Poverty denies honour for the dead....

Often, we come across news reports about sick people who are in need of financial and social help. It is heartening to note that these reports do elicit positive response. We do have kind people willing to help those in need and who are humane enough to be a human being. Still, there are unheard cries, unanswered pleas and shelterless lives…

 Yesterday’s Malayala Manorama had a report about a mother who was so poor that she could not afford the cost of funeral for her dead son. The son had been under treatment for some months and his leg was amputated as part of the treatment. At last, death caught up with him, perhaps relieving him of the hardships that he was enduring among us. The mother did not have any money with her and was unable to bear the costs of a funeral. She had no option other than to donate the dead body of her dear son to the medical college. The picture of the sobbing mother in the newspaper was heart breaking. I am at a loss for words….

 As usual, I am angry about the lack of proper social security system in our country. The absence of any system that would give help to the needy when it is needed the most. I am also angry at the rich religious institutions and religious out fits that spend so much on propaganda, political parties that have enough money to have their own television channels, recreation parks and resorts, extra rich citizens who spend millions on their homes…  

 I guess these would be good excuses for me to exonerate myself. Each one of us need to come up with reasons why we cannot help those in need, while on the other hand we find enough reasons and resources to keep celebrating Onam, Ramadan, Christmas etc in all its splendor.

 May be it is these forced smiles and routine celebrations that keep us going.. If we start looking at the stark realities, it may be too over powering for brittle souls like us…