A little kid
It was a hot day in Gurgaon. I just got out of an A/C room and feeling pretty hot. I was just about to get into an A/C car again just to escape the heat. There in front of the gate was a little kid not more than 3-4 months old. The baby was crying and no one there to comfort her or feed her. The baby was just left on a piece of bedsheet under the shade of a small tree. 2-3 security guards were milling around and did not seem to care. Being a usually reserved guy, I do not get into these things but something really started bothering me. I asked the guard where the mom was. They told me she was working as a construction worker and she will come when she gets a break. I really felt bad, thinking how helpless the baby was and just stood there. After what seemed like an eternity (maybe 10 mins), the mom came and breastfed her. I did not know how to react; whether to give her some money and how she would feel. For some reason, I just decided to walk away with a heavy heart. I saw the same kid, 2-3 times that day, sometimes crying and sometimes playing and once even stared at me intently. Here is a kid who cannot even turn on her side and vulnerable and the mom is probably working the whole day for 50-60 rupees. I have been spending lots of money just to drink pepsi's. It made me realize the difference between the poor and the rich. The rich are getting richer and the poor are left behind. I am pretty sure this incident has made a mark on me and hopefully make me change for the better but I have no idea what effect it had on me.
posted by Zaks at 7:37 AM
3 Comments:
Maybe the next time, u could get a toy for the little child or something for the mother. Maybe you could even buy a pepsi for her. They dont need money from us, they need some assurance that all this hardwork they r enduring is of some use. You know some kind of feeling that validates what they r doing and why...if i was in your place, i'd feel the same way, we'd question all the unfairness that is around us. I hope, that your quest for life, doesnt fade as u start to settle down in the day to day life in Gurgoan. - L
Thinking about it now, yes I should have done what you said.
I think u have taken time to notice since it is a new thing to you , or rather a shock to you . Inspite of reading your blog and knowing that there was construction going next door i never stepped out yesterday and my mom said that a labourer had left her kid at our door step. I feel all the more terrible , i think it needs to impact us more than the workers cause they are going to do that time and again. I think we need to at the most stop by once a day at such points and see if infants are in discomfort. This blog definitely impacted me , i have made it a point to daily at least let 2 or 3 pedestrians cross roads. When i am driving my car i stop and let moms with kids or only kids cross the road. This is some thing i learnt in America that u let pedestrians cross but if i let all johnnys cross ill not be able to cross a mile , yet when i come across kids or moms with kids . i stop and let the traffic behind me halt to let them go.
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