500....

What will you do if you were given Rs. 500 ??

What would your answer be ?? "Buy clothes... go for a movie... hv a nice biryani in a good eatery... BLOW IT UP on booze... buy a BRANDED UNDERWEAR...!!! " or wud it be... " ONLY Rs. 500 ?? ahh nothing...!!!"

There could be a completely opposite side to this as well... the answers might be ... "pay fees for my school... buy books or vegetables or other groceries for my home... or wud it be... "spend some on my children and save the rest...!!!"

I saw this video on you tube recently... and it was startling to say the least... how many times do we think before spending Rs. 500 or even much more for an evening out at some plush restaurant or coffee bar... or for buying some branded clothes... alcohol... or smething like a cell fone recharge or bill payment ??

There are MANY MANY MANY people in India and across the world who are struggling to earn enough money to buy two square meals a day... leave alone earning and spending it for medicines or education... All the government is doing is giving us 'statistics' ... and earmarking huge amounts of funds for its projects to help the poor... but how much of it is actually reaching the needy ?? A trickle... mayb less...

But its not just the government to be blamed... we ourselves are so reckless in spending sums of money which would be beyond the wildest imaginations of a huge majority of people... And i'm not sayin that i don't do this... i too am just as reckless and ignorant as many others... and i feel bad about it... really bad... We too are equally guilty... we don't have any right to blame anyone else...

Have you ever thought about how the value of Rs. 10 changes when we are in a temple and in a shopping mall ??!!

Poverty forces 70 % of the school going children in India to drop out of school before they reach the secondary level. (Source - Open Space India)

Think about it... I too would try to make an effort to change this... because i know.. how a small child, who is forced to 'shine' other people's shoes has a shine in his eyes when he gets Rs. 100 from a 'generous' stranger... I'm not saying that we stop spending at all.. and give it all away... no.. it is insane.. and not possible as well... All i'm saying is that if we make a little contribution... periodically... It would not make much of a difference in our lives... Maybe one less trip to the nearby CCD... But to them it can be a year at school.... or fees for the medical aid of their children... Because that would be INDIA SHINING... Shining with the sparkle in the eyes of the needy.... May God be with us... :) ...

Cheers...