Just an idea which struck my mind. My writtings and words are tame compared to the no-holds-barred forcefulness of my self-generated vision. Is it a syndrome which every amateur writer suffers from?
I really don't know...
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Helping hand
My company invites NGOs to set up regular stalls at the premises for the display of the handicrafts, posters and other works produced by the poor and children. I really appreciate this gesture on the part of my employer. Its a such a relief that being a company of foriegn roots, they do well to understand the responsibilities towards the society they are a part of. This leads to an idea that somewhere in their heart they know the meaning of helping others, especially the unprivileged.
However there is no denying the fact that there is actually a motive of establishing a corporate image, one which knows its duties towards the society and mankind. This has several wider benefits (not a part of this discussion) for any organisation striving for a firm foothold in the minds of people who matter. Employees, for example, will find a great motivation to serve an organisation which has a social tint in its future goals. After all it gives them a sense of patriotism, social service leading to several other euphoric sentiments which all add up to their work and productivity towards an organisation.
Having understood this, the model just discussed is actually a give and take. I am serving you because in return I will get something. And the relationship is mutually beneficial. Please note that nowhere I have suggested the possiblity of this model siezing to work if the take part is removed. For the sake of hypothesis lets assume that take part is removed and the social services which we discussed before do not lead to any benefit in terms of employee motivation. Can this model sustain itself under the circumstances?
Now I come to real basis of my argument. Yesterday I went to visit a lower class township, better known as a slum but a miniature one. We were looking for a maid for our house and what better place to start than a slum? And again I was not disappointed with the visit. But little I knew that this short visit was going to put a lasting impression on my mind. We asked a lady who was a inside a small window less, underlit hole. She told us to go to the township behind. Then appeared a man next door, who was listening to the conversation. He intervened and said, "You can find "Chhaya" in the town down this road.". We started to go. He stopped us and said, "Wait, I will solve your problem. I will come with you." He went ahead and showed us to a place where we could find a maid. He even called somebody and explained the situation. The lady he introduced us to was more than willing to take up the job. We got busy in negotiating the work, meanwhile he slipped away. I noticed his absence after a long time. I even forgot to thank him. He was not expecting me to give any thing to him. He came out and helped us for no reason at all. It still wonders me...
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Cry of the Gut...
Man is an animal. No, not only socially, not only biologically, not only figuratively but in every essence of the word. I had this knowledge previously but a startling, heart-choking reminder of the same was waiting for me when I was with my wife at Khandala railway station yesterday morning. We were having breakfast in a group of 30 – 40 people, hence food was served in bulk and a lot of leftover was also there.
A family was having its morning meal nearby. The head of the family, a frail, too old for his age guy was with his only son and wife. The meal comprised of stale chapattis and some dry stuff to eat along. The man was constantly pushing his wife and son to go to the group leader nearby and ask for some food. Somehow he didn’t have the courage, or had too strong a self-dignifying sentiment, which didn’t allow him to go and beg for food himself. But his stomach was crying too and he couldn’t tolerate so he kept chiding his wife for not having the guts to go and ask for any left over food. Then his son entered the scene; he had a school bag. His father literally jostled him to go upfront and beg for food. The man almost threw his son into our group and cried out that gut wrenching cry, Jaa…
A family was having its morning meal nearby. The head of the family, a frail, too old for his age guy was with his only son and wife. The meal comprised of stale chapattis and some dry stuff to eat along. The man was constantly pushing his wife and son to go to the group leader nearby and ask for some food. Somehow he didn’t have the courage, or had too strong a self-dignifying sentiment, which didn’t allow him to go and beg for food himself. But his stomach was crying too and he couldn’t tolerate so he kept chiding his wife for not having the guts to go and ask for any left over food. Then his son entered the scene; he had a school bag. His father literally jostled him to go upfront and beg for food. The man almost threw his son into our group and cried out that gut wrenching cry, Jaa…
That one word summarized the plight of all his life, what his life was made of, what that-almost-reduced-to-bone man faced every day.
All the talks of personal endeavors, ambitions looked so meaningless to me in that one moment when the life of a man was simply reduced to managing one meal a day (with only partial success). Do I care about any spiritual fulfillment? Or Do I care about whether I am able to pursue my faith to God Almighty when life has been so cruel by not even offering me enough food to survive, my most basic right.
Anyway, the boy came back empty-handed. His father gave him a very ugly reprimand. The boy revolted menacingly, after all he never wanted to go beg for food in the first place. And as my wife commented later that it was something which he must have been taught in school that one should have esteem to live a self sufficient life and not befall to such a degree that begging is the only option left to survive.
The man’s wife was a mute observer; she wanted the boy not to steam up the situation lest they will have a quarrel in a public place. She urged the boy to keep his mouth shut. She had a moaning look in her eyes.
The man took out a bidi, lit it, took a puff, jumped to the rail tracks and started walking towards his home wherever the hell it was.
Preconceived Notions
We all have them. If we are aware of them in us, we think we can defy them and free our minds of all the subjectivity. But why does every single act of being unmindful of them fails so invariably? Consider this, if I think that my friend has written a piece of work, and I have a notion that has always undermined his capabilities, then my mind will always be able to find faults in his writings. And my mind will always forge out an argument that can belittle his work to some extent. In fact, why do critics have so many opinions? The answers can be found in the fact that they make opinions based on historical data, hence a plenty of room for preconceived notions.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Death Sentence
This is the story of a 12-year-old girl. She has dreams, aspirations, desires just like any one of us. She doesn’t have many friends, a reality which is a so insignificant that she manages to be ignorant about it. She believes in finding happiness within her, she believes in being charmed by everything around her. She believes that life is so beautiful and living every moment with a consciousness that you are enjoying it to the fullest is her biggest gift. But there is a problem. She has a physical ailment. She is HIV Positive and this is the story of a mockery of her dream, of the hate and malice which world has to give her in return of her beautiful smiles. She blesses everything around with her presence but what she gets in return is a curse, which is the price she paid for her only sin, Her Birth.
The police learn that an HIV Positive girl has been identified in the town. Their first reaction is of utter panic and they want to seize the culprit as soon as possible and shun her from the society. She is taken into custody immediately and will face a trail. Meanwhile, Junta also verdicts that this girl is a menace to the society and her curse will result in the downfall of entire nation. She has already caused too much of a disappointment and shame to us. All the press and media are against her too. But they question the government also. They argue: How did it take so much time for police to identify her? She must have passed the disease to several others. Have the police ensured that their trace is absolute? And there are none others except her? Where are her parents by the way? Schools are blamed. The education system is blamed for not imparting right information and right education to the wards.
Finally, the girl is brought in the court to face the common people. People have identified a judge to deliver a final message to the girl in question. She will be sentenced to death nonetheless but it should be a lesson to those others out there who attempt such a crime. This matter will be considered with zero tolerance. The security of the nation cannot be left at the mercy of one little girl who had the gall to bring a curse upon the mankind. The judge asks a jury to give their verdict. Every member of the jury represents one so-called intellectual corner of the society. And the verdict is unanimous. Being cursed by AIDS is a death sentence in itself. Every member of jury declares the verdict and finally judge announces that girl should be shown to the gallows. She is dead already. We will be doing a favor to her by giving her a quick death. That serves two purposes. It saves us from her curse; we will be in darkness and gloom as long as she sees the daylight. Secondly, it saves her from curse that she has brought upon herself. Man is the most magnanimous creature. He has not disappointed our history. He keeps proving to the mankind in every age that his existence is in a perfect harmony with nature.
The police learn that an HIV Positive girl has been identified in the town. Their first reaction is of utter panic and they want to seize the culprit as soon as possible and shun her from the society. She is taken into custody immediately and will face a trail. Meanwhile, Junta also verdicts that this girl is a menace to the society and her curse will result in the downfall of entire nation. She has already caused too much of a disappointment and shame to us. All the press and media are against her too. But they question the government also. They argue: How did it take so much time for police to identify her? She must have passed the disease to several others. Have the police ensured that their trace is absolute? And there are none others except her? Where are her parents by the way? Schools are blamed. The education system is blamed for not imparting right information and right education to the wards.
Finally, the girl is brought in the court to face the common people. People have identified a judge to deliver a final message to the girl in question. She will be sentenced to death nonetheless but it should be a lesson to those others out there who attempt such a crime. This matter will be considered with zero tolerance. The security of the nation cannot be left at the mercy of one little girl who had the gall to bring a curse upon the mankind. The judge asks a jury to give their verdict. Every member of the jury represents one so-called intellectual corner of the society. And the verdict is unanimous. Being cursed by AIDS is a death sentence in itself. Every member of jury declares the verdict and finally judge announces that girl should be shown to the gallows. She is dead already. We will be doing a favor to her by giving her a quick death. That serves two purposes. It saves us from her curse; we will be in darkness and gloom as long as she sees the daylight. Secondly, it saves her from curse that she has brought upon herself. Man is the most magnanimous creature. He has not disappointed our history. He keeps proving to the mankind in every age that his existence is in a perfect harmony with nature.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Confiding into a tree trunk....
Today has been an uneasy day all along. I have made several mistakes in my life but the worst are those for which others had to suffer. And if the sufferer is very close to my heart then it pains even more to think of the cruelty which my beloved had incurred through my misjudgement.
It was raining since morning and urban life which so much depends on public transport was in shambles. It all started when my wife came back home after her work yesterday. She works very far from home. There was no bus on her way back, no taxis either, rickshawvallas are the victims of mood swings and they let the weather take over their choice entirely. Thats just the beginning. She had to go through extreme hardships to getback home after 3 gruelling hours of travel.
My first reaction after seeing here having gone all this was, "Why does she have to go through all this?", "Why can't she find some job which is much closer to our place?". In this fit of anger, I advised her not to join office untill the rains subside, which might mean 2 - 3 months of delay before she can start work. Fair enough?? Not exactly, because since today morning I have had to fight through a lot of internal conflict. "Why am I making the situation even more difficult for her?", "She isn't a kid, all she wants is my cooperation and matured approach towards finding a solution instead of giving excuses for not letting her join work". I almost feel like her enemy at the moment. A silent and heartless trickster who enjoys confining his beloved in the cage only to kill her later after getting bored of her.
Such a shame....such a shame...
It was raining since morning and urban life which so much depends on public transport was in shambles. It all started when my wife came back home after her work yesterday. She works very far from home. There was no bus on her way back, no taxis either, rickshawvallas are the victims of mood swings and they let the weather take over their choice entirely. Thats just the beginning. She had to go through extreme hardships to getback home after 3 gruelling hours of travel.
My first reaction after seeing here having gone all this was, "Why does she have to go through all this?", "Why can't she find some job which is much closer to our place?". In this fit of anger, I advised her not to join office untill the rains subside, which might mean 2 - 3 months of delay before she can start work. Fair enough?? Not exactly, because since today morning I have had to fight through a lot of internal conflict. "Why am I making the situation even more difficult for her?", "She isn't a kid, all she wants is my cooperation and matured approach towards finding a solution instead of giving excuses for not letting her join work". I almost feel like her enemy at the moment. A silent and heartless trickster who enjoys confining his beloved in the cage only to kill her later after getting bored of her.
Such a shame....such a shame...