Scavengers in the land of plenty

Scavengers in the land of Plenty

Last week on my way back home after class, I saw this young boy of probably 15 or 16 years lying on the pavement of a busy road. His foot had been crushed from apparently some vehicle accident. He lied there with dried blood around him. Like one among the many commuters there, I looked at him; felt some sort of pity; and then walked on. He lied there as a victim of nature’s cruel law of survival of the fittest; was he unconscious or dead, I didn’t know and didn’t care to bother. As I reached home, a sense of guilt loomed over my conscience, I could have done something to help rather than stare at his helplessness and walk off.

Kerala would be one of the few states which would have a substantial amount of highly educated, intellectual minds in India and yet the boy lie there unable to even cry for help, with nobody to care for. Our species have witnessed many greats in the thousands of years of our existence with progress in every known field. We pride ourselves of being the most intellectually superior among all other creatures. But what good is pride when many among us die of hunger, pain and misery? What good is greatness in technological advancements if we don’t realize the greatness of compassion; the greatness of a human touch? What good is belief in GOD if we don’t believe in equal rights of our brothers to live?

The truth is that even among all the greatness in the world we created, we remain till date as our “cavemen” selves. We remain scavengers in this land of plenty. I took a solemn oath to my conscience that day not to turn my back on the helpless ever again and help as much as I possibly can and I urge all my fellow citizens to do the same. GOD had created the mind, body and soul to be used in harmony. Let us not let the body and mind dominate us or we might find out one day that this little thing called soul has withered away in our fiery run for power and glory.