His eye burrowed into me. "Is that the work you join us to do? Do you think we are here to play? Get back to your group. We are here to work!" I turned away. But I didn't go back to my group. I scanned the crowd of boys and saw a group listening rattly to an intelligent looking fellow.
They were attentive to his every word. "Ah," I said to myself, "the reason why that boy is popular is because he can read." I hurried to him. He was only about fifteen, but I addressed him with respect as I had been taught. "Sir," I said , "could you please teache me to read?"
He stopped talking but didn't look at me. One of the five boys around him said, "Bala, he is talking to you." Bala snorted and then turned. "You want me to teach you to read?" "Yes, sir." He glanced at the five boys. They had been staring at him, wondering what he would say. "You have come to the right person," Bala said with a chuckle.