Noor came home very enthusiastic today. Without much delay, everyone in the house came to know the reason for it as she started screaming about the announcement of an inter-school speech competition. The competition was to be held after two weeks and the topic was related to environmental conservation. Noor was happy as she saw it as another opportunity to add another achievement to her list of academic successes. She was a brilliant student and she had proved herself to be the best amongst her peers on many occasions. This was the reason that she was selected as the school representative for this competition.

From that day onwards, Noor allocated all her spare time and energy to prepare for the competition. She spent hours doing research on internet and reading books to prepare solid material for her speech. Then came the writing of her speech, which took several attempts until she was satisfied. Even after that, she went to couple of her teachers for their feedback and incorporated whatever improvements she could from their comments. Then came the part which became a headache for her family as she wanted them to act as audience whenever she rehearsed for the speech. But being silent listener was enough, she asked them for their opinion on how to improve herself. She wanted her speech to be the best from all aspects.

Eventually, the day of the competition came. Noor was confident yet nervous. But she was used to these feelings, she knew that they keep her focused and let the best come out of her when it really matters. A few speakers came before her and she felt even more hopeful after listening to them, as she knew that she could surpass them when her time comes. Eventually, her name was called and she walked to the podium and everything after that fell into place. It went as she expected it to be, and the extended applaud from the audience was an evidence that she has given an excellent speech.

There was just one participant left but Noor was not worried about her, she already started picturing herself with the trophy. But as the last participant came on to the stage, what caught her attention was that she was accompanied by one of the organizers who led her to the podium. When she started speaking, it totally took Noor's breath away. She was confident, her voice was clear and smooth but most importantly, her speech highlighted a different angle of environmental preservation. She talked vastly about the beauty of natural objects and how we would lose all of it if we didn't take care. She touched the emotional and aesthetic part of the subject while all the other speakers were looking at it from a scientific perspective. She described the colorful mastery that we have to preserve rather than the concentration of carbon and increase in health cases. 

For the first time since the announcement of the competition, Noor felt doubtful about her success. Her doubts were strenthened by the reactions from the audience and the judges. After the speech, the participant was accompanied back to her seat. Why she was given company to come and go to her seat, that was not even the least of concerns for Noor. Now there was a dreadful waiting time as the judges discussed their ratings and made their decision. Noor was still hopeful about getting the first position but her level of confidence came down after the last speech.

At last, one of the senior judges came on to the stage to announce the results. Noor's worst fears materialized as she heard her name for the second place. Shortly after that, the last participant's name was announced as the winner. Everyone was congratulating Noor on her achievement but she did not feel like celebrating with them. She just wanted to get out of there. As she was looking for her way out, someone tapped on her shoulder to get her attention. It was a girl from the organizing committee and that girl, who took her title away from her, was standing with her. She didn't want to see her but she couldn't disrespect the organizer so she had to stay there.

"She wanted to meet with you", the organizer informed her. She already took the title away from me, what else she wants? Noor thought in her mind. But she extended an unwilling hand with a forced smile to congratulate her. As she did that, the girl did not seem to notice until the organizer said something in her ear after which she too extended her hand awkwardly and it seemed like she was searching for Noor's hand. As their hands meet, she said, "I am sorry, I cannot see. But I heard your speech and thought that it was really marvelous. This is why I wanted to come and meet you."

Noor was shocked on this amazing revelation and she didn't know what to say or how to react. After few seconds, she could only thought of one question to ask her. "But if you cannot see then why did you chose to speak about the colors and beauty of nature?". To this, the girl smiled and said, "This was precisely my reason of selecting this point-of-view. I really wanted to emphasize on the listeners what great blessings they have by just being able to see the beauty of this world. Most of us take it for granted and just keep on complaining about things we don't have". It seemed that, that blind girl saw in to Noor and accurately knew what she was thinking a few seconds ago. She continued, "I had to ask a lot of people about the colors and other beautiful things that nature offers to us. What I kept on hearing was the amazing green fields, trees, grass and leaves. You are blessed to see all these things, tell me how does it feel to look at the green carpet of grass."

Noor's tears couldn't hold back any longer. She said with a heavy voice, "Yes, the green grass looks amazing but it always seems greener on the other side".  With that, she hugged her and decided that from this day onwards, she would constantly cherish and be thankful for all the blessings she got and never to complain or think about things she doesn't have.