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.
1 comment:
Every day we come across simlar situations in a place like bombay and accept it "as their life" and "our life" says dont stare or they'll hound you.
Yet at the end of the day when you actually sit back and think,your heart goes out to them.
Desperation,ego,helplessness,duty,dignity smudged by the pangs of hunger.
This is the perfect picture of the India that lives below the red line.
seeing that kid beg in a school uniform on the 9:15 churchgate fast will never be the same again.
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