An inspiring call for volunteering a few moments of our daily lives,
to educate those who are not aware of the power of knowledge.
http://www.dawn.com/weekly/dmag/dmag4.htm
Light a candle
By Yubah Bilal
NASEEMA Bibi, a shabbily dressed, middle-aged woman limps and begs on the streets on a hot noon. A mother of eight, she has dreadful bruises and cuts on her face probably from the beatings she gets regularly from her husband.
People just brush her off but shamelessly, she moves on to another car with a crooked and sarcastic smile. Imagine, if after a usual working day you are stuck in a traffic jam and come across her on a signal. She tries her best to make her presence felt like the usual panhandlers. Finally, she curses you wholeheartedly and moves on. Her attitude makes your fuming with rage for a second. ‘What nonsense!’ you grumble.
But, hold on! How else should we expect her to react? Shouldn’t she be expected to become frustrated when she sees women roaming around in their chauffeur driven cars? Shouldn’t she get disturbed when she sees people crowded in fast food restaurants and her own kids can’t even dream to drink a glass of milk?
Imagine that you decide to do something for her. Something to ease her frustration and agony. You talk to her, trying to find out more about her life. You give her gifts packed in fancy wrapping papers and tell her those were gifts and not charity. You believe in the fact that she’s also a human being who deserves to be loved and cared.
Can you see through your mind’s eye, tears rolling down from her eyes as she sees a new jora, laced and dyed magnificently? She tells you that she has never ever worn a new jora in her life — not even on her wedding day. A part of your heart seems to break when you hear that, probably because you are reminded of your bridal dress that cost you 75,000 rupees.
Now that she is so overwhelmed, you give her a pep talk on the importance of education. You tell her that you are ready to teach her on weekends. Initially she seems reluctant, but then she agrees when you tell her that she can continue begging if she likes and you have no problem with that. Time goes on and a year passes. You help her complete her Quaeda and she also starts offering her prayers regularly. She gradually, and unknowingly, starts becoming influenced by your company. The entangled hair full of lice is no more her distinction. The stinky chaader and the lethargic look are gone forever as she gets something challenging in her life to do. The pleasant change in her mood and outlook is even appreciated by her heartless husband. You often reward her with small gifts for her family when she learns her lesson well. She stops begging when she becomes busy in a constructive activity and starts working as a maid although you never impose it on to her.
The purpose of writing this article is to suggest something to those who want to do something worthwhile in their lives. It’s a reminder to everyone who once filled their registration forms of Metric. How many of us remember that we’ve undertaken an oath to educate an illiterate person? There’s nothing more challenging and satisfying in this world than revolutionising the life of an individual.
In our country we come across many such Naseema Bibis on every signal and round about each day. But we are usually in a hurry and have no time to indulge in philanthropist work. We hardly think about bringing some positive changes in other people’s lives, particularly those less privileged than us. We never question what brings them on the roads in the scorching heat while we remain busy pampering our kids in lush and plush homes.
A lot of people must have tried to stop a few panhandlers from begging but could not succeed. Telling others ‘what to do’ is easy, but have we ever told them how to do it? A person from such a background is not expected to find a way out of his or her problems independently. We would have to drag them out of their miserable circumstances. We would have to hold their fingers and show them the way to prosper.
When Naseema Bibi got a healthy alternative, was given a pen instead of ten rupees, her life changed and even that of her kids. But it requires the urge to do some good deeds and a lot of determination. If you have that spark you can truly find one such Naseema Bibi on any road. No many will pay heed to your offer of help, but there must be some poor soul who is waiting to be shown a ray of light.
Today it is hard to imagine that there was once a time during the days during the Caliphate of Hazrat Omar (May he be blessed) when wealth was distributed so evenly that people had troubled finding a deserving person for Zakat. He even carried sack full of grains on his back to give to the needy and made food for starving children himself? Sounds strange? Doesn’t it?
Our rulers are probably too ‘enlightened’ for this. Isn’t it the state’s responsibility to provide genuine homeless people with some shelter or working opportunities? Don’t these downtrodden people deserve some allowance? Aren’t they citizens of this country? They don’t have the desire to open accounts in Swiss banks — all they need is a few bucks to make both ends meet. Probably, cancelling the order of one Mercedes for a minister would do some good to a hundred families.
Our youth, that is full of zest and energy has to play a role here. It’s easy to criticise and grumble about the low rate of literacy rate and even easier to show your disdain for the poverty you see on the streets. It’s really hard to take the initiative to help them. Instead finding the easy way out by giving 10 rupees to a bagger, take the trouble of changing the life of one such person. We have to make them our VIPs. And why not? If our high ranking parasites can bring our lives to a halt whenever they visit our cities, can’t we afford to spare 20 minutes on weekends to educate and teach a needy person some skill?