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Why Are We Such Cowards?

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Serious (read "social") issues, Tushar tells me, no one is interested in.
Probably yes, he is right.
At the maximum, we people talk; talk a lot, for that matter. Rarely beyond that.
No particular reason for choosing this title, it just came spontaneously, and can be put in the stack of those "WH" questions whose answers we don't have(or rather, don't want to face!).
But yes, something ironical, which I notice many a times.
In my college, in the canteen area there are four shops, Amul one, Nescafe one, Juice one and the Verka one. The former two have small kids working there.
Now, also exists this program called "Pratigya" in my college, where engineers humbly contribute their bit to the society by teaching small kids.
Sometimes, funny things happen. The other day a girl standing with me couldn't drink her glass of juice because she saw the kid putting crushed ice in it!
She was like, "His hands were black black" et al.
We talk about making a difference, yet we fail to accept.
And this "we" I’m mainly using for people I am acquainted with, college going people, the quintessential "youth" of our country.
What stops us from accepting everything and being hardcore hypocrites?
Our cowardness?
Today, I was having a chocolate shake, when I saw this small kid sitting there and looking at everyone.
I wanted to get one for him, but, imagine, I asked my friend if she would hand it over to him, I was hesitant that much!
And, my friend was no different!
Then I had to ask another friend to perform the task, and the shop waale aunty and uncle were talking about it amongst themselves!
Why I was a coward in asking him what he wanted (I just ordered what I was having), why was I such a coward in talking to him?
Why are we such cowards?
A Rs.10 chocolate shake, we don't even come to know where 10 rupees go lying in our bags or dirty jeans, yet we are cowards in sharing that shake, it’s not that we are too stingy with the money; it’s just that we lack that ounce of guts!
A love story will be read by everyone, passed around, yet, "serious-social" issues are found to be boring (not by everyone, we cannot give up all the hope, but still, by "general" means and standards, yes), why?
Because, they need an effort, not that much of it, but still, we are modern-have-to-balance-everything-advanced-ambitious youth of India.
- Tamanna Kakkar

Comments

Si_Lee said…
aaah ... it was like reading my own piece .. well till the shake story started .. I guess i have overcome tht stage today ....

brilliantly put .. true.. brilliant and sordid... sordid the most...

But there are pretty good reasons for this attitude , be it the don't care not bothered or no guts .. and no its not something I have read somewhere but something i have come to understand after seeing how nations and societies which today call themselves developed, evolved. And the results of the observation offer me a very good ... ummm.. not reason.. but a basis for why ....

It would be another post i guess ... but in a gist ... let me put it this way..

"Socio economic development in todays world is intricately linked with lots of human values, social standards of living and ideologies. this socio economic development is as natural as any other evolution that takes place in natiure ... the rules and laws are the same.. however .. the one thing that happened here and does not often happen in nature .. was colonialism ... it took out tht period of 200 odd years ... and that evolution which was intended to be gradual became shunted and when it resumed the pace it chose to take was more than gradual ... hence what we see..."
guess it is too complicated but give it a thought .. i might write about it someday .. and say hi to tushaar from my side ..
May 25, 2010 at 2:57 PM
Akriti said…
I totally agree with you. Today all of us think its fashionable and "in" to talk about issues concerning the society. Seminars, Conferences, Meets, Protests, Charities are just the first phase. As you said, it all boils down to the fact whether we as individual citizens are willing to do real things and not just talk about them.

The daily incidents that you mentioned above happen with every one of us. We are reluctant and conscious to lend a helping hand to those in need. People's responses and the fear of being laughed at is something that has dominated our own positive intentions.

We need to wake up. really.
May 25, 2010 at 3:03 PM
Si_Lee said…
@ akriti & tammanna...
absolutely no intention of any offence...
the irony is that this post though true will to a great extent serve as a platform of the very evil you have desired to end...

irony ....

sorry no intentions to sound sarcastic or any other tone which may convey a negative vibe ... it made me smile actually when i thought about the irony ...
May 25, 2010 at 3:10 PM
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