Dr Aniruddha Babar
Tetso College Dimapur
I am writing with heavily disturbed mind while sitting in some distant corner of India away from my beloved Nagaland amidst the majestic company of Himalaya.
News about an incident which was brought to my notice by Benisha, my dear friend and a student who is also a senior member of Tetso Motorcycle Club, ruined my evening and also destroyed my peace of mind. It seems i have lost myself in oblivion-into deepest, coldest abyss of dark sadness and this Great Himalaya and his trusted companions-the mighty wind and angelic clouds trying to console me but all their efforts are going in vain. How can a right thinking man not get emotional hearing a heart wrenching news of death of a poor, lonely man who died of starvation in some corner of Dimapur?
Death undoubtedly is a final destination for all of us. None can escape death. In 2020-21 I have seen deaths in my life-i have lost my father, my maternal uncle, my friends, beloved Prof Lorin. However, I did not grieve on their death as much as i grieve and cry on a death of a stranger whom I never met, whom I never knew, who died without food, without water, without comfort, without human touch, one who died like an animal or may be a lesser entity under Fly over opposite Traffic Zone I office. What thoughts must have come in his mind in those last moments? I am sure he must have begged, he must have asked people for food, for water. He must have stood near restaurants, near food carts with hopes that he will get something to eat, but o' cruel, heartless humanity could not spare little food for him. He died, but I know his death was not ordinary. Death of a starving man is never ordinary. His death was a Culpable.
Homicide and WE are responsible for that. We let him DIE. He could have been saved with little human touch, bowl of rice and glass of water but for us that human touch, food and water became unaffordable, ultra expensive that we could not offer them to him.
Death of a starving man cannot be ignored, nor forgotten. This 21st century, which has brought prosperity to some, also brought misery to many. On one hand we spent thousands of rupees to satisfy our material desires and on the other, there are people who "Dream" for food and struggle for survival. We should feel ashamed-individually and collectively because we could not save man from starvation. In big cities, where money talks and gold shines, where people inhale venomous gases more than oxygen, where human relations starts and ends with material desires and animal instincts i could not expect survival of human values and humanity. But I know, in our Nagaland humanity still exists, our world is different, human values are still cherished here despite all odds and yet we let a man died right before our eyes. Where were the people, where were civil societies, where were women organizations, where were student bodies, where were Churches, Temples, Mosques, Gurudwaras, where were the preachers of morality and social justice, where were YOU and I?
We need all of us to own the responsibility of our actions. The solution of social problems lies in the hands of people. "Death of a starving Man" is a clear-cut symptom of profoundly sick society which is suffering from a disease of amnesia.
Blames, excuses and escapism never help humanity to evolve. Laws, Governance, System, Moral Doctrines, Religious Preaching is all useless unless and until we learn to own up the responsibility of our own actions and learn to live and grow like human-as our beloved almighty expect from us.
I Pray, that the death of an Invisible Man may awake us. I Pray, that the sin that we unknowingly committed be redeemed and God grant us wisdom to open our minds, hearts, pockets and our kitchens to all those who have been made the victims of time, circumstances and social evils. I Pray, may every soul get food with dignity, may every thirst be quenched. May the eyes of people be opened and they see GOD in fellow Human Being, so that no other INVISIBLE MAN have to die. Amen!
