Have you ever wondered what your
life would be, if instead of two you had
just one hand?
Have you ever given it a thought
how would your world be, if you lost your sense of hearing?
Never bothered huh?!! Guessed so! Why should one entertain such absurd thoughts? Aren’t
we too occupied with our own lives, pretty trifles that consume all our
precious time? I too am no different. Then what made me imagine such a horrible
scenario? Well it was a 5min commutation
back home that shook me inside out.
One fine evening while we were heading home, my
brother received an emergency call from hospital. He dropped me midway and despite the distance to
our home being very less from that point, I decided to take a cycle rickshaw. It was
a bit late in the evening and rickshaws weren’t in sight. After a couple of
minutes I saw one and as I signaled the rickshawwalla to stop I caught a glimpse of his right hand which wasn’t
really there below the elbow. The man pulling the rickshaw had just one hand.
With a lump in my throat I told him the address and sat on the rickshaw
quietly. He lifted his right hand and waved to signal that he is going to take a
turn. I sat in silence, knots forming in my stomach.
Thousands of thoughts churned my conscience. My
house was barely at 5minutes distance. I could have very well walked back home if it
wasn’t a bit late. But even if it wasn’t late evening, would I have really
walked back home? The answer in all possibility is in negative. I would have
still taken a rickshaw. I am a lazy ass. I don’t like walking distances, long
or short. Have a car at your disposal,
tell the driver where you want to go and just sit back. Driver ain’t available
then you do have public transport. Take a rickshaw even if you have to go just 2 blocks. Why bother your feet? Why take the pains of walking?
And there was this man-crippled, earning his bread
by doing hard labor. After passing some minutes in silence I managed to ask him
how he lost his hand. He said an accident occurred while working in a factory. Some
machine fell and he instantly lost his hand. One moment- that’s all that takes
to change your life permanently, irreversibly. One sole earner of the family
getting crippled, imagine the plight of his family. If you are educated then
even if you become physically challenged, you still have some options. You have
the power of knowledge. You can take up some sedentary job. But when one is
completely illiterate and completely dependent on physical labor then in such a
case crippling of body can cripple entire family’s life.
But here was this man, crippled but not helpless. Earning his way to life by doing hard labor.
And people like me crib. We are born cribbers. A breed of ever ungrateful people. We crib
about everything. From cribbing about big noses, pimples and scars, fat which
is visible only to our own eyes, shape of hands which no sane person would
notice to issues like non clearance of exams, being unsatisfied with the job
profile at hand etc etc. We whine, groan, complain about everything possible. As
if the entire universe is conspiring against us. Life is being unjust and
unfair to us. Is life being unfair or
are we being unfair to life?
As my home came in sight I was in a bit of dilemma
as to what should I pay the man. My heart crying out for the lost hand as well
as thoughts of my own ingratitude cluttering my mind. I handed him 50bucks
instead of 15 and as I moved inside saw the glimpse of the man with one hand
staring at the 50rs note in his left hand.
As I walked towards my room words echoed in my head-
“I have such a big nose.” “Why do I have such ugly hands?” “God! How do I get
rid of these pimple marks?
I have a body free of physical impairments. Senses that
function properly and still the ungratefulness with which I crib about how big
a nose I have? Shame.
"It is He, Who has created
for you (the faculties of) hearing, sight, and feeling and understanding. Little thanks it is ye
give." [Surah23. Verse78 Al Mu’minun][The Holy Quran]
