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...

Faith.

I came across this set of pictures... Have a look... Don't lose hope... Have Faith in God...

Praying.."God..Please Help Us..Protect Us..."






Gets hit by 'trouble'...



Is deeply Anguished... Asks... "Why God ?? Are you Even there ??"



Turns Around...



Is astonished...Sees something unbelievable.............



GOD : "Are you alright my child... I might have missed a small piece....!!!"



There are times, when God tests us, sometimes makes ur suffer... Why... I don't know... but i know one thing for sure... He is there... Listning to Us...Looking after us...Hez just an 'Earnest Prayer' away...

God...Help us tide over these difficult times...Bless the souls of the bravehearts who have lost their lives...Help the families of those who have lost their near and dear ones...Bless the injured...And help us...Give us strength ...Intelligence..Will...n Safety to do something about all these inhumane acts...To prevent them from happening again in future...May God Bless us all...Amen...

The Blind Man...

Finally...After a long break...today im blogging once agen... i feel blogging is something like any other creative activity... you need to have that thing... that motivation.. somethng which makes you feel like writing... but thn it can also be seen from the other point of view... a blog can be on any and every thing about life... things which we see evryday... things which we think about... things which otherz think about... n wat not... what has prompted me to blog today was an incident which had happend a few days back... about a blind man...but somehow i wasnt able to write about it... today after reading a lovely blog... i felt like writing about that incident...

a few days back... on a sunday... i planned to go for a movie... n that day i decided to commute by the trusted local trains... while on my way i saw a blind man... n i immediately did what i have been taught by my mother... and something which i feel is so so neccessary for all of us to do... i Thanked God for all the blessings ... for all that he has given to us... things which we take for granted... things which ppl like that blind man... n many others like dont have... The Gift of Sight... Health... and loads of other things like that in life... n i felt like doing somethng for that unfortunate person... I asked him if he needed any help... and he said that he wanted to get on the train in the compartment for handicapped people...so i took him along with me... guiding him... and since i didint know where that particular compartment would come... (i needed to be at the place on th platform where that compartment would come to help him board the train before it started moving...).. i asked the vendors in the shops on the station... n got to know about it... and all this while i was observing... things which we take for granted... avoiding bumping into other people... nt banging your head in the pillar... stepping aside to avoid stepping into something... all this was so so difficult for that person... the only friend he had was his stick... it helpd him navigate through the complex array of things present at the station... although the difficulty he was facing was so so evident... (oh God...i dont know why you do this... why did you have to take the eyes of that man ??????? If it was for his past deeds... please help me not do any such thing in my life... please guide me God...)

i also noticed that he had a very keen hearing ability... he tld me that the place where the compartment for disabled comes at a halt has a loud beeper... that was the day i realized the purpose of the 'annoying' beeper... n found out how important it was for those unfortunate people... i took him to that place... n helpd him board the train after it came... he thanked me... he thanked me for a thing which we feel is such a routine activity... getting on a train... I thank God for giving me sense to help that man...

And yes, one more thing...i feel that whatevr little that we can do for helping other people should be just done... and not told about... just do it n forget it... but i felt like writing about this on my blog to share the feeling wihch i got by helping that person... the immense sense of satisfaction that i got by doing such a small thing... n i feel that after reading this blog... anyone did their little part for helping others... th blog would be worth it... coz as it is said... 'small things go a long way in achieving great results...'

Thank You God for each of your blessings...

Silence..........................

This is something which i had written sometime ago...10th December to be precise...

Death.
The most certain truth of life....the utmost certainity...the harshest reality...and still the most shocking event of life...
Today I got to know that my friendz granpa...her dadu passd away...he left her forevr...n as she told this to me...as i read her scrap...i cud feel it...i cud feel how she wud hv felt...i felt my memories getting revived...the memories which remind me of the times when my Nanu...my Dadi...my Dadu...n thn my Nani...all of them passd away...time took them away from me...one by one...robbing me of one of the most priceless n irrecoverable treasures of my life...sme special ppl who loved me...cared for me...papmered me...took all th crap that i had to giv...n still loved me bak...selflessly...it causes so much pain to me when i think that i wasnt able to spend more time with them...the fast pace of life led me away from them...made it impossible for me to meet them more often...smethng which made me ignore them...smethng which i realise now...now that they are gone...i realise it now that they were always there for me...always cared for me...the joy in their eyes when they saw me...the way they stroked my hair softly...their tender loving touch...their firm n loving hug when i got scared in the night...oh God why did time have to take them away from me ?????????? Miss you Dadu...Dadi...Nanu...Nani...Miss You...
But i know that they are here for me...lookin over me...still caring for me...guiding me...protecting me...i feel it...n it has made me realise that we should always treasure our loved ones...because they might get angry...they might shout...but in the deepest corner of their hearts...its pure n selfless love...unconditional love...care for us...which drives them to do these actions...n thus im gonna try and make my parents and other lovd ones feel special...love them back...tell them that i treasure them...i might not be able to do it verbally...but this blog is a medium...i care for u...i Love you...Dad..Mom...Bro...and all othr lovd ones of mine...I love You...

And as tears threaten to spill outta my eyes...i try to cope with th emotions...the memories...i try to smile n fight back tears at the same time...i try to pay attention to work...i try to come to terms with the most firm truth of life...Death...with Silence...........................................

10.12.07