The Dyslexic Child

Dyslexia nowadays is a problem affecting people whether they be children or adults. Out of all the ailments, dyslexia which hampers the ability to read and write is a unique and one of the most complex of diseases. This little story talks about a similar child affected with dyslexia since his early years...

He was born in Umberkot which is situated in Sind, that is, modern Pakistan. During his time, neither was Lord Louis Mountbatten or Radcliffe born nor was the ‘divide and rule’ policy of the unwelcomed Britishers an idea to fragment a united people. Thus, we could most conveniently say that this chap was born in India. But no doubt this child had a difficult childhood. His father couldn't provide his son and wife with proper shelter and thus, he was born far away from his actual paternal home in north India in a distant fortress. This may bring ideas about how wealthy or well-known this child’s family was because it's not that we see people being born in castles and fortresses every day. Our protagonist spent his initial days in Kabul with his paternal uncles who practically were the ones who raised him. As he started growing up he developed interests in hunting, horse riding, playing sword and running, thus again proving our hunches right that this child was most certainly blue-blooded.

If becoming a warrior was a serious profession, then our beloved protagonist would have definitely made a mark. The one arena that he was severely weak in was studies. He saw other people of his age engrossed in ancient texts dealing with religion, philosophy, moral science and what not, but on the other hand, when he tried to delve into these books he faced severe betrayal from that little part of his body inside the skull. Whenever he tried to sit down and read something the words automatically started ‘moving here and there’. Sometimes it would take hours just to read a simple syllable, and after that in, sheer frustration, he would throw all his books haywire before storming out of his study room. Thus as days passed by the only thing that happened was the accumulation of dust in our protagonist’s study room and the loss of hope that he would one day be able to read and write like normal people. In those days trying to make people understand what dyslexia actually is would be more difficult than breaking a pile of bricks with one’s bare hand, thus everybody starting from our protagonist’s mother to his envious Kabuli cousins misunderstood him. Insults like ‘uneducated’ , ‘dumb’, ‘worthless’ had become a daily affair for our dyslexic protagonist. That is when he promised to himself that he would do such great things in life that nobody would dare try to question this inability of his, and most surprisingly this promise of his wasn’t just left out as a childhood fantasy. If this was truly our protagonist’s dream then, like all good and predictable stories, he was able to achieve it.

What did he do you ask?
I wouldn’t blabber about his achievements and bore you further. I would just mention our protagonist’s name and I most sincerely hope that you would understand everything right away.

Our protagonist in this story is called Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar or simply, Akbar the Great.