The unused books now had dust on them. It had almost been a year now, since the school bag was lying in one corner of the house unnoticed.

Inside the bag, the books which were now in a bad state, were having a talk about their owner. They were wondering why the girl who they belonged to, suddenly stopped using them.

The English textbook said to the Math textbook, “Oh, just look at my condition!”. The Math book replied, “She never liked me anyway and now no one ever will as my pages have rotten with time”. “And stupid rats”, added the Geography book.  And to this, sobbing and thinking, no one cared about History but she did.

Math book said, “Although she didn’t score good marks, still she kept me neat and tidy”. The English book chimed in and corrected, “She was actually very intelligent, she just didn’t like you”. The Geography book sighed and reminisced with all emotions, “I still remember the first day she bought me and how enthusiastically she had covered me! Now I’m all ripped and torn”.

Meena, who used to live in the remote areas of Maharashtra, India, was a very bright student. She was the pride of her school and everybody knew she would be the main reason for the development of their village. The textbooks who were already depressed about Meena’s disappearance were discussing as to what had happened.

The rough book, who was quiet until now, finally added, “Do you see this page? Meena, being a mere 13 year old  normal girl, dreamed of a developed place! See these drawings? These houses with electricity, these wells with motors and hospitals and better roads? She had planned her future already!” It was clear that she was a bright girl, who wanted to progress in her life and wanted to change the life of people.

History said approvingly, “Yes, every time she read about Rani Laxmi bai, the Queen, I could see in her eyes a desire to bring a change”. Geography reminisces how she used to smile while reading the names of funny places. “She used to get angry whenever she couldn’t understand some sums of me”, said Math. English continued, “Also what a great writer was she!” The rough book said “Indeed, the one who wrote against child marriages, was forced to marry”.