Wishing the balancing effect away... or am I?

We live in a world of such contradiction that most of us have given up even thinking about it. It’s like when I was a child I used to shut my eyes assuming that if I could not see something bad, it was not real. But at least I have that option. Or I did. I just can’t help wonder how long I will have that option. Beyond a point in is in my face. And yet, I am helpless.

Yesterday, it was raining in Delhi. At around 7 in the evening I braved my car onto the traffic-laden streets. I was pretty much cursing infrastructure, or rather the lack of it, drainage, cars, office etc. After taking 20 min to cover a 5 minute patch I reached the only signal between my house and my office. Someone tapped on my window. I was about to just wave away the usual beggars when I just happened to look up. Staring at me was this child who was not more than 10-12 years old. It was pouring, he was without any kind of shield and the site of him just somehow has not left my mind.

A few days a go I remember driving past the corner of the same road and watching a family. It was a rainy day then too. A family was at breakfast - amidst rush hour traffic, in a hut, on a gas stove. But what struck me that day as I was waiting for the car ahead of me to move was the fact that they were still a family. They were laughing, sharing food and getting ready to begin their day. Happiness perhaps is a state of mind.

The boy was the same. Happy one morning while in the security of his home. Two evenings later he was in the rain crying and shivering. I wonder if they had their meal that night.

Life isn’t fair. There is something called law of averages… I have always believed in it. But what happens when one side of the scale is so low that the average is just not acceptable? Does it not require a helping hand to tip the scale? What happens when there is no helping hand? When day turns to night and night turns to day and hope of a meal is all that probably keeps a family going.

There are some things I wish I had answers to. There are others I know I have to be grateful for. Perspective and a reality check is one of them.

Hum of the day
The heart and mind understand our need for balance. Perhaps that’s why people in what are definitely inhuman conditions find it in themselves to laugh from the heart. It is also why people, who are blessed, find and often have reasons to be unhappy. I wonder how much of it is really in our hands. Is it just natures way of keeping the perspective alive?