As far back as I could will my ever failing and diminishing memory "The man under the tree" was always there. I could never distinctly differentiate the moment in my life when he wasnt there and when he mysteriously appeared. But once he made his appearance he was omnipresent. When I first noticed him, as a child sitting behind my dad on the two wheeler, I hugged my dad fiercely, petrified by his appearance. His hair uncharacteristically brown in color, mottled and frayed due to years of negligence. His face hidden under months of shaggy and unkempt beard. His face was thin and drawn out, as if the weight of the beard was too heavy for his features. His appearance was the stuff parents used to scare their children into eating their spinach or stop them from misbehaving.
He was there when I was old enough to start my brave walks to the nearby medical shops and grocery stores. Atleast 20ft before his tree abode I used to cross to the other side of the road and continue my journey. He was still there when I learnt to ride my bicycle on the "busy" roads. I rode my bicycle swiftly past him lest he decided to come out of his reverie and stick his hand out to grab me, which he wasnt going to do anyway. He was there when I ambled my two wheeler past him, by now growing comfortable to his presence on the road. Truth is, I had enough faith in the horse power of my two wheeler to know that I can accelerate quickly enough if he decides to reach out to me.
He was mostly sitting under the tree whenver I saw him. Now, when I think back to those days he reminds me of one of those tree deities which are worshipped reverently but never taken care of in rain or shine. What an irony!! What did the all powerful being, God decided to do with him? Was this the path that God had destined for him? He never begged for money that much I noticed but how did he sustain himself? What did he do when it rained and what did he do when the heat of the summer months beat down upon him?
So, who was he? Where did he come from? The stork didnt drop him from the sky. Had he a life, a family who cared for him and a family he cared for? I wanted to find out but I never did. Will he be there when I go back home? Will I be able to approach him now and find out what landed him in the present state?
On a wholly different level, spare a moment for the homeless children. I try to tell this to all whom I think would listen and to others who think Im sensible at times. When you think about having a family, think about adopting. Why bring more into this harsh world when there are already so many for whom the concept of family is as alien as Kentucky Fried Chicken?
P.S: Thanks M. for the timely reminder :) :P
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13 comments:
I see such people all the time in Chennai.Makes me wonder .....if their life doesnt have any meaning other than just lying on the street exposed to the elements,then there cant be any meaning to my life in the larger sense as well.Adoption is definitely a good idea.But it all depends on why you want to have a child in your life.
undeserved thanks! nice one. glad youve managed to break the black mood :)
Mystic: I dont think the reason why you need children should matter. The concept of same blood and other things are best left alone to tear-jerkers, movies and serials.
M.: Thanks. Im on my way there.
Would you have cared to know him/his family, if you were still in India, whilst you sped past him on your two-wheeler or perhaps four-wheeler everyday? No, I am not questioning your intentions, its just a passing thought. I think adopting a homeless child is a wonderful idea.
Thats the whole point wookie, why is that nobody seems to care? Its like we are trained to look down upon the black sheep of society and the not so fortunate.
Everyone has their own issues to solve,we fight our own battles and not everyone wants the same out of life and has the same philosophy in life. But the least we can do is stop adding to the miseries of such people.
very touchy post..
I also believe, ideally, there are so many orphans in the world, and this world does not give you any good, every step, every moment you suffer, you struggle, so why commit a sin by creating another human being and make her go thru the same pain?
wookie: arent we adding to their miseries by ignoring them?
venus: thanks :) My point exactly. Why bring more into this world?
Nice post! Glad to know that you have thoughts of adopting a child, and I sincerely hope that you do accomplish it in the future.
On a side note - These are a class of thoughts, that I find many ppl to have. To do something for the betterment of the poor/orphaned/homeless etc. seems occupy the thoughts of many at some stage in life. But, why is it that there are very few that actually end up doing so? I feel, most people, at some point in life, undergo changes in their attitude towards life, and they end up doing nothing of what they wanted to do years ago. I am sure you must have definitely realized this too. Just wanted to know your thoughts on that...
True, we all seem to have this detachment when it comes to poverty and other people suffering.....maybe there is just so much of it that we are cynical by now.
On adoption- its a wonderful concept. But do you know about this theory, which is now a widely accepted one, of THE SELFISH GENE. In a pathbreaking work in 1970, Richard Dawkins wrote a book by that title and it hypothesises that we are in fact, machines being run my the gene inside which wants to replicate and survive...scary? That is also probably the reason why the male child is so much a priority even today because when a man doesn't have a son, one half of his genes are totally wiped out of the population..:)
So while adoption is a wonderful idea,maybe that is why it still remains the path taken by a majority that can't have children of their own and not by people who can but choose not to.
Panch:
You are absolutely right. Ive seen that in many people. I guess people are taken in by the drudgery of life and more occupied with their own survival that they dont have time to think about others after a certain point in their life. But in the end it comes down to how badly you want to do it and to what extent you would go to get it done.
Misha: Funny how something as small as a gene can influence our lives. I had this in my mind when I wrote what I wrote in the post. Suppose, you would like to have two kids, think about adopting one instead of giving birth to both. Thats more like what I had in mind.
:) Nice one..
Adoption is a nice thing to do..Its increased a lot though.I see many people adopting kids nowadays.
Prabha: thanks. I hope the trend continues and increases.
Vitalstatistix: Ive seen more instances of the first case happening than the second. Lets hope that the second category too can happen often.
Wooaaooww: To do justice, an interesting phrase. I never associated that with raising children :)
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