Monday 4 January 2016

Those compassionate hearts

  "I was just net surfing when I came across the following  news item on "indiatimes news"   Was it overwhelming ? It was heart wrenching and touching above all it gave me a feeling of pride a faith in humanity as did it make me fall in my own eyes .

http://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/2000-sex-workers-from-maharashtra-skipped-2-meals-a-day-to-gift-one-lakh-rupees-to-chennai-flood-relief-248194.html

 Kunal Anand reports in the indiatimes news on 8th december 2015 

Sex workers from Maharashtra's Ahmednagar managed to donate a 1 lakh rupee cheque for Chennai flood relief within 2 weeks of the disaster "These women were restless since the last four days when they came to know about the deluge in Chennai They decided they should do something to help residents there "   Snehalaya founder Girish Kulkarni told PTI  Out of three thousand in the district two thousand of them contributed to the fund . " We are in touch with the Delhi-based NGO Goonj for ensuring further relief to the people of Chennai " Kulkarni added
 The sex workers in an event organised by NGO Snehalaya in Ahmednagar presented a cheque of 1 lakh rupees to District Collector Anil Kawade .

These poor women 90% of whom have been forced into this profession , who have been snatched away from their loved ones , who have been subjected to so much torture heartbreak and agony and who been coerced into  doing that which they never wanted to do willingly,  and  yet  have always been  looked down upon by society,  looked upon with disdain , contempt and disrespect they who have been drained of any emotions and feelings --They who have taken it upon themselves to smile and bear insults assuming this to be their lot . They who are subjected to inhuman treatment just for two morsels of food just to keep themselves alive 

These women skipped two meals a day just so they could save the money and donate it for the relief of the flood affected people of Chennai 

. In the beginning of this write up I had said that  this news item made me fall in my own eyes and rightly so because we are the ones who look down upon them make them stay in segregation,label them vile and social outcasts , no one wants to be associated with them they are always sneered at . 

No one would have been surprised if these women would have decided to pay us back in our own coin ,Why should they contribute for the relief of those who would never think about their  welfare or who would ever respect them . Would these people have ever allowed them even near their houses ? no never . So why should they bother to help them who never helped them  ,"they deserve this for treating us the way they did  more over may be they would not like to take help from us the untouchables may be they will not want to touch the money that we send them from our sinful earnings may be our gesture would face rebuff "Hundreds of this kind of justifications could have come to them and they could have remained aloof , and smug pretending to be helpless BUT no  their thought process was more mature and  full of compassion for their fellow humans They skipped their meals and sent the money saved to the relief fund .They must have had to skip meals to save money because I am sure their earnings must have been taken away by the pimps and brothel owners .


This just goes to show that no profession is noble or ignoble good or bad, no profession should be looked down upon , every person should be respected irrespective of his / her cast creed or work.
This was one section of society which had no obligations to donate no one expected them to do so but they were full of compassion , full of empathy for their fellow humans and did this out of their own feelings .

A very good effect this incident had on society was that the people learnt  to respect these women ---the stigma on their profession may still be there but there is a respect an admiration for them in the thoughts of the general public of that region and in the hearts of all those who came to know about the incident  . Similarly these women too had a sense of achievement their self esteem increased in their own eyes ,the praise showered on them helped  them  get over that feeling of self pity that feeling which had ingrained itself in their psyche that they were a stigma to society , an unproductive section whereas in reality they are  a very important segment of society-they are the members of the oldest profession   instrumental in bringing about an equilibrium a balance in the working of the social set up.

 In olden days they were  called " Nagarvadhoo"  and given due respect for the work they did , they were invited to functions and celebrations and treated with respect. Because it was considered that their profession was as important as any other 


.link to this post -----http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/

2 comments:

  1. Very nice post. Thanks for sharing this story.

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    1. Thanks Shaivi for visiting and appreciating --read yours titled Durga and it is an inspiring post ---thanks and all the best

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