Vekupa George Rhakho
Papal Seminary, Pune
One afternoon I had gone out to the city and I chanced to see a number of events unfolded before my eyes most of which left me with sadness. I was waiting for bus at a bus stop but the buses were crowded with no place to even enter. I decided not to board the crowded buses. Bus after bus did I wait for, but all in vain. A little later I raised my hand to stop a slow moving rickety six seater which was off course more expensive. Left with less hope for a place in the buses to come, been rush hour, I proceeded. At the end of the journey for about five minutes or so, I started walking towards the destination I had decided to go. The rich I saw move in expensive cars with gloomy looks and selfish attention to the passers-by. In the pleasant afternoon and especially in the city like Pune still decides to put on the air condition which was absolutely unnecessary. I did not bother to look at them as I walk the side of the road crossing the long stretch of the Yerawada Bridge, ancient in structure but glorious in look.
As I walk I met people coming pass me from opposite direction mostly with ear pieces fixed with less attention to what was happening around. Occasionally some gypsy came by with a small bundle of belonging on their heads. I saw many high storied buildings lying around finding people to accommodate them, on condition that they must pay very high. It pains me as I see selfishness everywhere with the “I” that seem to dominate. St. John Chrysostom’s words came alive that moment in me. It goes like this, if a rich man who has more than enough donates a small land to a gypsy, it is not charity but justice. Every person born has the right of share in possessing land for his living. No one actually has the right to keep more than what he does not require. No person has the right over land because he does not own it. The earth is everyone’s property.
Finding the need to change my destination, I kept walking to get a connecting bus which also was in vain due to the rush hour. Left with no option I boarded an auto rickshaw. At the end of the journey, I was walking for some time and I found a very sick lady lying on the footpath with her small belonging as her pillow. I saw her three children innocently playing near-by their mother. I stood for a while and reflected what to do? I was scared because I didn’t have enough money to give her and her children even for a meal. Besides I was scared she might ask me to take her to the hospital which is beyond my capacity (I mean in terms of language, resource and other unexplained reasons). I walked away still pain in my heart. A little later I found another group of gypsy on the road. A little girl with some plastic scraps on her hand playing started following me saying, I am hungry, I didn’t have food. I stood near a huge banyan tree and opened my wallet and gave her a ten rupees note. She took it with great joy and ran away to join the group.
For a moment I was filled with peace. I went on for my business but could not get it done. So I decided to turn back home. Seen hungry people I thought of the food that is always at my disposal in the house. I saw people buying way-side food eating to their content and the pedestrians around look with their mouth-watering at the sight of the food.
While returning, a blind man appeared from an opposite direction with his tracing stick hitting on the ground. At one point, he missed the step and was off the footpath. Immediately I grappled his arm and put him back on the footpath. I was very worried how that man would reach his destination in that state. I kept walking and I heard a voice from a local man who said, sir you did a good job, thinking I was a foreigner. I just smiled and said thank you and went on.
A little later I came across the same sick lady who was awake at that time. I know I have no other option but to move on. I was scared even to ask what happened to her or to tell her that God loves her which for sure would not make sense to her.
I remembered movie titled “St. Bakhita.” There an African woman saint narrates a beautiful dialogue. She happen to be a slave girl of a rich man who own huge areas of land in a particular locality while there were many poor people around with no land to even collect a twig or two to face the cold snowed winter. A group of innocent children seen the rich man’s wood heaped, felt tempted to take but was discovered by the slave girl. She was kind at heart so instead of reporting to her master, she goes on to give more to the children who went home happily. A little later the rich man found out what happened and summoned the children and their parents. The slave girl was also summoned to give explanation for her actions.
She was brave to speak boldly to the rich man to defend the right of share for the poor people around. The rich man in anger said that the forest was his and that his family possessed it for more than three hundred years. The slave girl was not left without words, who in turn said that the forest has been existing for thousands of years.
St. Ignatius often tells, what profits a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul? Many are blind in their lives without knowing who they really are. It is not what having more but being more that counts after all. Life today is filled with selfish people who try to own as much as possible. Men have become very foolish to try to collect as much as possible when he has to live for few years, eighty for those who are strong as the bible says. The earth belongs to everyone and sharing is one of the duties of every rational being. Store up treasures for yourselves in heaven where modes cannot destroy.
Nothing belongs permanently to anyone. Everything is vanity because it will pass away. We are not the rulers of the world but we are all stewards of the world. We shall all face the same fate when we die.
Why is that a man who has nothing to live on when he tries to take a small belonging of a wealthy man out of necessity is put behind bars while a person who grapples huge amount of possession illegally beyond need is honoured? This is a crazy world filled with crazy people hungering for honour, position which is all in vain. People who seek honour enjoys it during their life time while those who try to avoid been honoured live eternally in the hearts of the people to come. Focus therefore on the things which are eternal and not on the temporal things which are but a passing reality. Everything will come to pass. Nothing is permanent and no one is eternal except God who is the ultimate authority over everything.
Life on earth is lived only once, it cannot be rehearsed. Life without sharing is not a life worth living. Live this short life everyday for the good of everyone as if it is the last day. Postpone no good work for tomorrow, it may not be yours. Amen.
