Wednesday, April 21, 2010

5 Rs

Earning it

What are you willing to do to earn 5 Rs ?
It seems such a trivial sum that people may not even consider what the big deal is.
What do you get for 5 now-a-days would be the first question.
Half a glass of tea ? A cigarette ? Parking for an hour ?

Chennai is such a hot and humid place that you sweat just sitting under the fan.
Forget bearing accessories like bags, your own clothes feel like a burden.
On one such sweltering day when travelling by a local I saw a blind person entrain.
He had a huge sack of books on one shoulder, and a walking stick in the other.
He must not have been older than 16 or 17.
Soon he settled in or to be exact found a small spot to unburden himself.
Fishing out a twobit book from his bag, he started explaining all the reasons why it is a must have.
For close to 10 minutes, he spoke non-stop about the great things and luck that book brings in.
I didn't understand all of what he said, except that the book was for 5 Rs.
Having elicited no buyers at the end of his speech, he waited in anticipation for a few more minutes.
He then moved to the other side of the compartment, going through the same rigmarole once again.
He really believed in all that was drilled into his head about the book.
There wasn't a trace of emotional blackmail or pleading in his voice.
Nothing other than wanting to earn 5 Rs honestly.
What about several others like the one selling safetypins and rubber bands in the subway?
The one with 10 pens for 5Rs, the kid minding the peanuts, the old woman with the rattles?

Probably I do nothing more compassionate than occassionally buying from them, but
I always wonder how many do they manage to sell in a day ? A week ? A month ?
How are they able to sustain themselves with such meagre amounts.
And the efforts for earning 5Rs, leaves me pondering the great imbalance in our lives.

One day, hopefully I can make a difference.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

A Rubbish Story

The Elusive Bin

It all started with having to clean the house. Rather, sorting things we wanted to send back home. Duly we made piles of utensils, books, electronics, mementos, even pillows, cushions and footwear. It helped to a large extent that when we recently moved houses we hardly unpacked anything other than daily wear. It was still a good 2 hour work and by the time we emerged sweaty and grimy, we had nearly 8 cartons to show for our effort. We divided the booty between Chennai and Hyderabad based solely on our assumption of available attic space.

In the process, we halted for a few minutes to bolt down a pitiful and unappetizing lunch of thepla. Luckily the urge to pack outweighed the desire to indulge the palate. In our elation about the neat boxes, we didn't realize that we had created 4 bags of refuse also. A quick shower later, we set out in search of a dustbin to get rid of them.

First stop was the society itself, but there was no joy. By now faint with hunger we thought it will be a matter of minutes before we can dump the bags and grab a bite. Wrong. 20 minutes and 5 kms later, past 3 different areas, we were still searching for a garbage can. The car was beginning to smell like the backside of a restaurant kitchen. I had heard of dust-free zones in Pune, but never knew of it being a dusbin-free zone.

In desperation, we began scouring every lane and alley, fearul of being stuck with the trash for the night. Thankfully we spotted one just as we were reaching the end of our patience. Its no wonder Pune is so littered !