I was sitting in the local train on my journey back to college. A women of around 35 entered the compartment, a toddler tied to her back and a small girl, around 10 years old following her. The girl then started dancing on a Tamil song while the women played a small “dholki”. The small girl, with tiny bright eyes, dried face and empty stomach bent her body like a professional gymnast and passed through an iron ring bending her body in a circle. In Russia, she could have been an Olympic gymnast. In India, thanks to our long cherished blindness to anything that’s extraordinarily talented, she is a famished poor.
A few stations passed and another melee of people rushing back to their homes got into the compartment. Among them were these two people, a man selling sweet candies and a lady selling pencils. So what’s so special about this? Well, both of them were visually impaired. They could have easily passed off as any other vendor or hawker plying in the local trains but for their dark glasses and walking sticks. They could have easily passed off as any other beggar on the footpaths but for their small treasure of pens and candies.
Some people, they just don’t give up. They might be poor, they might be blind. They might have every reason to lose hope, to cry, to run away from life, to beg… But, they won’t. The human spirit sometimes becomes too strong and lofty to fall on its knees and beg for mercy. The world gets tired trying their patience and honesty. They don’t get tired proving their mettle.
The next time you feel it’s all over, remember that spirit in you… IT WON’T GIVE UP UNTIL YOU DO.
The writer is a correspondent of Youth Ki Awaaz.