Source: Saldef
SOUTHINGTON - While the words are familiar to people all over the world, they had a different ring this year when they were delivered as part of a four-minute address by 6-year-old Jaskaran Singh at the Aqua Turf Club on Jan. 14.
"He was really amazing," said Town Councilor Victoria Triano, one of more than 100 people who attended the pre-Martin Luther King Day ceremony sponsored by the First Baptist Church. She was so moved she invited Jaskaran to repeat his address at the next Town Council meeting on Feb. 12.
This week, standing in his spacious, comfortable living room on February Drive, Jaskaran - a Flanders School first-grader - repeated his address for the Record-Journal as his proud parents - Bhupinder and Navneet Singh - looked on.
While the words were written by his mother - a physician's assistant at an East Hartford medical center - Jaskaran made them his own. His bright brown eyes were alive; his hands punctuated key passages with chops and waves and his voice, small in normal conversation, was filled with passion.
"My name is Jaskaran Singh. I am six years old. Today I will be speaking about Dr. Martin Luther King," he said. And then he took off.