The Fire Within Ashes and Beginnings

The Fire Within

Part 1 – Ashes and Beginnings

Under the shadow of deserted mountains and soiled streets, Mehran was a peaceful town. Azaan, the 17-year-old son of a tailor, the brother of two sisters, and the unbelieved dreamer, lived in a modest brick home on the outskirts of this dying town

Every morning, Azaan walked six kilometers to attend the only government college in town. His shoes were torn, and so was his confidence not because he wasn’t brilliant, but because the world never let him believe he was. Teachers said, “You’re wasting your time here.” Friends mocked, “Tu IAS banega?”

But Azaan never replied. He just smiled the kind of smile people thought meant surrender. It wasn’t. It was silence soaked in fire.

One night, his father returned home drunk again. This time he broke the only lantern they had. No light. No electricity. But Azaan had a test the next day. So, he walked outside with his books and studied under the streetlamp, scribbling formulas with borrowed pens, memorizing definitions while shivering in the cold.

A shopkeeper nearby noticed and laughed, “Doctor banega yeh?”

Azaan didn’t look up. He just whispered to himself:

“Jinhe andhere se dar lagta hai, unke naseeb mein ujala kahan hota hai.”

That was the night everything changed.

Not the world.

But Azaan himself.

At 4 a.m., he begin awakening up.

While his friends slept, he studied.

He helped his sisters with homework.

He stitched clothes after school.

He saved every rupee to buy used books.

The fire within him was no longer silent.

End of Part 1

Next Part: “The Test” when failure hits first, and choices matter most.