Poverty in India

The wind was blowing fast on my face… the sky was blue, a pleasant, darkish blue… My family chatting about all the wonderful things possible… The weather was cool and pleasant, yet my eyes were burning. The sight beside me disturbed me to no end.

A woman, looking like a reed, thin as it… There was another lady beside her, and she was draining water from half-boiled rice… She had only that to fill her empty stomach, after eating what was cooked; it would be half-full… The thin old lady only smoked… she had no food to eat… Maybe that was the reason why she was so… a manifestation of malnutrition.

Imagine us, trying to cut down food, dieting! I was disgusted with myself! Disgusted for surviving! Disgusted because here I was, sitting in a car, going for shopping, and there was another lady, sitting on bare ground, a line of tents and a vast barren area behind her… For the first time in life, I felt helpless! I wanted to run out, and help the poor women, but I couldn’t! Tears were pouring, not on the surface of my accursed face, which couldn’t help that lady, but in my heart… I couldn’t even weep!


And just as everything else does in life, this sight vanished away from my eyes… but it left a wound in my heart. Whether it will heel or not, I don’t know. A hundred thousand or more people must be witnessing such a sight everyday, in every part of our country! Poverty it is called, ugh! How unbearably common a word, how intolerably disgusting and repulsive a sight!

The level of this curse on our country (India) is fluctuating every year!

Did you know, being able to study in a school means being among the luckiest in the country? While students curse sitting in the class, listening to a teacher, there are a thousand others who would do anything to study, to be in our place!

This poverty is affecting our motherland more than we can imagine! It all starts with a kid thinking like a normal student, “Why must I study?” Then he drops studies, becomes poor. Then, there are more poor people. Further, it hampers the progress of our country.

“Garibi Hatao!” HUH! Instead of even trying to achieve this, we either ignore it, or exploit the Garib even more.

I am sure, when we come across a person suffering from the wrath of poverty, we say, “What can we do? It is their fate…” Do we realize, that this thing we call fate, is partly because of us?

We refuse to give them little money, even if we have it in excess, then at home, sitting on a couch, we say, “Poverty is affecting our country too much!” We refuse to spend a fraction of our so-called precious time that we spend on watching T.V. to educate the poor, and then we say, “Illiteracy is the biggest problem. It is stopping India’s progress!”

Now we may question ourselves, “What will I get if I do all this?” Would we like to see our country progress? Won’t it give us satisfaction? Is it that important for us to get something in cash or kind?

Look around yourself! Look at the poverty around you! Do what you can to help these poor, helpless, innocent souls.

Poverty has been the biggest problem in our country… Solving it is a dream, a hope, a passion, an ambition…yet! Let us fight against this pathetic situation, this dreadful sight! Let us raise our voices (Trust me, they are quite loud and effective)


LET US TAKE SOME ACTION!