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Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Irony of Life


Image Courtesy : NDTV India
Ufff....finally I am posting something after nearly 50 days. After lots of travel over the last few weeks I sat down to post this last week only to find my broadband cable split and dangling. (Muck Fe!!:P). Thanks to my manager who surprisingly has got little work for me this week and also for not reading my posts(:P), I now have time to blog from my office. A lot of travel over the month showed me few things that we won't generally know in our daily lives. These few things that I would be mentioning, unfortunately have nothing to cheer. The first one being the pathetic plight of a few flood-victims and the second being the unanimous cry by the autowallahs of Bangalore for justice (which I would mention in my coming post.)


Of the worst-affected areas hit by flash floods was Kurnool. We have seen the horrific videos and images 24*7 over the media and I am sure all have been generous in lending a helping hand in whatever manner we could. A close family friend of mine happened to be one of the victims of this disaster. A couple of incidents he recited about the situation shook me violently and left me in an even more helpless situation than I was at the moment. The first being when his home was surrounded by 10 feet deep water in a couple of hours. Having taken refuge on the terrace the inmates of the home and a few others were desperately waiting for help which luckily arrived only after 4 hours and when the water almost touched their feet on the terrace. A boat with a couple of guys driving it was looking for survivors. The boat could take 10 at a time. But one could enter only if he was worth it. Yes, you read it right. Only if he/she was worthy enough was he rescued. The boatmen were generous in lending a helping hand but as always man's greed for money never ceases even at the time of death. It was a barter system. My friend had to give away his wedding ring and his wife gave away her mangalsutra for their lives. He recollects how he even hand to surrender his chain to save another man who unfortunately did not have enough to satisfy the boatmen's greed. He recollects this was the case in many places. He saw people left behind over roof-tops, trees, electric poles though help was at their door-step. The only thing they could trade with the boatmen was their lives, which they ultimately did. Neither was he nor I able to decide whether to thank such men or detest them. Does such men require a round of applause for their generosity or a thorough beating for their greed?

The flood waters receded leaving behind further woes. The tons of silt deposited was enough to swallow even the tallest man around. The Government had setup help-centers. He recollects that Rs.1000 being lent for house renovation. Though it was a meager amount people didn't miss it. The classical mantra 'Something is better than nothing' was the norm. Most of them must have lost the house documents in the flood waters. The only document the Government trusted to help people was the good-will of the people. By the time my friend reached not only was his amount taken by another man, the entire colony's amount was given to a single man. How was an amount more than Rs.1000 given to a single man by the issuing Government servant is no mystery. It's another classical rule, you give me more than I deserve, I give you a share in mine. It comes back to the first classical rule 'Something is better than nothing'. The entire colony was at a loss and the clever man expectedly was no where to be seen. I don't blatantly say this was the case everywhere, but the very civic sense of man has been destroyed by man himself at times by his own creation, being wealth. God created man, man created wealth, wealth created greed and greed destroys man. I know a couple of you guys are eying my ATM card and bank account after reading this. Please stay away, I am not greedy, I am just cautious at times :P

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13 comments:

Unknown said...

gud post annay .. nice topic to write on..

Unknown said...

let me throw light on other side of the scenario....i wonder if it poverty which is causing this ethical degradation?? coz i doubt they get enough money to built a house or buy a car..may be, few of them can feed their familes for few days with out any other thought..so should it be blamed ?

Arnav said...

Its sad , that on one hand we talk about ambitious projects like the unique identity number and on the other hand we have such depressing tales all over the country ....

Rightly said its difficult to like or detest such men who trade lives.....



Nice post ..Keep reflecting the hard realities ..

PostMan said...

@aditya.....speaking on par with your view, does a thief who steals your home,only because he wants to escape poverty for a few days,be forgiven? Does the law or you forgive him/her?...remember its your money that you stashed upon may be to give your children a better life.....Anyways it's just another instance that I have stated....As said its tough to take sides

@Arnav
Thanks for your comment :)

Unknown said...

http://www.blogbharti.com/shantanudutta/travel/greed-at-a-time-of-grief/

Matangi Mawley said...

what a scenario! i am speechless.. actually i do not know how to react.. life out of other peoples' misery! actually.. thats wht even the media does,.. a news is never good.. bt there is a gr8 big industry that thrives out of it.. isnt tht so?

gr8 post!

PostMan said...

@Matangi
I would say not always does it happen. But yes, quite often someone's pain is someone's gain. Thanks for appreciating :)

Bobinky said...

good post :) You have really quoted a heart-rending spectacle. Such incidents cause anguish and arouses deep sympathy. But sympathising alone wont help.Its sad that many people hesitate to extend a helping hand.But there is still some humanity left in this world.Many big and small companies have offered to help and what they ask is just a small contribution from their respective employees.I even know few collegues of mine who were hesitating to shell out even a penny from their pockets for a good cause.
People should realise that the pleasure they get by stowing up their pockets with money and spending on all the worldly things would be much less than the pleasure of helping others in need!

PostMan said...

Thanks :). Yeah I agree with you. Even I have seen similar people. But the scenario is not straight forward over here. The boatman could have risked his life('could have' as I said) or may be the boatman was never helped in his poverty if at all he was poor(again he 'could have' been poor) or etc etc....The possibilities are infinite. What's not expected is leaving people behind stranded though they claim to have nothing. Imagine what would have happened had my friend not given his chain. The other man would have been left behind. The boatman in this particular case is not looking for an exchange. He only needs money, and this money could be from anyone, not the person he can save. This is where humanity comes into play. 'One can take from a person who has the ability to donate something, but expecting from a pauper is not humane'.

Ananth said...

It doesn't matter to them what (gold or money or ornaments whatever) they are giving away to get their lives saved. We may find it very very rude, for that matter who ever it is the third person. But for the guys who are saved it is still OK. But the sad part is 'Boat can take 10 guys, 9 guys have paid him and not the 1. He is so so (f*king) greedy leaving him to death or whatever. He could have saved one another life with those 9 payments. So inhumane.'

And about the Rs.1000, the govt. thing. Never I have seen govt. servants doing generous job. It always happens everywhere. The whole massacre started cos of govt. servants negligence. If they worked sincerely and warned the towns along Thungabadra river, this tragedy would have been on less scale.

The guys who came on boats to rescue are poor not based on wealth, but based on humanism.

Unknown said...

hmmmmm....... nice topic ro write on..

Murtaza said...

"Thanks to my manager who surprisingly has got little work for me this week and also for not reading my posts"

I've now started reading your posts ;-)

PostMan said...

Goodness God!! I have just seen this. Its all hush-hush from now on :D