An early morning train ride..
People try.. Those who dont have any means of earning money, and by means i mean the power of knowledge and / or education. So yeah, they try. And manual labour is one form of that trying. It is difficult work. It is very hard work. It is not a very profitable work. And i have never seen a look of satisfaction on a manual labourer's face. They are far too weak to do the sort of work that they are expected to do or have the expertise, so to speak, to do. A coolie for example, carries our luggage which we are incapable of carrying ourselves. If this was a symbolic prelude, then the worth of the person carrying your baggage would be very high. But sadly its not. Or maybe it can be a reflection of our desire to hand over our baggage/ luggage to someone else with ease..
Anyways, moving on to the coolies, i have never seen them being paid more than what they deserve or have agreed to at the time of fixing the rates. If they are carrying the load of a group of people, at least one person of the group at the time of payment to the coolie for his manual labour would shake his /her head to express their disapproval towards giving them more than what they think the coolie deserve. "Koi zaroorat nahi hai" or "kya kar rahee ho, itna zyada dene ki zaroorat nahi hai". And all this while, he/she would be looking in a different direction, not wanting to catch the eye of the coolie, probably because they know that if they did, they will see the injustice of their act. They would see the moment of pain and restrain on the face of the coolie. It's an everyday routine. They keep themselves upbeat by smoking, probably praying pranks on each other, probably doing drugs and maybe, or i should say most likely, being judgmental of the customers they serve, berating and cursing them under their breath. And why wont they. I am not advocating over compensating the coolie for his work, but why dont people have the humanity to see the labour and effort involved, the strength that they apply even though they are almost sickly and worse off than the person whose load they carry. One party to the group may then look at the coolie, see the look of disappointment, which very often reflect a time or a feeling that they have also felt. And out of pity, or maybe empathy, that one person will make good the difference in what was expected and what was paid. And then with bittersweet acceptance of their due, they leave. And they try, yet again. What alternative do they have otherwise.
Anyways, moving on to the coolies, i have never seen them being paid more than what they deserve or have agreed to at the time of fixing the rates. If they are carrying the load of a group of people, at least one person of the group at the time of payment to the coolie for his manual labour would shake his /her head to express their disapproval towards giving them more than what they think the coolie deserve. "Koi zaroorat nahi hai" or "kya kar rahee ho, itna zyada dene ki zaroorat nahi hai". And all this while, he/she would be looking in a different direction, not wanting to catch the eye of the coolie, probably because they know that if they did, they will see the injustice of their act. They would see the moment of pain and restrain on the face of the coolie. It's an everyday routine. They keep themselves upbeat by smoking, probably praying pranks on each other, probably doing drugs and maybe, or i should say most likely, being judgmental of the customers they serve, berating and cursing them under their breath. And why wont they. I am not advocating over compensating the coolie for his work, but why dont people have the humanity to see the labour and effort involved, the strength that they apply even though they are almost sickly and worse off than the person whose load they carry. One party to the group may then look at the coolie, see the look of disappointment, which very often reflect a time or a feeling that they have also felt. And out of pity, or maybe empathy, that one person will make good the difference in what was expected and what was paid. And then with bittersweet acceptance of their due, they leave. And they try, yet again. What alternative do they have otherwise.
Why as a community we have lost consciousness and compassion and humanity. What makes us be so aloof. Its the scary world we live in maybe. Why not start trusting people. Why not everyone take that step. Because it is a dream - as impractical as that and as unrealistic.
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