Never expect an act of kindness in india

Once upon a time there was a boy who was travelling by train. His destination was Palasa, Andhra Pradesh. Just like any other day, the train was crowded. If one will look into the train, the only thing he/she will find is people. One can say that the train is like a big moving village. Each compartment is like neighborhoods. The AC coaches can represent the bungalows of the rich while the general coaches are small over crowded huts. But this story is not about that boy or even about that train. It is about an old woman whose life was witnessed by that boy that particular day. Three old women were waiting for the train at the station. They must be some 50 or 60 years old. All were tribal women. You will be amazed to know that some 23 percent of population in Orissa is tribal.

Let’s move back to the story. So these women were waiting for the train while carrying woods on their heads. They were just looking like small ants carrying big sugar pieces. One can get amused by looking at those women carrying those big bundles of woods. Finally, the train arrived and the movement of people increased in the station. Many were getting into and out of the train. But those three women are still waiting with their woods. After some time the crowd disappeared and the women tried to board into the general coach. At that very moment, something happened which proved that India can never leave its inequality (both social and economic) behind. The people on the train just threw the bundle of wood outside and ask the women to get off the train.

These women belong to a small village which is some 15 km from the station. Every day, they were coming so far from the village, only to collect woods, which they can sell in the market and from that money they will support their families. Most of the days, they are being harassed by the people, which leads them to walk the entire distance. Just imagine a sixty year old woman walking 15 KM, everyday. Impossible, we, the 20 year olds can’t walk such a distance and they are doing it. And don’t forget that big bundle of woods, which the woman carries on her head. It’s not that the people who stopped the women from getting into the train were some powerful rich guys. They were also poor people who travel by general coaches. May be they are getting exploited by some people somewhere. But their conscience never stopped them from harassing those old women. It’s the story of India.

Forget the 9% GDP growth, the 60 odd billionaires, the Indian companies acquiring properties all over the world or the royal weddings and bollywood glamour. The reality is the vast inequality where the people earning $100 a day exploit those who earn $2 a day. Even the $2 a day guy also harass those who are coming below him in the socio-economic hierarchy. You can call it the vicious Pyramid of Indian inequality which poses as the biggest threat to our democratic set-up. One might ask where is the boy who witnessed all? The boy was a silent spectator and remained one for the entire time. Right now he is sharing his experience with all of you. Call him a coward, as he himself believes, what he did that day is an example of cowardliness.

Regards, Tapan

Thank you for throwing that bottle

The last time when you left that empty mineral water bottle in the train, have you ever thought what happened to it? Many of us might have thought that (in their wildest dream, as nobody thinks these things) it just remained there until someone cleaned the train. But the reality is that these plastic bottles are a source of employment for many people. Thousands of kids who live in railway platforms are depended on these plastic bottles. Whenever a train arrives in its destination station, the kids will be waiting for it be vacant. When it will get vacant, the kids will collect all the plastic bottles. May be that bottle is nothing for you, but for thousands of street children its livelihood. It gives them an opportunity to become free from the clutches of criminal activities or begging. After collecting they sell the bottles to the nearest scrap/recycle dealers and get some money.

 Even these scrap dealers don’t give them the right worth. But these unprotected kids are too powerless to demand justice from life. The money they get, can’t even provide them one single square meal in a single day, but it gives them hope to become a honest person rather than stealing or begging. It gives them the courage to choose their own destinies. Many in future might achieve their dreams of become a taxi driver or an auto rickshaw driver instead of becoming a gangster. (Their dreams are different from us. Most of the time we wanna become a millionaire or getting married to Katrina Kaif)

There are so many people who are living luxurious lives but are involved in unlawful activities. Scams are becoming a part of our daily dose of life, whether it is 2G spectrum scam or CWG scam. Now a day’s even the common men are not talking about bribery scandals that are happening in the nearest government offices. If it’s not big, the news channels don’t show it, the print never publish it. After all, the future is all about thinking big. After all “bada hey toh behtar hey” (the big is the better). Or worst in this case. In these scandalous days, these street children are a ray of hope or the shining examples of hard work and honesty. Without those people who threw that plastic bottle in the train, it won’t have happened. So those people, who think that we should keep our country clean and will never throw any garbage, just think again, as it would make all those kids unemployed. So, never forget to throw that plastic bottle, so that it can reach those who can make some money out of it. Thank you people for throwing that bottle in the train and I wish that they will never stop doing it.

With Regards,
Tapan Kumar Jena

The beggars of India

The beggars of India: I was an avid fan of Korean TV dramas. In India, KBS world is the only channel which showed these dramas. On every Saturday they used to show one TV drama for continuously 4 hours without any break. As I was crazy about these dramas, I never miss them. But Saturday is also the day when some 5 to 6 beggars come and asks for food, clothes as well as money. May be our neighborhood come on their plan on Saturdays? So, every Saturday, those 30 minutes, when the beggars shouts outside my home, and I am trying to watch my favorite show on TV, became the most irritating moments for me. Like everyone, I never tried to find out who these people are? For me they are some people who don’t do anything except begging. All these changed one day, when my mom was talking with an old lady, who is begging as she is too old to work. She belonged to a village, which is some 50 KM from Cuttack. Her family included her Husband, two sons, daughter in laws and grand children. After her husband died, both of her son’s attitudes towards her changed. They were ignoring her all the time.
One day they came to the city with her, by telling her about a medical check-up. They just left her in the city and returned back. She was there all alone in Cuttack and nobody came to her help. As time passed, she get to know about an old age home which is run by government. She went there and is now living there. The old age home only gives shelter to abandoned old people. It does not provide any food to them. Only physically handicapped people get food. This woman is more than 60 years old. You can’t expect her to work and earn money. The only way she can get two square meals a day is by begging.
There are many cases, where people who are unable to get any money by begging, took severe decisions, such as; cutting their own hands and legs. One might not believe these stories. But just and go and experience yourself and you will realize What Aron Lee Ralston did is a common thing among the old abandoned people in Cuttack.
May be when Danny Boyle will heard this story, he will be tempted to make a movie on this. As of now, let these people suffer as “We the people India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic” just don’t care.
Do you want to help? Then think something and share it with all.
 Regards, Tapan Kumar Jena

Go, Dream……

Go, Dream……
This small article is about two people, who are worlds apart. The first guy is a rickshaw driver for whom the daily rides are more important than the nuclear disaster in Japan or the death of Osama Bin Laden.
The other guy is a lowly clerk, who works in a government office. This guy had never taken a bribe in his entire work life. (Seems so strange, but people like him exists.) It can be said that this guy is a man with a golden heart.
Both of them belong to the lower middle class in the Indian Society. So how one can say that they are worlds apart?
Well, I am not wrong. They are worlds apart. The auto rickshaw driver is an orphan who is a self made man. He never ever depended on anyone. He was raised on the streets and ate the leftovers in the Road side restaurant where he worked. He worked day and night and saved enough money to buy his Auto rickshaw. Driving the rickshaw was his dream and he now resides in his dream land.
The clerk, on the other hand, belongs to a middle class family, whose life is like an old bicycle which, no one uses. He was a decent and good guy, but one can find millions of good guys who never put any effort to go for their dreams. May be this clerk still unaware of his dreams, and he will remain for the years to come.
So this small story (is it) tells you that just being good is not enough. Try to follow your dreams and achieve them. Then you will be happy.
Have a great day.

I wanna change the world. Do you?

Dear friends,

How many times you call your mom in a week? When was the last time you called your father to say that you are all right? Have you ever bought any gifts for your younger siblings?

 If you think that your answer to all these questions proves that you are good person, then think again. These above mentioned things are your duties. Just by doing it you can’t become a good person.

Do you want to be a good person? Those who are thinking that NO, I just want to tell them that Thank you for maintaining the balance as too many good people will make this planet Heaven. For those people whose answer is YES, I would recommend them to think how they can help the people who are in urgent need of help.

Many of us are just out of the college, and got big bank loans and got families to support. So donating to charitable institutions is out of question. So one can ask, how can we help?

To help someone does not always mean providing monetary help. There are two other means, by which you can help the needy.

1.      Time

2.      Willingness to help

Those who thinks that they are ready to help, just needs to give a little time from their busy week. We got Sundays off. Can’t we spend some hours of our Sunday in a nearest NGO or Orphanages, where we can teach the kids?

Show the kids what love is and they will be happy for the entire week. Teach them with the help of your laptops (videos, pictures, Microsoft Encarta or attractive PPTs). It won’t cost a thing. So guys can you do it this week. The Sunday is not far. You guys got an internet connection. Search the nearest NGO and contact them and CHANGE THE WORLD.

your happiness is in your hand

This is an email which i wrote on May 3rd,2011....and send it to some people.....

HAVE YOU EVER FALLEN IN LOVE? Not with your girl friend or boy friend, but with life itself. Have you ever praised the beautiful surroundings that encircle you?  Have you ever thought what the hell are you doing in this world? Have you ever loved yourself?

Be frank and think over these questions. If your answer is “YES”, this email is not for you, as you people have already discovered their own destinies.

But people who have never thought of these questions or whose answer is a big “NO”, another question would arise for them, and the question is WHY? WHY? WHY?

May be something is missing in your life, and you guys are still searching for that missing link. This missing link can be the most important thing for you in this world and you don’t know what it is?

In the book “The Alchemist” Paulo Coelho said that, “when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

This means that you never wanted anything from your life, and that’s why your answer is a big “NO”. That’s the reason you are still unsure about your own future. May be your happiness is just a few steps from you but you still don’t know its whereabouts.

Just recently I found my happiness in the small kids who are abandoned by their parents and are living in a orphanage in Cuttack. I am just spending a few hours every Sunday and it makes me happy for the entire week. The whole week I wait for the Sunday, as I want to be with the kids.

So friends, I just wanna ask you one thing, “DO YOU GUYS AND GIRLS WANNA BE HAPPY IN LIFE? THEN FIND YOUR OWN DESTINY AND DO WHAT YOUR DESTINY ASKS YOU TO DO”

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The betrayal of a son............

ONCE I PROMISED MY MOTHER

THAT WHEN I WILL GROW OLDER

I WILL BE GOOD TO HER

BUT WHEN I GOT OLDER

I COMMITED A MURDER

THE CRIME WAS NOT AGAINST A HUMAN BEING

IT’S THE PROMISE WHICH I KEEP ON BREAKING………………

SORRY MOM….I WILL TAKE MY BREAKFAST, LUNCH AND DINNER…DON’T WORRY

The faraway poem......

The faraway blue sky in its entirety,

holds the Earth in its totality

The vast oceans are just a drop

in this universe,

inspires the man to sail through

its shores

The lonely moon waits for the sun

to set everyday,

Its love for the sea even in the day

does not goes away

The laws of the land never 

let the oceans rule the Earth,

The selfish inhabitants are exploiting

the mother birth after birth

Is it difficult to say: You can have this seat......

Some days ago i was watching a Korean movie, My Sassy Girl. I can clearly remember one scene where the drunk lead actress asks a teenage boy to give up the seat in Metro to an elder. But when he does not do it, the girl hit him in the head so hard that the boy to fnally give up the the seat. Well many a tims i have seen in movie how the British men give up their seats to women in bus, train or whatever. But when it comes to India, this simple act of kindness is absent in all of us (only a few do it). I will give a personal example. Just two days ago, i was travelling by bus to meet one of my friend...it was too much crowded.....and Kolkata buses are the most terrible one in the entire world, even more dangerous than the Paralakhemundi buses. Suddenly one old woman is appearing and as i was sitting in the second row, i offered my sit to her. At these moments i just have this awkward feeling that if i am giving my seat to another person may be someone else will give seats to my parents, some day, some where. Now back in the bus,I was standing and people were pushing me backwards. After some moments another woman appeared and she straight went to the second from last row in order tp get a ladies reserved seat which was occupied by a man. When she asked for the seat, another woman sitting just ahead of that guy told her that its not a ladies seat. But that seat was a ladies seat. In kolkata almost 40% seats are ladies seats. That time i was angry that how arrogant and stupid Indians are. An old woman is standing and a young guy is sitting and the mother of the young guy is supporting her son seat in the ladies seat. It was an unusual feeling that originated with in me at that particular moment. I read somewhere that a person who enjoys doing acts of kindness will find that giving up a seat to a needy person is satisfying. Even when the bus is packed and it will mean being crushed, jostled and even having a pocket picked, the idea of giving someone a bit of relief from their struggles helps to show a good example and to have good feelings. My heart was telling me that Indians dont understand these kind of acts of kindness. While on my way back to college, i did not got a seat and there was another guy in his forties standing next to me. When a seat vacated, that Mr Forty something offered me the seat and I said that i am allright, please have the seat and in the mean time another old man just gave me a dhakka(pushing someone) and took that seat. For the entire journey i was standing and thinking that, he is a oldman and he desreve the seat more than me, but i cant forget that dhakka. 

Welcome to the future..........

The following are excerpts from a conversation between two friends in a bus. Lets just make the two friends A and B. 

A: Hey do you know how the world will be like in 2050?

B: Hey, did you watch some futuristic movie? The aliens are coming to take over the earth. ha.

A: No yaar, i am not talking about some Hollywood movie where the school kids are flying in their skate boards or a dystopia future where robots are ruling the Earth. I am talking about the economy.

B: Not getting a single thing what you are talking about?

A: Are yaar, as per the recently released estimates of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) India will become the 3rd largest economy of the world by 2050.Is not it cool?

B: Wow great. but so what?

A: Are kya bol raha hey. Its a matter of pride for our entire nation. We will be a developed nation. are not you feeling proud about this?

B: Yeah, its a great time for our country which builds on the principles of democracy, secularism and justice, liberty equality for all. I can clearly remember what the preamble of this great country talks about, WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC. Hahaha. what a joke.....

A: Are you nuts? you are laughing on the Indian constitution.

B: yeah, these things look good for a fiction novel, not for a country like India. Lets just face the facts. We are the 11th largest economy in the world and still 40% of our population is living below the poverty line. We are talking about equal opportunities for all but cant even provide primary education for most children.

A: But i am sure that all these things will change with the passage of the time.

B: But i am of the view that, it will be worse in the future.Inequality will rise, urban rural divide will broaden and the future will not be a Utopian one but a dark future awaits for us.

A: Dont be so negative yaar?

B: Cant you see the reality? a quarter of all Indians are living below $1 a day, but there are people who are living in a billion dollar home. Some kids are studying in schools which resembles luxury hotels and at the same time we got millions of children who dont know what a school is? Lets just face it, even if we as a country become the largest economy in the world, there will be millions who will be unaffected by it. May be we will be one of the powerful country in the international sphere, but what the use of that power, when majority of your citizens are powerless.

This is what some of the people in this country feels about their future. For them India is not like a candy floss Bollywood romance but its like the story of Bandit queen, Slumdog millionaires. What you feel about your country. Please feel free to post. Thank you