There is a clear line of demarcation between an intellectual understanding of something and an experiential understanding of something; a line between our assessments and perceptions of reality and reality itself.
We see movies presented to us like "Slumdog Millionaire" or read books or keep up with the news, so we have an idea of things that occur in other parts of the world. But when you witness a truth first hand-- when you have an experiential understanding of it-- you certainly do not forget it. What I mean is you may think you are aware of some of the cruelty and injustice in the world, but when you actually witness it you are caught off guard. You think to yourself, "Wait, you mean this actually happens?" The experience gets imprinted in your mind. At least that is what happened to me.
India is home to about 1 billion people. It's cities are overcrowded, millions are homeless, electricity is quite often shut off in smaller cities to be able to distribute it to the larger more industrial cities, there are water shortages, health hazards are below par, and the slums are absolutely squalid. India really is just a different animal. You cannot prepare for it; you cannot tame it. You cannot know what it is like to see someone with leprosy until you see someone with leprosy. But the thing that is the hardest to swallow is the amount of children beggars.
There are countless children beggars throughout all of India. It is an epidemic. From early on these children are taught to beg as a means of survival. Some are runaways that escaped uninhabitable living situations at home. Some are forced into these situations by family members looking for a method of extra income. Others have been kidnapped and are being forced to beg by gang members.
Gang members often trick children into begging; sometimes kidnap them from their homes, or in extreme cases even kidnap newborns from hospitals. The business is all about profit; the goal to accrue as much money as possible each day. And the gang members will do anything it takes to invoke pity and sympathy in people in order to assure they will give money to the beggars for the gang leaders to collect from them later. Sometimes this means maiming the children to up the ante by making them appear more pathetic.
Some children will be wearing rags for clothes, others will have missing limbs, and, yes, as "Slumdog Millionaire" portrays, some children are blinded as a result of their eyes being burned or removed from their sockets.
So the other day I was on a bus headed to Guchu Pani in Dehradun to see a cave with the hopes of also coming across a waterfall or some place to swim to cool off my body in the ever persistent scorching heat. Being on a bus in India is an experience in and of itself. They will fill as many people on the bus as humanly possible (pun intended); people hanging half out of the bus and half in. Before the bus took off, two child beggars came on to walk around and collect money. They were holding hands. The younger child was a small boy, maybe 4 years old. The other child was a bit taller and older, maybe 9 years old. As they approached me, I looked up to make eye contact and to acknowledge them. The older boy had a patch of skin over his eye sockets in place of the eyelids. His eyes had clearly been taken out. The younger boy still had his eye sight and had not been maimed, but for how long?
These situations can really just leave someone feeling emotionally bankrupt. Do you give money to the child because you pity him and it makes you feel better to do so? Or do you refuse to give any money because you know the money is not going to the child anyhow and that giving money is only prolonging and encouraging the situating? Both feel shitty.
I do not think there is necessarily one right answer as both scenarios can be justified. But I do think this situation needs some serious attention drawn to it because, no, it is not a fantasy story. It actually happens. Every day. India is another place. It is not paradise, and one comes to this realization shortly after arriving here. India is not some fantasy land of ultimate beauty, yet at the same time it is. Beauty and corruption, as it is everywhere.
One should be thankful for all of the opportunities that have been provided for them and that they have made for themselves. Because others have certainly been robbed of this.
So thank your god that dreaming's free. It isn't everywhere.
Spare change?
http://www.pratigyaindia.org/?page_id=86
We see movies presented to us like "Slumdog Millionaire" or read books or keep up with the news, so we have an idea of things that occur in other parts of the world. But when you witness a truth first hand-- when you have an experiential understanding of it-- you certainly do not forget it. What I mean is you may think you are aware of some of the cruelty and injustice in the world, but when you actually witness it you are caught off guard. You think to yourself, "Wait, you mean this actually happens?" The experience gets imprinted in your mind. At least that is what happened to me.
India is home to about 1 billion people. It's cities are overcrowded, millions are homeless, electricity is quite often shut off in smaller cities to be able to distribute it to the larger more industrial cities, there are water shortages, health hazards are below par, and the slums are absolutely squalid. India really is just a different animal. You cannot prepare for it; you cannot tame it. You cannot know what it is like to see someone with leprosy until you see someone with leprosy. But the thing that is the hardest to swallow is the amount of children beggars.
There are countless children beggars throughout all of India. It is an epidemic. From early on these children are taught to beg as a means of survival. Some are runaways that escaped uninhabitable living situations at home. Some are forced into these situations by family members looking for a method of extra income. Others have been kidnapped and are being forced to beg by gang members.
Gang members often trick children into begging; sometimes kidnap them from their homes, or in extreme cases even kidnap newborns from hospitals. The business is all about profit; the goal to accrue as much money as possible each day. And the gang members will do anything it takes to invoke pity and sympathy in people in order to assure they will give money to the beggars for the gang leaders to collect from them later. Sometimes this means maiming the children to up the ante by making them appear more pathetic.
Some children will be wearing rags for clothes, others will have missing limbs, and, yes, as "Slumdog Millionaire" portrays, some children are blinded as a result of their eyes being burned or removed from their sockets.
So the other day I was on a bus headed to Guchu Pani in Dehradun to see a cave with the hopes of also coming across a waterfall or some place to swim to cool off my body in the ever persistent scorching heat. Being on a bus in India is an experience in and of itself. They will fill as many people on the bus as humanly possible (pun intended); people hanging half out of the bus and half in. Before the bus took off, two child beggars came on to walk around and collect money. They were holding hands. The younger child was a small boy, maybe 4 years old. The other child was a bit taller and older, maybe 9 years old. As they approached me, I looked up to make eye contact and to acknowledge them. The older boy had a patch of skin over his eye sockets in place of the eyelids. His eyes had clearly been taken out. The younger boy still had his eye sight and had not been maimed, but for how long?
These situations can really just leave someone feeling emotionally bankrupt. Do you give money to the child because you pity him and it makes you feel better to do so? Or do you refuse to give any money because you know the money is not going to the child anyhow and that giving money is only prolonging and encouraging the situating? Both feel shitty.
I do not think there is necessarily one right answer as both scenarios can be justified. But I do think this situation needs some serious attention drawn to it because, no, it is not a fantasy story. It actually happens. Every day. India is another place. It is not paradise, and one comes to this realization shortly after arriving here. India is not some fantasy land of ultimate beauty, yet at the same time it is. Beauty and corruption, as it is everywhere.
One should be thankful for all of the opportunities that have been provided for them and that they have made for themselves. Because others have certainly been robbed of this.
So thank your god that dreaming's free. It isn't everywhere.
Spare change?
http://www.pratigyaindia.org/?page_id=86
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