Thursday, October 8, 2015

do unto others...

Today was a bit different. I woke up with a headache in the back of my head- prolly the result of sleeping on one side for hours- actually sleeping like a log colloquially speaking.
So I had one crocin and then went back to bed for  a bit before getting ready for work. The maid came to my room woke me up and told me that last night someone entered her house and took away her Rs 6000 plus her mobile phone. What a shame! And you know what i did? I just said "Oh? Thats really awful" and turned over. She lives in a makeshift tenement and exists hand to mouth. But she is a very very happy individual and brings a certain kind of dignity with her that we have grown to respect.
I am ashamed and so I am writing this just to assuage my guilt. For her losing Rs 6000 is like me losing Rs 6 laks if not 6 crores- and i have been so insensitive.
Sometimes, time and circumstance weighs you down so much so that it becomes difficult to be human, to commiserate, to lend a shoulder.
But its not fair- its apalling to say the least. I should have asked her how she will manage the month since that must have been her livelihood money. Had a friend called me in the dead of the night saying  someone or something was bothering her, I would have picked up my car and rushed over, out of concern and a bit of social pressure. But this  poor woman reached out and I did not live up to her expectations. What am I becoming? A selfish insensitive old woman?
Today is a wake up call for me- I will never forget this feeling of guilt and it will prevent me from ignoring the needs of others- not out of compulsion but out of the belief that we should do unto others as we would have them do unto us.Until it happens to us we are unable to understand any pain or pleasure- empathize they call it. But if someone is reaching out, the least I can do is heed their need and apply myself appropriately. Notwithstanding that I have a heavy head and a churning mind. Today when I get home I am going to apologize to her and extend help.

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