Few days back I went to a post office and looked for a space to park my car. Entire left side of the road was excavated and construction material was strewn all over – giving a feeling of more than a month long lethargic activity by the contractor ignoring the plight of the road users. I found an apt space adjacent to garbage bins on the opposite side of the road and decided to make a U turn to reach that space.
While I was watching the traffic, I saw an old lady with gunny bags who suddenly arrived from nowhere at the particular space and started cleaning the space with a broom. I was surprised why she cleaned the uneven sandy roadside and platform so vigorously and that too with a worn out broom. By the time the traffic eased, I made the U turn and parked my car in such a way so that my car did not encroach upon the cleaned space! The old lady opened her old stained gunny bag and picked up her limited number of merchandise of four pieces and placed them in the cleaned space and sat beneath them looking for a buyer! I was awestruck to see her merchandise which was four pairs of used footwear! Footwear was so worn out, stained, but mended meticulously with twain and wiped well. Still the condition was far from any average person’s liking to procure them. I guessed a total price of around Rs 100 for all the four. I wondered how come people like that old lady were still keeping their hopes alive and willingly suffering silently.
Most encouraging part of the scene were the lessons to be learnt: (1) Keep life simple with never say die character (2) Keep your place clean (2) Know your product, have 100% faith and showcase it with complete confidence (3) Never lose your confidence (4) Always keep a smile and enthusiasm on your face (5) Be ready to persevere till you succeed.
Yes, the old lady was full of self-confidence on her face, but my worry was how long she may have to wait to sell and how she is going to meet her expenses with a paltry sum. Not to forget the investment required to get ready for the next set of merchandise. There are thousands of such unfortunate people living among us. I do know a lonely old lady of around 75 years old who works in a nearby temple and survives on assistance given by devotees.
75 years is a very long period in a country’s history. There are better examples of countries around us which have shown phenomenal growth in their people’s lifestyle in much shorter periods and still growing leaps and bounds. We have grown, but the growth is not inclusive for all. I wondered about the achievement of 75 years of governance by various political parties. It is so pathetic that a huge number of our population is still far below the poverty line and suffering silently. Political parties are competing against each other in providing freebies, but not willing to help people to get quality education (thereby quality employment) or quality healthcare. Whose fault it is that so many people are made to suffer so miserably? Whom or what to blame? Is it lack of aim, focus, drive and empathy among all of us or rampant corruption prevailing at all levels of governance by shameless self-centered individuals in every stage of governance?
