It was 10.30pm yesterday, a warm night. We stop at a petrol bunk on the way home when an old man comes up to us, asking us to buy socks. We refuse, saying we don’t want socks. He then tries selling us pens. I admire his spirit – I end up buying the pens.
I’ve been driven to office at 9am and have been sitting in an air-conditioned office till 6pm. I then relax at a movie theatre and hog on popcorn and Pepsi. All I want to do now is go home and sleep. It’s 10.30pm in the night – this man might have been on his feet for most of the day in the unbearable Hyderabad heat, trying to sell pens and socks to people sitting in comfortable air-conditioned cars. And still, even at this time, with few vehicles coming in, he still sticks around at the petrol bunk, hoping to sell that one extra pen, those extra pair of socks.
Was it determination or was it desperation? If he had been given the facilities of a stable family life, good education, a steady job, would he have still worked his way through life with the same amount of determination and perseverance? Or was it just desperation, a critical situation, which drove him to working this hard? Well, we’ll never know.
I’m quite a believer in the trickle down theory effect. And I’ve been thinking for the past couple of months that the overall standard of living of the country has improved. Friends, who come from families which have never flown before are now regularly traveling by air. Air-conditioning is no more a luxury. While my observations on this call for a whole post by itself, what I’m trying to say here is that I had a strong feeling that the general living standards have improved, the poverty line is rising, the number of people below it are falling.
I’m no economist – the above statements are more of what I felt was happening than whatever is really happening. And all this gave me a good feeling about the economy and the way the country is going. But then, sometimes, on a night like this, even as I thank God for my comfortable existence, I feel a pinch because I need a little boy staring at me through the glass doors of Pizza Hut to remind me to be grateful for my daily bread and bring home to me, once again, just how fortunate I am.
I’ve been driven to office at 9am and have been sitting in an air-conditioned office till 6pm. I then relax at a movie theatre and hog on popcorn and Pepsi. All I want to do now is go home and sleep. It’s 10.30pm in the night – this man might have been on his feet for most of the day in the unbearable Hyderabad heat, trying to sell pens and socks to people sitting in comfortable air-conditioned cars. And still, even at this time, with few vehicles coming in, he still sticks around at the petrol bunk, hoping to sell that one extra pen, those extra pair of socks.
Was it determination or was it desperation? If he had been given the facilities of a stable family life, good education, a steady job, would he have still worked his way through life with the same amount of determination and perseverance? Or was it just desperation, a critical situation, which drove him to working this hard? Well, we’ll never know.
I’m quite a believer in the trickle down theory effect. And I’ve been thinking for the past couple of months that the overall standard of living of the country has improved. Friends, who come from families which have never flown before are now regularly traveling by air. Air-conditioning is no more a luxury. While my observations on this call for a whole post by itself, what I’m trying to say here is that I had a strong feeling that the general living standards have improved, the poverty line is rising, the number of people below it are falling.
I’m no economist – the above statements are more of what I felt was happening than whatever is really happening. And all this gave me a good feeling about the economy and the way the country is going. But then, sometimes, on a night like this, even as I thank God for my comfortable existence, I feel a pinch because I need a little boy staring at me through the glass doors of Pizza Hut to remind me to be grateful for my daily bread and bring home to me, once again, just how fortunate I am.
3 comments:
hmmm ... so u think poverty is falling , but know that u are talking about hyderabad , perhaps a town would give you a better perspective of what Poverty is ... and yea I think we must all very much thank the almighty for the daily bread ... and sometimes we do require a pizza hut glass door to just help us remember that !!!
Da Enigma
Need is the mother cause of any action !
well firstly as i was reading ur blog i happen to notice that ur profile sayz ramya kancharla, bangalore india, as much as u like b'lore, i guess ur not livin there anymore :P .. the post as such was very nicely put.. i'm just a bigger fan of urs thn evey before.. apart from tht, take my adivse and stop eating so much popkorn..alright!!
what ramya...making such thought provoking posts...impressive only...
and good to see u enjoy corp life...its a different planet..i so want to stay in campus for as long as i can..hope this next one year is LOOOONG...
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