Calling the mother's heart

Author Nguyen Quang Thach and a female reader with the book "Footsteps Calling the Mother's Heart" - Photo: TO GIANG

Naming his second book "Footsteps calling the mother's heart", author Nguyen Quang Thach wants to awaken mothers, and therefore fathers, grandfathers and anyone else, to their responsibility for their children's and their own education; at the same time affirming the mother's role in the eyes of Asians: "Happiness and virtue come from the mother".

The book, published by Women's Publishing House in April, has created great attraction since its launch, not only because it arouses the desire to seek knowledge, but also because the pages make the heart flutter with hope.

The story of the "beggar"

People call Nguyen Quang Thach "the book beggar", "the beggar of knowledge" to talk about his tireless steps and unshakable will in bringing books to the countryside, bringing books to classrooms, bringing books to families, both domestically and internationally.

I remember Mother Teresa's saying: "Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love." This is true for Nguyen Quang Thach - the initiator and developer of the "Rural Book" program. I am sure that anyone who has read the book "Footsteps Calling the Mother's Heart" will have the same feeling as me.

This is a diary, an autobiography recording his journey on foot with 249,458 steps in India to realize his dream of bringing books to the countryside of your country. It is a noble and humane desire that few people dare to think of, dare to do.

Why is the book called "Footsteps Calling the Mother's Heart"? Does he want to talk about the role of the mother in every family? Eastern people often have the concept: "Phuc duc tai mau", which means that blessings come from the mother. So he chose the mother as the first agent to act for their children.

If every mother were willing to spend 1 dollar to buy books for her children to read, their lives would change a lot. If mothers were willing to read books, they would open new pages in their children's future lives.

The book consists of 32 stories he encountered on his journey to "literate rural areas" in India in 2024. Reading these stories, I was captivated by their rich imagination and association. Through each simple event on the way, he takes readers back to a past of their childhood or a historical story of their nation.

Stories about the kind and gentle treatment of Indian people towards pets such as dogs, cats, or towards wild animals such as monkeys, turtles, birds... made him wonder and worry about the awareness of Vietnamese people towards the cruel destruction of animals leading to the imbalance of the environmental ecosystem in Vietnam today.

Heart touching

With the simultaneous storytelling style, the pages in The Mother's Steps bring readers many interesting things, expanding children's knowledge: from social knowledge to history, geography, environment and even ways of dealing with people...

Gentle, simple stories will easily "absorb" into children's souls the lessons of being human more than all the teachings of books, more than the daily threats of parents. From there, help children know how to appreciate the past, appreciate the present, so that they can form correct, kind thoughts from a young age.

A Hungarian scholar once said, roughly: "Remember, a nation that does not read books is a nation without hope. And the same goes for a child, a young person." The famous Indian politician Mahatma Gandhi also affirmed: "There is no need to burn books to destroy a culture. Just force people to stop reading."

Thank you Nguyen Quang Thach - a man who devoted himself to the reading culture of the community. His steps on foot were not in vain, his blistered feet left their mark on every road from Hanoi to Saigon and recently to India, touching the hearts of readers, touching the hearts of mothers, touching the hearts of millions of children around the world.

Live as if tomorrow the other eye will be blind

Unlike Footsteps of Hope (2023) - an academic work, Footsteps Calling the Mother's Heart is as intimate as a confession to a child, as passionate as a call to parents, especially the great role in the process of educating a child lies in the mother's heart.

"I live as if tomorrow my remaining eye will be blind," Nguyen Quang Thach wrote. His confession brings tears to our eyes. The journey he chose was not easy, but through each small story such as "Wildflowers by the Roadside", "Vegetarian Dog in Pune", "Cows Get Apologies"... we see a delicate soul, always striving for goodness.

Then the childhood memories with his grandmother, father, and relatives - who loved books - nurtured him into a citizen responsible to society and humanity. And he wanted to spread that to every child.

Young people today have so much to access, but how can we make them "hungry" for knowledge and "thirsty" for reading? The author answers with examples: little LiLy translated three famous works; Nguyen Van Thuong finished 9th grade and became a fire prevention and fighting expert thanks to books. To him, books are "honey" that opens up the world, light that dispels darkness, dispels the "bad breath" of poverty, violence, and apathy.

The steps calling the mother's heart is also a "travel" to cultures, highlighting the beauty of the countryside of Vietnam and India, but also full of sadness of a place where there is a lack of books, many children are "hungry" for knowledge and face injustices due to the different educational foundations in each place and each person.

Closing the book, my heart suddenly felt moved. Who knows, maybe the children and parents who read this book will follow in Nguyen Quang Thach's footsteps, living for noble ideals. The footsteps calling the mother's heart is not only a message to mothers, but a call to every heart: take action and start teaching children to love all life from all species, even with just "1 dollar", so that knowledge can light up the future of children.

Read more Back to Topics

Back to topic

LUONG THI HIEN (TEACHER AT ALBERT EINSTEIN SCHOOL, HA TINH) - HAI HAC PHAN

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/goi-trai-tim-nguoi-me-20250428090930492.htm