The impact of Esperanza Rising

This post is about a book that influenced me rather early in my childhood, earlier than most people are influenced by books, anyway. I read it when I was nine years old, and the book made such a deep impact on me that even today, when asked what my favourite books are, I never forget to include Esperanza Rising, written by Pam Munoz Ryan, on that list.

Though I can hardly recollect the smaller details of the book, I do remember what it was in the book that made me remember it forever. It's a story of a young girl who's the daughter of the owner of a large farm in Mexico. Esperanza grew up amongst riches, with all that she'd ever need at her disposal. 

Whether you'd call it bad luck or just chance, one day her father is killed by some enemies. One by one, everything that her family ever had to be thankful for, vanished. In circumstances that deteriorated to no better solution, they pack away their bare essentials and plan for a midnight escape. While loading things into the car, Esperanza notices some packages which aren't familiar. She asks what they are, and her mother replies that they are charity. 

“Is it really necessary to be concerned about charity right now?” Esperanza asks her mother.

And this is the part of the book that gives you a chill down the spine. The line that had such an impact on me that I still can't forget it, twelve years later- Her mother replies, “Esperanza. Those are for us.” 

The rest of the book is an account of the grave conditions that Esperanza has to face, and how she manages to cope with them. Not all the people she encounters are as sweet or considerate as she expects from them. She is embarrassingly reminded time and again that her old life is no more, and must learn not to depend on her servants to help her through the day. In fact, she's reduced no more than a servant  herself. “Esperanza” means hope in Spanish, and that's the one thing that she never lets go of. 

This book shakes the very basis of your existence, and makes you realise how lucky you are to have everything that you do. In just a second, by some crazy twist in fate, you could lose everything; and every living second that you still have everything is another second to be thankful for. It humbles you to know that everything in your life isn't your own. But it also reminds you, that just as soon as you could lose everything and end up with nothing, you could also get back everything from nothing. What's most important in life is to keep faith in whatever you believe will put you out of struggle- karma, God, the universe, whatever it is- and keep working your way out of your mess. But never, ever give up!

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.