Living Beyond Time
They
live by hours and day. Their day begins with rising sun and ends with setting
sun. To these hopeless and hapless millions, no month or year exists beyond the
devil day
By Mukesh Sharma
The millions die unborn in India.
Lucky few come out in fullness of time. Out of this flock, only a few blessed
are able to live in time. The majority of unblessed ‘breathing’ human beings
are caught in time-warp. To these teeming millions, the time doesn’t move; the
time doesn’t exist. The miserable millions are born out of circumstances; they
survive in circumstances; their days are numbered in circumstances. To these
children of poverty, roti is a
luxury; a sound sleep is a celebration. They live by hours and day. Their day
begins with rising sun and ends with setting sun. To these hopeless and hapless
millions, no month or year exists beyond the devil day. As the stream of the Ganga
can’t be divided into time, there is no old or new year in their lives. These calander-less
people live beyond time.
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| Living Beyond Time |
According to the Lancet, a global health medical journal, 15.6 million abortions take place every year in India, and 81 per cent of it at home. Of course, unofficial figures are enormously high. Though the unfortunate mothers of these unborn children are mere victims, their fathers are poverty, disease, and illicit relations. Each abortion brings a death to the unborn and the mother is reborn again for another onslaught. No new year exists between a death and rebirth.
The International Children Charity reveals that there are over 20
millions street children in India; these orphans, children of single mother
‘penury’ fight for every crumb of roti
(bread) on the busy roads of cities and at railway stations where they wait for
the trains for the leftover food. Always busy in roti-hunt, these forlorn kids have
no time to look back to old year or look forward to New Year. They continue to
wriggle between old year and New Year; the old year never ends and the New Year
never sets in.
As per Ministry of Women and Child Development report, there are 3
millions female sex workers in India; 36 per cent of them are yet to attain the
age of 18. Since this ancient ‘business’ of flesh trade has gone hi-tech with
the advent of internet, the unofficial figure may be four times high. The
reported and unreported alleged cases of sexual abuse of minor girls in
shelter homes and other ‘centre’s so called Nari
Niketan etc. are not being counted here. To these daily ‘wage’ earners, the
day begin with the setting sun and ends with the rising sun; it is difficult to
distinguish between the rising sun and setting sun. These unfortunate women
live on night-to-night basis. Their ‘dayless’ life has no year.
Going by the international poverty
line yardstick, 60 per cent populace in India i.e. 763 million live on $3.30
per day or in other words, is below the poverty line. Reported deaths due to
starvations and suicides across the country, are the tell-tale sign of crushing
poverty in India. These miserable millions can’t see life beyond ‘roti. They are destined to live on
day-to-day basis. They can’t think of life in terms of years.
Now the pertinent question is who is
responsible for this sorry state of affair. People allege it is grasping netas.
The most of the netas are getting richer and richer. The politics is the most
lucrative business in India. The Corruption has become a business culture.
In his write up entitled Equal Distribution,
published in Harijan Bandhu, Mahtma Gandhi says:
“The rich cannot accumulate wealth
without the co-operation of the poor in the society.”
Needless to say, New Year may be
matter of celebration for the handful of ‘children’ of Power and Pelf only. To the vast number of ‘kids’ of Hunger and Penury not only in India but
across the world, NEW YEAR is just a phrase. They live beyond time. Robert
Burns rightly says:
“Man’s inhumanity to man,
Makes countless
mourn”
