he couldn’t believe the evidence of poverty that was everywhere. The little children begging for money haunted him. He asked one of the little boys what he wanted more than anything. The little boy said he wanted a pencil. Adam handed him a pencil from his backpack. The boy’s face lit up like he was given a prize toy. For the boy, the pencil wasn’t just a pencil it was the promise of the future. Adam decided that he would give out pens and pencils to all the children he encountered.Adam’s group arrived in Varanasi during Shivratri, a festival honoring the Hindu deity Shiva, “the Transformer.” The people burned cadavers in a ritual to gain access to nirvana in the afterlife. The dead of some were floated down the Ganges. As he walked back to the village, he was surrounded by little boys begging for money. Instead, he handed out pencils to them. The change he in saw in them was immediate.