No Easy Answers

This post is not about giving, at least not directly. But yet we hope it leads to one asking questions about giving, even as we commit ourselves to give.

This morning, while on the daily commute by a Mumbai local, the train stopped for a fairly long duration between Santacruz and Khar stations. (For non-Mumbaikars, Santacruz and Khar are two suburban stations). Sitting comfortably in the First Class compartment next to a window (a highly coveted seat), one looked idly out of the window to see adoloscent boys and young girls sitting on the adjoining railway track, with a small plastic bucket of water waiting for our train to pass so that they could cross the tracks and go towards some bushes to answer the call of nature, a daily ritual for those living in the slums in cities. Somewhere in the background, Bhajans were being played probably from the community Ganesh mandal. One could visualise the garish thermocole decorations, the flowers and the lights decorating the Mandal all made possible with contributions from the residents of the vicinity. A thought crossed the mind : Do we have our priorities wrong? Could the money spent on community celebrations not be put to better use by constructing basic community facilities?
The second disturbing event that happened today was in the evening when the vegetable and fruit vendors at Andheri, (another suburb in Mumbai) had to quickly pack their wares because the municipal van was making the rounds to confiscate goods from unlicenced hawkers. Some were not lucky and their goods confiscated, they rode to the municipal office to try and get their carts back perhaps after paying a fine or a bribe or perhaps lost their goods altogether. All of us walked by unconcerned and indifferent to the plight of the hawkers and their monetary loss, even though many of us patronised them on a daily basis. Why do we find it so difficult to take a stand and commit ourselves? Is it because we do not care? is it because we lack empathy ? Is it because we are uncomfortable about peeling off the layers of the difficult lives of the less privileged to find out what lies beneath ?

It is important to answer these questions for in answering them we will discover our motivation for giving. There are no easy answers and no right ones. That is why we need to participate in the Joy of Giving Week, for it will hopefully set us off on a journey of giving for others and in the process, we will discover the answers.