Heal the World.

Bangalore, the silicon valley of my country, India, is a special place. It's a fairly young city where thousands of IT professionals from across the world work. Clean, fresh, new and daring. There's something unique about this place. When you reach the traffic signal at Hebbal from the time you enter the city from the Bangalore Airport, you will find the eunuchs come to your car asking for money. And what's more astonishing is many people will wind down their window glasses and shell out coins and cash. One such day I concentrated to study them- a group of 5-9 eunuchs crossing the road, all moderately dressed in saree, bangles in their hands, long hair braided come to my car. I let down my window and gave a five rupee coin and our eyes met. I found sadness and hopelessness in them.Since then I find myself shell out cash everytime at Hebbal traffic junction inspite of being someone not in favour of giving money to beggars.

But then can these eunuchs really be called beggars??? Beggars I would like to believe are people who choose to not work, fiend handicap of some kind and take money from us. In this case, these eunuchs cant really be called beggars. These are people that the society has not accepted as one of them.These are people who never get employed just because the employers are uncomfortable with their identity. They are people who the world has chosen to not 'look' at. I such a scenario, these people I feel require all the sympathy, support, care and sensitivity not because they are left behind by us but because they are not even there in the 'rat race'.

Till a day we can embrace them and give them jobs in our own office, invite them for the party at home or be seen with them as a friend, I want to lower my car windows each time a hand reaches out and after all its just a 10-rupee note from me.

'There's A Place In
Your Heart
And I Know That It Is Love
And This Place Could
Be Much
Brighter Than Tomorrow
And If You Really Try
You'll Find There's No Need
To Cry
In This Place You'll Feel
There's No Hurt Or Sorrow.....

HEAL THE WORLD, MAKE IT A BETTER PLACE, FOR YOU AND ME, AND THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE.' Michael Jackson

Urmila Chanam
Humanitarian
Writer/Columnist
Bangalore, India
urmila.chanam@gmail.com
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