“Food for Thought”
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Glimpses of Poverty
Poverty is a human problem, not a game
of numbers for staticians. Let us have a few glimpses how these unfortunate
persons live.
1. In the packing department of
a pharmaceutical factory a girl collapses; on enquiry it comes to light
that she has not taken any food for the last twenty four hours; simply
because there was no food in the house.
2. During lunch break in another
factory, supervisor notes that one of the workers is eating plain
3. A masi (part time maid
servant) when given second hand sweater for her children. Overwhelmed with
gratitude says, “Baji these second hand sweaters cost Rs. 10-12 in Landa
Bazaar. They are too costly; we cannot afford to buy these.
4. 60 years old widow who
suffers from Sugar, Blood Pressure and Heart diseases is supported by her
two married sons (who work in factories, drawing meager salary) takes half
of the prescribed dose of medicines so that her sons have to spend less on
her medicines.
These persons are not
professional beggars nor do they go a-begging. They bear their suffering in
silence. They live in the same world in which we live. But is it our world?
To quote a quip from Reader’s
Digest;
“A young man was throwing back fishes
which are trapped on the beach when the waves recede. A wise old man
watched him for sometime and said, “Well young man what you are doing?
Don’t you see how long is the beach, how many fishes can you possibly throw
back in the sea and what difference will it make?”
The
young man calmly replied, “You are right sir, I can not throw back all the
fishes, but it will make the difference to the fishes which are thrown
back.”
A meal for hungry, a sweater for
shivering, a pack of medicines for the sick; nothing is too trivial. Every
little bit helps.
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Aziz-uz-Zaman
Dated:
11th February, 2016 A.D.
Twitter: azizzaman.islam@facebook.com
