Early morning on 28th July after trying a few 'remedies' on my dead cell phone I came to the conclusion that my cell phone was beyond repair. Yet in an attempt to salvage it I trudged over in the rain to a nearby Nokia care at 9am. It is situated on the 2nd floor of the building which has darkened staircases with no real ventilation and exposure to sunlight and high step rise. After climbing over 2 floors I was in front of the Nokia Care to read the sign - timings 10am to 7pm. Darn I thought, an hour early. While I imagined what I would be doing for an hour with a dead cellphone in hand an incident occurred which made my 1 hour early arrival meaningful after all!
There was this sign on the adjacent wall with a cartoon face of a man spitting and alongside a message "Don't spit here". Right on the message and around it were deep red sprays of tobacco and pan masala. I stood staring at the spot for a few minutes exasperated and wondering how people are emotionally and socially blind. No wonder I thought that we are in a deep mess with the kind of attitude displayed here. If any one of you believe that only the uneducated class is responsible for this I will like to tell you that the other day I noticed a blazer clad, 'English' speaking professional spitting out of the window of a Mercedes. Well, coming back to it, as a number of curses started making their presence felt inside me a short, weedy and vest worn 12 year old boy with torn khaki shorts arrived on the scene carrying a bucket half filled with water. He had slung a towel over his shoulders and carried a scrubber of sorts in his hands and a determined look on his face. He placed the bucket on the floor, splashed some water over the spray and started scrubbing it. He had almost cleaned it off when a nearby business firm's security guard whisked him away. Confused by this action, I went up to the guard and asked him why did he turn him away as he was doing his job. The guard replied, "He was doing no job. He is not hired to clean the place. He just lives somewhere nearby and comes once in a while to 'clean' the place on his own. No money is paid to him for the same." I was intrigued by it and counter argued that if he is doing it even without being paid for it it is a really good act and it is highly uncalled for to turn him away. The guard shot a 'Why the hell do you care' look at me and replied curtly, "I have been told to."
I realized that I won't get anything out of this fellow so I went down the stairs to find the boy and there he was cleaning another area of stray spit!
I was amazed by the simple act of this small kid. I went upto him and spoke at length over the entire episode and his actions. He explained that the guards are asked to treat him so as he is dirty and lives in the slums and thus does not present a good image outside the offices. He can't afford much but he said that once a week he comes here and scrubs off the spit from the place. I questioned him as to why he does it when he does not live here neither is he payed for it to which he replied, "My father had said that even if we are not doing well, the country must do well. We can't do much but whatever we can we must. I consider this my small contribution to the country." I was stunned to hear these words from the mouth of a 12 year old, slum dweller who couldn't even make two ends meet. It is really hard to imagine where he got this wisdom or rather how can a family which can barely feed itself think on such a larger plane of thought.
I expressed my desire to meet his father to know more about how come he came to think so and he replied sadly that his father is no more. I expressed my condolences and decided it was best to leave it there. I appreciated him over his actions and told him I am going to write about him and his love for the country so that people will know about his deeds. He was excited by it and I let him be so deciding against telling him that it will not be a big platform as such!
The simple incidence kept my mind ticking for a long time after it and inspite of my loss regarding my cell phone being confirmed by the Nokia care this thought continued to occupy a greater part of my thinking time. Isn't this simple? He might not be making headways and great impact but he was doing the little he could to make this a better place to be and live in. It is not important how much some one contributes if he does. It is about doing whatever we can so that we can see a better place, a better life and a better nation.
If such boys can show the spirit of national pride, why can't we? Is blaming the government the only contribution we make? It is a humbling fact that this boy besting so many of us with the simplicity of the idea of national growth. In a way, he is cleaning the gutter! What made this boy? What resolve does he bear? Should we not ask ourselves what the hell are we doing in this much better life if we are being humbled by a person who is socially and economically classified below the poverty line? With the limited means he is contributing a hell lot I will say. Why can't we contribute whatever we can with the much better options and choices available to us?
This incident is asking questions, my friends. It is asking deep questions over the psychology of our minds. How long are we going to hide behind the mask of "I can't do anything. I am helpless." Damn it! Helplessness is a temporary obstacle which can be worked around if there is a desire for the same. This boy has made a mockery of the so called 'helplessness'. I admire the spirit and grit displayed by him. "What can I do to make Bhaarat better?" is a question we must be asking ourselves and working towards implementing the answer. The first step is to chuck the word 'cant' from the self, right?
Goodbye to the month of August and in a hope that we march towards an august Bhaarat.....
Jai Hind!
There was this sign on the adjacent wall with a cartoon face of a man spitting and alongside a message "Don't spit here". Right on the message and around it were deep red sprays of tobacco and pan masala. I stood staring at the spot for a few minutes exasperated and wondering how people are emotionally and socially blind. No wonder I thought that we are in a deep mess with the kind of attitude displayed here. If any one of you believe that only the uneducated class is responsible for this I will like to tell you that the other day I noticed a blazer clad, 'English' speaking professional spitting out of the window of a Mercedes. Well, coming back to it, as a number of curses started making their presence felt inside me a short, weedy and vest worn 12 year old boy with torn khaki shorts arrived on the scene carrying a bucket half filled with water. He had slung a towel over his shoulders and carried a scrubber of sorts in his hands and a determined look on his face. He placed the bucket on the floor, splashed some water over the spray and started scrubbing it. He had almost cleaned it off when a nearby business firm's security guard whisked him away. Confused by this action, I went up to the guard and asked him why did he turn him away as he was doing his job. The guard replied, "He was doing no job. He is not hired to clean the place. He just lives somewhere nearby and comes once in a while to 'clean' the place on his own. No money is paid to him for the same." I was intrigued by it and counter argued that if he is doing it even without being paid for it it is a really good act and it is highly uncalled for to turn him away. The guard shot a 'Why the hell do you care' look at me and replied curtly, "I have been told to."
I realized that I won't get anything out of this fellow so I went down the stairs to find the boy and there he was cleaning another area of stray spit!
I was amazed by the simple act of this small kid. I went upto him and spoke at length over the entire episode and his actions. He explained that the guards are asked to treat him so as he is dirty and lives in the slums and thus does not present a good image outside the offices. He can't afford much but he said that once a week he comes here and scrubs off the spit from the place. I questioned him as to why he does it when he does not live here neither is he payed for it to which he replied, "My father had said that even if we are not doing well, the country must do well. We can't do much but whatever we can we must. I consider this my small contribution to the country." I was stunned to hear these words from the mouth of a 12 year old, slum dweller who couldn't even make two ends meet. It is really hard to imagine where he got this wisdom or rather how can a family which can barely feed itself think on such a larger plane of thought.
I expressed my desire to meet his father to know more about how come he came to think so and he replied sadly that his father is no more. I expressed my condolences and decided it was best to leave it there. I appreciated him over his actions and told him I am going to write about him and his love for the country so that people will know about his deeds. He was excited by it and I let him be so deciding against telling him that it will not be a big platform as such!
The simple incidence kept my mind ticking for a long time after it and inspite of my loss regarding my cell phone being confirmed by the Nokia care this thought continued to occupy a greater part of my thinking time. Isn't this simple? He might not be making headways and great impact but he was doing the little he could to make this a better place to be and live in. It is not important how much some one contributes if he does. It is about doing whatever we can so that we can see a better place, a better life and a better nation.
If such boys can show the spirit of national pride, why can't we? Is blaming the government the only contribution we make? It is a humbling fact that this boy besting so many of us with the simplicity of the idea of national growth. In a way, he is cleaning the gutter! What made this boy? What resolve does he bear? Should we not ask ourselves what the hell are we doing in this much better life if we are being humbled by a person who is socially and economically classified below the poverty line? With the limited means he is contributing a hell lot I will say. Why can't we contribute whatever we can with the much better options and choices available to us?
This incident is asking questions, my friends. It is asking deep questions over the psychology of our minds. How long are we going to hide behind the mask of "I can't do anything. I am helpless." Damn it! Helplessness is a temporary obstacle which can be worked around if there is a desire for the same. This boy has made a mockery of the so called 'helplessness'. I admire the spirit and grit displayed by him. "What can I do to make Bhaarat better?" is a question we must be asking ourselves and working towards implementing the answer. The first step is to chuck the word 'cant' from the self, right?
Goodbye to the month of August and in a hope that we march towards an august Bhaarat.....
Jai Hind!
3 comments:
Salute to this young patriot. It also prooves that slum or highrise building Good Sanskars can take place anywhere.
SRY TO GUYS....BUT I AM ASHAMED.....APART FROM THINKING,TALKING AND DISCUSSING...I HAVEN'T REALLY CONTRIBUTED TO WELFARE OF MY COUNTRY....ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS.....AND THATS WHAT IM SENSING AT THE MOMENT....THIS BOY AND HIS ACTIONS...ARE WORTH RECORDING...ARE WORTH OF BEING SEEN BY THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE LIKE ME AND YOU....THIS IS NOT A INSPIRATION....THIS IS "THE" INSPIRATION.....
amazing story ! ....and yet we say dat only rowdy people come out of slums... if every 1 thought like dis ...today india wud hav been a b8r place to live in!
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