You grow up in a protected environment with education being the only thing expected from you and then just at the moment you should be finishing college and entering "life", you escape abroad .. and on top of it you do not believe in even reading newspapers.. and yet you tend to think you know as much about the world as you "need" to know... and then there is that moment which makes you realize how unaware you are about things that you "should" know..
I am visiting Microsoft Research Bangalore for a week, and though I have heard it several times that in our country the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer each day, I guess a week in Bangalore showed me the truth of this much more than I had ever known..
As I landed at the guest house today where I have been put up for the week, I realized I didn't have change to pay the autowalla, and he didn't have change either.. I asked the watchman of the guest house, "Bhaiya, aap ke paas paanch sau ka change hai kya?". He begins to fumble with the coins from his wallet which is all he seemed to have. I realized the mistake I had made. He had mistaken me for having asked him for a change of five rupees. I didn't know what to do and wanted to step back, but somehow, out of momentum clarified that I was asking for a change for rupees five hundred. "Humaare paas kahaan se aayenge, sir", he said. And I guess I haven't felt so ashamed in ages. I said sorry. Twice. And then he said, "sorry". I didn't have anything more to say that could make up.
In a city where you see tonnes of people squandering thousands every day, and the prices of everything adjusted according to these people, a lot of people even with a reasonable honorable job must be struggling for mere survival, leave aside the unemployed.
I don't know what can be done. I don't know if we can do something. But I still want to try to contribute towards changing this. At the moment, I don't know how...
Welcome to desert of the real - Morpheus
ReplyDeleteI believe every individual has a limited sphere of influence. There is a limited area of things/people which you can influence and get influenced by. What we can do is increase this sphere by and by. Till then identify the sphere and what good can you do in your own daily life within your limitations. e.g. pay your taxes or ensure the bonus you pay to your maid etc. go towards their kids education, or better educate them yourselves.
On a lighter note, did he say sir or saar :)
Like your thought pattern Divesh.
ReplyDeleteDonnie is right, there is a limited sphere you can influence. The most important part is to identify a sphere and work on it. Every small contribution counts.
Me likes that you get to visit India again :-)
u were in blr and u din meet me.
ReplyDelete@Donnie
ReplyDeleteYes, you are right.. but perhaps identifying our sphere is what needs to be given more thought..
@Geetanjali
:).. yes, identifying our sphere of influence is the important part
@Arpz
Humein kaise pata chalega ki you would have wanted to meet.. in fact I didn't even know you are in Bangalore..
Well.. Agree.
ReplyDeleteMost important is to not let ourselves sulk in the guilt or blame trap. And begin with every small action we think is a contribution. Good, bad, rich poor, Thing nothing, are just variant colors of life.. And Life/God exists in all of them with a purpose.
wah .. aapka har shabd eeshwar ki vaani hai... kal TV pe (phir se) mahabharat ka geeta-updesh dekh raha tha.. Shri Krishna ki baatein bhi aisi hi sound karti hain ;)
ReplyDeleteha ha ha! Saaley Motu!
ReplyDeleteaisho! anyways, next time you are in namma benglooru, we should meet up. will email you my phone number in a while.
ReplyDeletetotally forgot that i dont have your email id. sheesh
ReplyDeletemera email address.. divesh.aggarwal@gmail.com
ReplyDeletewhen "the desire to do something" has grown up probably one day you will....even a small little contribution matters....we obviously cannot make big changes...there r millions of bpl ppl.we cannot help all..our part of duty is atleast -not to disrespect him/her,appreciate the dignity of labour,greet him if elderly,love if younger....but yes offcourse in addn if one financially helps them too ,that wud be great!
ReplyDeleteAppreciating the dignity of labour is something a lot of us do, but that certainly is not enough.. I am sure there is more that can be done.. perhaps even financial help is not enough either.. we need to try harder to find an answer to this question..
ReplyDeleteLiked the post, the introspection, and great thanks for sharing your these thoughts.
ReplyDeleteAppreciate your sincere thoughts...keep them alive forever!!
ReplyDeleteIf u haven't got the answer of "How?" yet...soon u'll get it.