Journey to Thatta- A contemplation

During my recent visit to Thatta where I along with a few volunteers (from St.Patrick’s parish) went to deliver the relief goods for the flood victims, I realized I needed a deep introspection of where I stand, where most of us stand...

We cry and complain a lot about how our lives are not so perfect; we demand/crave for things that in many cases we don’t need. Seldom do we realize that in this varied world of ours, there are people who can't have or have no knowledge about the things that we keep demanding. We are quick to realize this point but it lasts for a few moments and then the focus is back to our domain and we’re back in our “demanding mode”. It is human nature to aspire to want more and we compare ourselves to people who are privileged, those who have been financially blessed but sometimes it would be better if we compared ourselves with those who aren’t fortunate enough, those who don’t even have the basic necessities of life (food, water, shelter, security). If we could do that every day of our lives our own souls will find that peace that is so desperately needed.

Another fact that must be mentioned is that our constant demanding is constraining already scarce resources which include food as well. One of the factors for the general rise in food prices is that overall consumption has increased without more land being cultivated to meet the new demand, couple this with climate change and irregular weather patterns and overall yield is further declining and that has further driven up prices of essential commodities making it more difficult for those who already cannot meet the costs and adding more people to the list who find it more troublesome to make ends meet.

That wall steadily grows which divides the rich and the poor and resentment grows deeper each day. Visualize this, a daily wage worker has to walk every day to work and on his way he must read the number of ads for all-you-can-eat buffets and discounted meals. The previous day his children have had only one meal. Think about what must be going through his mind? Add opportunists and troublemakers and you have the right conditions for a bloody revolution. We believe that we are equals but why this inequality, a man-made anomaly?