IN SEARCH OF HUMANITY...............by ranjith

"Please help me sir ! Please !!"....the words were still ringing in my mind. The words from a female who's on the verge of her emotions, driven to extreme dis-belief of any help. I was at the crossing , when i heard a woman crying for help at every passerby with a sheet of paper in her hand. Almost every single fellow was forcing his way past her paying no heed to her shouts. So was my first instinct, to ignore her and get on before she reaches me. But, why am i trying to run away from her ?? The fear that i may fall into any trouble, a feeling of some insecurity hastened my pace past her. She suddenly lunged forward, presenting me with one of the most terribly fate-affected face. Her pain was visible in her sorrowful eyes. "Sir ! Please do help me...I need to save my husband...he's to be operated for tumor removal...they estimated the cost to be over 2 lakhs...i am a poor woman...please sir ! do contribute for his operation...save him sir ! I beg of you....." I found myself intently listening to this, with a train of thoughts running back mind.

How much possibly can i help her ? Is she a hoax ?? Her eyes displayed a glint of hope when i reached to my pocket which diminished upon my extraction of a Ten rupee note. Does she expect more ? But i felt far more than generous. Hoping that i was not being fooled, I left in a hurry with lots of raising queries. Dont i usually take pride in being an altruist, but where has my generosity disappeared to ?

The same very Indians who stood united for the freedom of our country, now act the least bothered about his neighbour. Just fifty years of post independence have brought in a revolutionary change in the attitude of people. We have become more self-conscious, hostile, money minded, devoid of humanity and what not ? The bondages of love have been bought by Money ! The doctors could very well perform the operation for free and if not them, raising just 2 lakh rupees in such a massively populated India is no big deal. If just one-tenth of people living in Mumbai, contribute a rupee each...the life is saved, but they dont ! the reason is plain.....none is interested in social service, helping others is no longer a job of the common man. I tried justifying my act of parting with just 10 rupees, considering the population who havent contributed even a penny. The anonymity prevailing in the society, seems the root cause for this hosility.

I had forgotten about that incident and life passed on, until a news-item struck me a fatal blow.


UNABLE TO SAVE HUSBAND, WIFE COMMITS SUICIDE

Tension prevailed at the ****** hospital this morning, as a young woman in her late twenties, commited suicide, on the news of death of her husband, by jumping from the top floor of the hospital building. Sources said that, her husband was admitted for mature tumor removal, and doctors estimated the cost of the opeartion to be over 2 lakh rupees. She was unbale to raise the amount, and the doctors seemed to have played rude by refusing.................



I had no words for the plight of that woman. The face, her despair and the sorrow in her eyes are all clear in my memory. Yes ! they will haunt me forever.

A Message from the author : The above incident was a true one, and not fictional. I cant expect others to change immediately, as i am not sure about myself when the situation demands. We cant deny that we are hostile, act inhumane at some circumstances. There are thousands of such people who need our help. Let us atleast make a difference in one single life ! Lets not go in search of needy and help them, but atleast when they come to you, dont incur a second thought. Thanks a lot for your patient reading and please try to spread this for better lives !