I leaped from one thought to another, thinking about stuff ranging from movie, to home, to college, to girls (I would be biased if I didn’t mention this), to office and suddenly I remembered a quote which I had read during lunch which said something like “We haven’t had our food today, please don’t waste”. As I brooded over it, I could recall a lean, old lady with a boy, in almost same feeble state, standing next to her in the pic. The most stimulating thing about that picture was the eyes, of both of them, which urged in such a way that had they been there I would not have hesitated to help them in whatever manner I could. At this point several memories and feelings thumped inside my head and I started wondering about what, who, how, why and several other things of this facade, which I had never given so much of attention, that obviously were stirring me then.
I remembered several instances of bumping into so many such people who pleaded for help and tried to recollect all the occasions when I had helped and when I had acted like a selfish bugger. I tried to portray all such people, who begged for food, who were physically challenged, who cleaned train coaches or toilets or roads, who collected garbage from various streets or dump areas, who didn’t have shelter and above all who struggled daily to survive. I felt ashamed of myself and filled with remorse for my self-centered conduct. I started to think about the reason that led to such circumstances and the reason that came to my mind that moment was ‘Lost Benevolence’.
But then it would be very erroneous if one sees just one side of the coin and come to a decision. Even the most basic rule in science says “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction”. Or if said in a different style regarding this context it would be ‘For every reaction there must have been some action’. So, what could be the possible reasons that led to such adversity? On some analysis one can easily come up with some very basic but strong reasons, for such state of affairs, which may vary from one person to another.
But the most significant reasons that have come into picture lately are
• There are some who make begging a profession and are collecting money fraudulently.
• Other beggars have drug-abuse related problems and the money they get from well-meaning citizens very often goes to buy drugs.
And one can simply say these as the central reasons that has resulted largely in the distrust or rather the ‘Loss of Kindness (lost benevolence)’ from the hearts of people, which in turn has resulted into the situation.
Today if one sees some one needy or poor; especially a beggar approaching, the first doubt one get is about their authenticity. Instantaneously the logical part, the brain, stimulates one or more chain of reactions that leads one to scrutinize the person as if he were a terrorist whose pic was shown in the national news. A series of analysis followed by general discussions, inside it, as if it were a parliament and one part has to oppose the other no matter what the point is, about the possibility of the person, pleading for help, genuine or fake. Is he really needy or is just faking? He seems fit, why can’t he work? And so many and yet so (un)important queries ramp up and by the time it reaches a conclusion the person, may be a fake or legitimate, had already disappeared. Some people won’t even care, especially the wealthier ones or rather should I say the so called ‘sophisticated socialized’ people who would rather love to care about the things most unworthy that such circumstances seem trivial to them. And once the person is gone who gives a damn where did he go or what would happen to him. Some people may be so shameless as to even say “Chalo aacha hai, gaya saala!!”
Some people may say that it isn’t wrong at all, with reason like these people deserve such terrible a fate or nothing can be done for them or they are fine-tuned to it. For the sake of argument let’s say that it may not be wrong to some extent but it’s definitely not the right way.
That moment the questions that surrounded me were ‘What happened to the kindness, the generosity, the sympathy, the benevolence and on the whole to the humanity that once blessed us?’ ‘What if the people whom we saw disgustedly were genuine in their plea for help?’ ‘What difference would it make if we showed some compassion and helped those people?’ ‘How much will we lose if we gave some alms to those?’ ‘How will we face our architect if we could not carry out his teachings?’
I tried to trace the details, but I sensed someone gazing at me steadily. As I turned backside I was alarmed to see my superior, whose look and gesture were definitely not benevolent. In a fix I centered myself towards the computer screen and haphazardly started on the work. While he left I could still feel the swirl that was in me. As I went on with my work, I was sure of one thing that Definitely ‘benevolence’ wouldn’t solve the problem, but it would surely, I believe, assist them and us, of course, till the time we find a way out, a key, an answer above all a manner to resolve such issues completely.
If you are still with me, I would request you all not to lose the benevolence inside you. Just believe in one thing “Together We can and we will make a difference”.
With this, signing off for now. This is your friend always.
MV :)
