It makes me wonder why is it that being born a human, we tend to forget how important it is to respect humanity, why do we get so busy, that we do not get time to wipe a tear rolling down someones eyes, why is that our colour makes us believe that we are superior than the rest, why do we become intolerant towards someones customs and ridicule them, just because we do not dress up the same way, why is it that caste and creed become higher than the value of human beings, why is it that we being human fail to understand the pain of fellow human beings, why is it that we are so preoccupied with our own self that it makes us feel that we are the only ones who have the right to live, why is it that money becomes more important than the lives of several human beings, why can't a tear be exchanged with a smile, why has humility become such a rare commodity, possessed only by a few.......
History has it that human beings have been the greatest enemies of fellow humans, a brother has killed a brother, a father has been disowned by his sons and a poor man has been illtreated by the rich. Times changed and so did the world but till date the devil seems to work with full force and we abide without raising our voice or putting an end to it.
Among many sections in society, one that is suffering without a reason just for the sake of the selfish gains of a handful are the rare tribes of the world. People of these tribes have a close knit society, with their own laws and a different way of living, they might not be 'civilised' in the conventional sense of the word, but are self sufficient to lead a happy life and far better than the ones who call themselves civilized but indulge in savagery. They are not in touch with the outside world and thats what makes them all the more unique. But for them, as it has been for many others, peace does not have a long life..there have been intrusions from the outside world making it difficult for them to live in their natural habitat. Their numbers are depleting and they are dying of epidemics , because they are not immune to the diseases from the outside world, this is why they immediately catch infection, if exposed to people who do not belong to their tribe ..like you and me.
"Over one hundred tribes in the world choose to reject contact with outsiders. They are the most vulnerable people on the planet. Many of them are living on the run, fleeing invasions of their land by colonists, loggers, oil crews and cattle ranchers. They have often seen their friends and families die at the hands of outsiders in unreported massacres or epidemics.
Terms like stone age and primitive have often been used to justify the persecusion or forced developement of tribal people, the results have always been catastrophic." For them the earth is their mother and they abide by the laws of nature and we the so called developed souls of the world have exploited nature and have ruin natural habitats in the name of developement and the sad part is that the state of our ruthless endeavours has become from bad to worse.
Today when I hear of people being killed in the name of religion, region, colour...my faith in humanity dwindles all the more, but as they say that after the end of a dark tunnel theres always light, in the same way there are people in the world who are leaving no stone unturned to make this world a better place, and I am happy that I have come across such people and their endeavours have left an everlasting impression on my soul. One such person and a fellow blogger whom I would like to mention is Mr. Maithri ( http://www.soaringimpulse.com/) a medical doctor living in Melbourne Australia. He has indeed been a real angel and has been working to improve the plight of the people in Swaitland.
Swaitland is a country with highest prevalence of HIV in the world, and 10% of its population consists of orphaned children. Through his posts I learnt how if we want and have the will to, we can be the change...a change that can lead to the creation of a happy world, where peace resides and if one is in pain many stand up to be the healing balm.
Wherever we are, in whatever part of the world, even if we are concerned about the plight of the people in our neighbourhood and help those who are in need, in any way possible, I am sure that our endeavour would indeed bring a change in society.
When God made this world, he made everything with loads of love and care and now its our duty to retain that love and spread it towards the dark corners..to rekindle life.
"Where theres darkness, let there be light."
History has it that human beings have been the greatest enemies of fellow humans, a brother has killed a brother, a father has been disowned by his sons and a poor man has been illtreated by the rich. Times changed and so did the world but till date the devil seems to work with full force and we abide without raising our voice or putting an end to it.
Among many sections in society, one that is suffering without a reason just for the sake of the selfish gains of a handful are the rare tribes of the world. People of these tribes have a close knit society, with their own laws and a different way of living, they might not be 'civilised' in the conventional sense of the word, but are self sufficient to lead a happy life and far better than the ones who call themselves civilized but indulge in savagery. They are not in touch with the outside world and thats what makes them all the more unique. But for them, as it has been for many others, peace does not have a long life..there have been intrusions from the outside world making it difficult for them to live in their natural habitat. Their numbers are depleting and they are dying of epidemics , because they are not immune to the diseases from the outside world, this is why they immediately catch infection, if exposed to people who do not belong to their tribe ..like you and me.
"Over one hundred tribes in the world choose to reject contact with outsiders. They are the most vulnerable people on the planet. Many of them are living on the run, fleeing invasions of their land by colonists, loggers, oil crews and cattle ranchers. They have often seen their friends and families die at the hands of outsiders in unreported massacres or epidemics.
Terms like stone age and primitive have often been used to justify the persecusion or forced developement of tribal people, the results have always been catastrophic." For them the earth is their mother and they abide by the laws of nature and we the so called developed souls of the world have exploited nature and have ruin natural habitats in the name of developement and the sad part is that the state of our ruthless endeavours has become from bad to worse.
Today when I hear of people being killed in the name of religion, region, colour...my faith in humanity dwindles all the more, but as they say that after the end of a dark tunnel theres always light, in the same way there are people in the world who are leaving no stone unturned to make this world a better place, and I am happy that I have come across such people and their endeavours have left an everlasting impression on my soul. One such person and a fellow blogger whom I would like to mention is Mr. Maithri ( http://www.soaringimpulse.com/) a medical doctor living in Melbourne Australia. He has indeed been a real angel and has been working to improve the plight of the people in Swaitland.
Swaitland is a country with highest prevalence of HIV in the world, and 10% of its population consists of orphaned children. Through his posts I learnt how if we want and have the will to, we can be the change...a change that can lead to the creation of a happy world, where peace resides and if one is in pain many stand up to be the healing balm.
Wherever we are, in whatever part of the world, even if we are concerned about the plight of the people in our neighbourhood and help those who are in need, in any way possible, I am sure that our endeavour would indeed bring a change in society.
When God made this world, he made everything with loads of love and care and now its our duty to retain that love and spread it towards the dark corners..to rekindle life.
"Where theres darkness, let there be light."
17 comments:
Miathris work is great, immense and touched so many lives...he is a living example of fulfillment, of someone who stands by , no questions asked.
when u speak of tribe and the less associated they wanna be with us, reminds me of the Amish culture, always wanted to go live a day...live their culture, their lifestyle...but as u say, i dunno how much they like the intrusion.
The human race is so busy in controlling one another, we have forgotten the very purpose of our existence...Its only when one takes that small step, we look..we are reminded of our potential...our capacity to be humane.
we need these reminders...thanks Sana
Very thought provoking write up and certainly raises a lot of pertinent questions.
We hear and see inumerable horrifying instances around us that make us cringe with horror. Wonder if civilization has actually taken place after all.
You are right, sometimes we are so self focused that we forget the need of other people.
Thank you for this beautiful post my friend and for your humbling words about our work,
We are indeed called to carry the light for those whom the flame of hope is fading.
Keep burning through the night,
Much love and gratitude to you, M
Diversity is the spirit
Life anywhere has inherent differences. And it helps to make a more colourful word. The question is when we try to assign certain terms like 'development', 'good life' etc to everyone on the same scales. The indigeneous tribes are happy and contented with their surroundings if only we let them be. If we start spoiling the environment, we encroach and they try to help which doesn't really help. Tribal settlements with proper houses and sanitation is what we seek to provide but rarely end up doing. The people so much related to nature and forest are that they feel helpless when they can find easy water, no forest produce to search etc. As Mahatma said- Our planet and enough for each man's need but not for each man's greed".
The best help we can do is to have peripheral services like education and medicine available and provide only if they seek it out. Don't push them out of their envionments to be more like us thinking we are the developed ones.
Their science is much ahead of in many respects. They know the signs of impending natural disasters, know herbal cures and have adapted well to the life they find secure.
Thanks for the comment Rush, I agree with you, Maithri is doing a remarkable job, we need more people like him.Yes we have indeed forgotten the purpose of existence and thats what we need to remind ourselves.
Yes, thats a big question.
Thanks swetha :)
Right Joops, we need to think beyond ourselves.Thanks for your visit Joops do come again:)
Thanks Maithri, you have truely inspired me, I hope I'm able to make a difference to someones life..those who really need it..even if I get a single smile back my life would be worth it..God doesnt bless everyone with the way he has blessed you..u are indeed blessed..I wish you all the very best..we you find loads of success in your endeavours and may the dark corners of the world light up with a smile :)
Thats indeed true Holy Lama.. thank you for your visit..do come again :)
Hi Sana:)
Greetings:)
I agree with you wholeheartedly on this interesting and thought provoking post. I have no difference of opinion. My kudos to Dr.Maithri for doing a wonderful job. I wish there were more people like him. He is a blessing to the less fortunate people of Swaitland.
But I would like to find out why civilized people do the horrendous things which they are not supposed to do. I would like to touch upon some basic points just to see what you feel about them.
First of all, In the Bible there is the story of the first brothers Cain and Abel. Cain killed Abel out of hatred born out of jealousy. While the good, God fearing man Abel died the wicked bad man Cain lived. Remember these are the first brothers and we are their discendants. It is not only hatred and jealousy but also self preservation and survival of the fittest. Remember Medha Patkar and Arundhathi Roy are also fighting a losing battle to safeguard the interests of the tribals in our own country.
Majority will always win over the minority. Tribals are a minority. They will be brought into the mainstream of life whether they like it or not. It will take time but it will happen. No doubt about it. It is not only the tribals who are suffering but even the wild animal population is dwindling because of deforestation and less and less forest land available for them to freely roam around.
If you ask me, in spite of all the merits and advantages of a tribal life, I would not like to live like a tribal. Lack of proper housing and sanitation, no proper medicine and hospital facilities, no education and the resultant evils, subject to the ravages of nature, no saving for the rainy day, total dependency on children in old age, living like a frog in the well, narrow minded, superstitious, unable to interact with other members of the world, not able to adapt to changes , short span of life etc. The tribals will become extinct . If they want to survive they have to adapt to change. Change is the only permanent thing in life.
Our ancestors also lived like tribals. They didn’t like that life. They adapted to changes and merged with the mainstream of life. There was a time when our ancestors ate uncooked food until fire was discovered and one fine man accidentally found out that cooked food tasted better.
Human being are the greatest enemies, you said. I agree with you. Self preservation is the answer. We are also animals but with higher intellect and civilized. We want to preserve our selves first and the preservation of others comes after. Many times I have been told by one of my bosses---WHEN IT COMES TO MY LIFE OR YOUR LIFE, LET IT BE YOUR LIFE FIRST. This is the fundamental rule that prevails over everything else. First my life, then the life of my family, then the life of my relatives, then the life of my community, then the life of my people in the state, then the life of my countrymen and so on.
I suppose a lot can be written on the various points you have raised. But then it will become too long. Let me stop now.
I enjoyed reading your lovely thought provoking presentation. Kudos to you. I can see you are preaching a message of non violence, peaceful coexistence, toleration and understanding.
Have a lovely day Sana:)
Joseph
A beautiful thought provoking post and a fresh one, too with a different subject, otherwise I am sometimes fed up of reading monotonous posts of the same category in the blogging world.
After reading your post and the comments, what is making me thinking deep is whether should we leave the tribal the way they are or we should try to bring them to mainstream. Who defines what is best for them? At one side,without the modern facilities like education,finance,proper health care, they might be living in total peace in their own little world, where we fight with one or the other to be the fittest in the race of "survival of the fittest".On the other hand,they are not exposed to a "better life" as we define it. From our perspective, we might say they are not educated enough to take decision, so let's define it for them by us but happiness, peace are matter of realitivity and if they are well content who are we to interfere? What's your thought on this?
Regarding the other issue why we think of ourselves first, I think can be attributed to the same theory of "survival of the fittest". With each day the competition of survival is becoming so fierce, that we hardly get time to think of others, we are becoming narrow minded, self-centered (for whatever reasons, that needs a diffirent post altogether :-),that our own survival is our top most priority, even if it requires pushing & kicking others.
Hmmm..what do i say??
when everyone has said so much for the humanity and in the praise of same :)
One thing i would say that can make a difference .
Start doing 3 good things everyday.
Bring smiles on someone's face 3 times a day :) that will make a difference..
at least people who notice you , will defintely think about it and that will trigger them to do anything :)
like u did, after getting impressed by maithri's work..
Cheers
Hello Mr. Joseph & Mustaf,bringing the tribals to the main stream wud be a disaster...they live a self sufficient life..they hav their own ways to cure ailments.They live in perfect harmony..its a perfect world for them..y disturb them v r ways. thanks for your comments, its imp to discuss things that matter:)
Thanks Mahesh.
hv a great week ahead!!!
Sana,
You have visited my recent post and commented, too. So, just trying to draw a comparison to see if the comparison is relevant.
Now, where the modern world is for us, the tribals are million years lagging behind and if we don't do anything they will be like this for million years coming ahead. So, should we just accept that if they are happy who are we to object?
Is not the case same for that girl in the context who was married without proper education. If she is happy, who are we to interfere? For the educated us, we know what she is lagging behind, but for her, she might not even realize that and be happy her whole lifetime just like the tribals are happy without knowing internet/education/ blogging etc :) What's your take on this?
I am getting more confused than I was before i wrote that post :-(:-(
Mustaf there are certain things in life which are best left on time, time makes us realise thru our experiences and that of the other whats good and whats bad for us..we learn thru experinces and thru the ages.
As for where the tribals are concerned, if for someone our intrusion is so bad that we end up harming them, it is best to leave them in peace.
Debates can go on..but life has its own plans, ones that we get to witness over time.
Sana,
No more arguing :-), time and experience are the best teachers!! Have locked my lips with finger tip until your next post comes :-)
Very nice post and well thought out. You are right we don't help our fellow man enough, in this day and age it is hard for people without much money to get along. Have
Sana.... Though i regret that i am late here....am happy that i didn't miss this thought-provoking write up of yours!
I'm in complete agreement with u....'cause this is one of things that always brings pain in my heart, whenever I come across the news of land acquisition of steel plants, mines, industries.....What we do in the name of development is inhumane...especially evicting tribal people, farmers from their lands in nothing but sheer atrocity!
Have u read Arudhathi Roy's "The algebra of Injustice" If not, plz read it sana...a book that disturbed me a lot. It would be very painful to know what these tribal people, farmers end up living after they are evicted from their own land.
Rarely, I come across people who think about their problems. Kudos to you for writing about such serious issues.
And, I'll visit Maithri's blog shortly. Thanks a lot for letting us know about the noble endeavour he has undertaken!
Yes Mani, these ppl are facing a lot of problems, and the most serious fact is that they are no even been taken under consideration by the authorities!
Will surely read her work,I was told shes been workn for the cause.
Thanks Mani, I hope more ppl come forward and speak up on their behalf!
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