it's Alfaa

I was in 9th grade back then.

Age 15. Hot-headed. Fire in my eyes.

Looked calm on the outside, a dynamite inside.

I used to write all my big dreams on paper — but ended up sitting at the corner tea stall every evening.

Yes, I used to make tea after school.

Some called me “the tea boy.”

Some warned others, “Don’t hang out with him, you’ll become like him — a lost case.”

One day, a well-dressed man came in.

Stepped out of a fancy car, sat down, had a cup of tea.

Then he asked,

"Do you go to school?"

I nodded and replied,

"Yes. And this tea stall is my school too. Here I observe people, listen to stories, learn how to calculate."

He looked surprised and asked,

"What do you want to become?"

I smiled and said,

"Not like everyone else. I want to become something of my own."

He left — but left a sentence behind:

"Never lose yourself. One day, write your own story."

That was the beginning.

I kept a small notebook beside the tea pot.

I started writing the stories I saw in people’s faces.

Salesmen. Broken lovers. Trans women. Bankers.

All kinds of people would become characters in my diary.

But there was one thing they all said:

"Life is hard, brother."

I used to think — okay, life is hard, I get it.

But does that mean it can crush my dreams?

Today, I’m in university.

Not a fancy one — but I got here honestly.

The tea stall is still there. But now, it’s mine.

People still come, share their stories.

And I write.

Now I post under the title: 'A Cup of Tea, A Life.'

Every day, one tea, one story.

---

Your Lesson

The work may be small, but if your heart is big —

even a cup of tea can brew an epic.

People will say “Can you even do it?”

Just smile and say, “Have a cup of tea — watch me.”

---

Now A Question For You

Where is that one tea stall of your life —

from where you want to rise again, after losing it all?

---

Share your story in the comments.

He often said I have seen this before

His friends used to laugh and say here you go again with your déjà vu

One day a new English teacher came to school

The teacher said today we will have a quiz

Mehedi said I have seen this teacher this quiz and even the questions before

His friends laughed but what happened next surprised everyone

Mehedi answered all the quiz questions before they were asked

He said the next question will be the synonym of the word beautiful

And it really was

The teacher looked at him and said maybe you cannot see the future

But your mind understands everything very clearly

Your past experience and attention have already recognized this moment

This feeling is called déjà vu

Sometimes it is real and sometimes it is just imagination

Mehedi understood that he observes everything very carefully

That is why things feel familiar in the future

He no longer says I have seen this before

He now says I remember because I observe well

---

Moral

If you observe with attention you will never forget

Once upon a time, in a quiet village, lived a farmer who owned an old donkey. The donkey had grown weak and tired with age. No longer strong enough to carry loads like before, but still had a spirited heart.

One day, while grazing in a field, the donkey accidentally fell into a dry, abandoned well.

It cried out in fear and despair, braying loudly for help.

Hearing the noise, the farmer ran to the well and peered inside. He saw his old donkey trapped. After a while, he thought to himself:

“This donkey is too old. It's not worth the effort to pull him out. The well is dry anyway—we don’t use it anymore. Maybe I’ll just bury the donkey and the well at once.”

The decision was made. He called villagers to help fill the well with soil.

They began shoveling dirt down into the hole.

At first, the donkey panicked. Dirt rained down on him, and he realized what was happening. “They’re going to bury me alive,” he thought. He screamed louder.

Then, something shifted in his mind.

With each shovelful of dirt that landed on his back, he shook it off and stepped up on it.

Every time someone threw dirt, he didn’t let it bury him—he made it his platform.

Gradually, the well began to fill up, and the donkey rose higher and higher.

After an hour, to everyone’s shock, the donkey’s ears appeared at the mouth of the well—then his head—then his whole body.

Finally, he gave one final leap and climbed out—dusty but triumphant. He shook the dirt off and trotted away, head held high.

---

Moral of the Story

Life will throw dirt at you.

People will doubt you, discard you, and sometimes try to bury you when you’re at your weakest.

But your job is to shake off the dirt, use it as a step, and rise.

Criticism, failure, pain—those can be your ladder if you stay smart and patient.

If you learn to respond like the donkey—with strategy, not surrender—no pit in the world can trap you.

Around him were shelves stacked with aging books, their pages powdered in time’s dust. No one visited anymore. Still, every day, he opened the shop, sat quietly, and waited for a letter—a letter that hadn’t arrived in over 20 years.

A blue envelope. The sender: Rahat Hossain—his student, his reflection, his son in spirit. A boy who once stood before him and said:

“Sir, I will walk the streets, I will write against injustice, I will fight with words.”

And then one day, Rahat disappeared. No one knew where he went, or why. No charges filed. No protests made. With time, the world forgot him. But Abu Taher did not.

He remembered Rahat’s last words:

“Sir, if I disappear, open the first drawer on the right side of your desk. That’s where my truth sleeps.”

For decades, he had not dared open it. Perhaps he lacked the courage, or perhaps he was waiting—for Rahat to return and open it himself.

But today was different. The doctor had told him in the morning—his time was running short. Maybe a month.

The afternoon was cloaked in mist. The wind whispered softly. With trembling hands, he unlocked the drawer.

Inside was a letter. Blue envelope.

"Sir, if you're reading this, it means I couldn't come back. But know this—though my voice may have stopped, my pen has not. You are the one who carries the light through darkness. You will not be lost.”

Below were names—his fellow fighters. And an address—deep in a slum.

The next day, Abu Taher walked slowly to the address. A small mud-walled room. Inside, seven or eight children were reading. A young teacher smiled and said:

“This school is in Rahat bhai’s name. He dreamed of children learning, thinking freely. We’re continuing that dream.”

গ্রামবাসীরা এ খবর শুনে আনন্দে ভাসছিল, সবাই ছুটে গেল সেই গাছের নিচে। প্রথমে এক বৃদ্ধ মহিলা গাছের নিচে দাঁড়িয়ে চোখ বন্ধ করে প্রার্থনা করতে শুরু করলেন, “আমার ছেলে বিদেশে চাকরি পেয়ে যাক, আমার প্রতিবেশীটার ঘর নতুন করে সেজে যাক, আর আমার কুকুরটা যেন আরও ভালোভাবে ডিম পাতে।”

এমন সব অদ্ভুত প্রার্থনা শুনে আশেপাশের সবাই একটু হাসল, কিন্তু তারা বিশ্বাস করছিল যে এই গাছের শক্তি অসীম। এরপর এক যুবক দাঁড়িয়ে বললেন, “আমি চাই, আমি যেন একটা নতুন গাড়ি পাই, আর আমার ব্যবসা এত ভালো চলে যে, আমাকে আর কখনো চিন্তা করতে না হয়।”

এভাবে, একে একে সবাই প্রার্থনা করতে থাকল, সবাই জানত যে এই গাছের ক্ষমতা কোনও সাধারণ গাছের চেয়ে অনেক বেশি। কিন্তু কিছুক্ষণ পর, গাছের নিচে একটি সজোরে বৃষ্টি শুরু হয়ে গেল। সবাই ভিজে গেল, এবং একে অপরকে হেসে বলতে লাগল, “এটা কি গাছের আশীর্বাদ না আকাশের রাগ?”

হঠাৎ, গাছের এক বৃদ্ধ মালিক আসলেন। তিনি হাসতে হাসতে বললেন, "দেখো, তোমরা সবাই এখানে দাঁড়িয়ে যে প্রার্থনাই করো, সেটা আরেকটা ব্যাপার, কিন্তু সত্যি কথা বলতে কি, গাছের শিকড় এত গहरे যে আমি যখন ছোট ছিলাম, তখন থেকেই ওই গাছ প্রতিদিন সকালে এক কাপ চা পান করতে চায়।"

গ্রামবাসীরা অবাক হয়ে তাকে চাইল, “এক কাপ চা?”

"হ্যাঁ, চা! যদি প্রতিদিন এক কাপ চা না দাও, গাছের গাছপালা শুকিয়ে যায়।"

এটা শুনে সবাই হেসে ফেলল এবং বুঝতে পারল, কখনও কখনও শুধু বিশ্বাস এবং ভালবাসা দিয়েই সবকিছু সম্ভব হয় না — মাঝে মাঝে প্রয়োজন একটু হাসি, একটু চা, এবং আরও বেশি আনন্দ! 😄