Just see below.

jayasala42 · May 19, 2015

We had no power for the past 36 hours.The inverter had gone out of charge,.The whole night we spent in our verandah with a palm leaf fan,always ready at home. I was reminded of my good old days in the village without any power supply.Preparation for all University exams were done at the outer prakaram of Akhilandeswari Temple during day time, thanks to such big temples built, perhaps specifically for us.
It was 6.30 A. M.
Heard a special rough voice of the lean old man selling 'kola maavu( a type of silicon powder out of which kolams are drawn.)He is using the same old worn out bicycle.Kolam drawing, having become rare except in the month of margazhi,how much of powder can he sell daily?He is cycling for about 10Km daily.In most of the houses they say'no' and in some houses just to save a the face they buy a litre or two. I was thinking how he manages his family with the meagre income.

Now another magnificent voice. You need not see the watch.It is exactly 7 A. M. A dull grey dhoti ,with the same coloured shirt and turban, he walks through the streets with a sack on his shoulders.Many of the younger generation do not even know that such a profession exists. Yes, he is the stone cutter.With the chistle he makes the ammi, grinding stone etc uneven to facilitate smooth grinding. I wonder , in these days of mixies and electrical grinders, that too received as free buys, how he is able to get along? Some how, with power supply expected often this summer I asked him to revive the functioning of ammi and the old grinding stone that were taking rest in mottai maadi( open terrace) We paid him Rs 100/ a little bit too much for the 15 mts job he did.
Every hit he gave revealed his anger to the society.Yet I was sympathetic. How he can face the hungry children with the meagre income? We gave a few clothings to him and sent him away.
Next came the coconut tree climber. He charges Rs 200/ per tree. Sometimes there will be no coconuts,only pulling the clustered leaves. After paying rs 600/- a free good coconut ,if you count the coconut yield in all the 3 trees it was around 30 ripe coconuts,5 tender coconuts and around 15 dried coconuts.It was a great job to bring the coconuts to the back verandah,remove the fibres of around 5 coconuts through a crow bar and scrap the coconuts and keep inside the freezer. Now a days no one is willing to pay rs 200/-per tree as we can very well buy coconuts in the market. Though the charges are exhorbitant ,I can't climb the tree.
I pity the poor fellow, 70 years old, who takes such risks at this ripe old age just to support the family.
It is 8.30 A. M. Here comes the Greens vendor indicating the names of all keerais ( greens)-mulaikkeerai, arai keerai, agathi keerai, ponnaankanni keerai, and manaththakkaali keerai).His job is to procure greensfrom wholesale market, untie the bundles and make them into double or triple in number.As greens will get reduced to 1/8 in volume when cooked,green becomes a costly affair to cook when the number of members to be served is more.
On many days I have seen him throw away the unsold keerai in front of some cows and simply walk away.I really pity the persons dealing in perishable goods.

At about 10 A. M. another labourer with tools to sharpen your knives, vegetable cutters and coconut scrappers make his smart appearance.He wanders through the streets during shine and rain for a petty income.
I used to calculate their capitals, income ,their expenses.Invariably they spend a lot in drinks and juices.
There are many more traders like old News paper buyer, fruit and vegetable vendors who spend most of their time on the roadsise having no privacy even to attend to calls of nature.
When we think of such daily wage earners with no standard income, nothing to fall back when he takes ill--we are thousands of times better placed than the Aam aadmis.

Actually when I was simply sitting in the veranda, with no power supply at home, I was thinking about various topics in our snippet column- object of the soul,Free Will and Destiny, Mind-Body-Intellect complex, Yogas, music, paintings, humorous discussions about politices,our real goal of life ,baby's diary etc etc and was comparing the relativity of those topics to the common man.His physical strain and tension lead him to Tasmac shops and his partner to do odd jobs at homes. At the most they can enjoy some light music for relaxation. Digging of borewell is bhupalam to him and mixing of concrete will be mohanam.
While day to day life is at stake, how can they concentrate on high value topics and revelations?
Sometimes when I read,try to understand the intricacies of scriptures or subtle nuances of Tamil and English literature ,I can't help but thinking that the knowledge we gain or the information we share,may help us to receive good comments from elite readers and make us raise our shoulders a bit.But are we able to serve the needy society in any way?
The answer seems to be mostly in the negative, notwithstanding advancements in communications.
Only when you have your stomachs full, good clothes to wear and a decent dwelling to live,we can think about other subjects as fine Arts, philosophy and psychology.
Unless there is specific reduction in the number of people below poverty line, all our bombastic conversations in stylish tongue will benefit only a part of society which is already advanced.Rich becoming richer, poor becoming poorer - not only in wealth but also in culture and refinement also.Am I wrong?

Jayasala 42

sangeethakripa · May 19, 2015

Nice Article.. You have thrown a deep insight of the downtrodden. Let us take a small initiative to do something better for them when we come across them . :2thumbsup:

joylokhi · May 19, 2015

@jayasala42,
Really moving reflections of the plight of today's society - whom we can call - below poverty line. We also, almost almost try to use such people's services and pay them a little more than what they may ask, knowing their needs. But how far all this will go in eliminating their conditions is not sure. It is just a drop in the ocean. But we and people like us are doing our bit - we can take satisfaction in that. Out of this scenario, most of the times i feel sorry for the children who don't get a chance of a proper life even before they are born- that is a very sorry state of affairs. THis struggle of the downtrodden has been going on for ages. Things are appearing a little now due to better opportunities - but still a long way to go.

jayasala42 · May 19, 2015

Dear sangeetha Kripa,
Nice seeing your feed back.Let us see what can be done.
Jayasala 42

jayasala42 · May 19, 2015

Dear Joylokhi,
In our nation, specially,BPL( below poverty line people are large in number.As you said many girl children see their tomb while still in womb.Whenever we see such people we help them more than they deserve.True.Unless some long time soution is found, such cases are likely to continue. There are communication devices. Everyone has a cell phone,that too a costly one. many of the uneducated ones utilise the internet for unethical things.I am rememberedof a joke.
A beggar got first prize in a lottery. The son said"Aiyah, hereafter we can go in a car and beg"

jayasala 42

rgsrinivasan · May 19, 2015

Dear Jayasala Madam,

A thought provoking post as usual, from you. And I fully agree to what you say. These people who don't give up in spite of all the hardship, teach us an invaluable lesson. Sad that they lose all the hard earned little money to bad habits.

Besides, I slightly disagree with your last line - Below in money and facilities yes, but the refinement and culture grounds - I cannot say that. You know that one need not have to be learned so much to be enlightened. Same applies for behavioral traits as well and we have a lot of stories where the knowledgible people are stumped / get refined by people like these, right from the butcher and the house-wife who taught lessons to the sage, the cobbler who gave betel nut to Ma Ganga and so on.

Yes, we need to help them in every way we can, without affecting their self esteem, which sometimes become tricky. But being with them and seeing how they manage give us a lot more clarity by itself. -rgs

Cheeniya · May 19, 2015

A superb post Jayasala! 36 hours of power-cut that makes you live on par with the downtrodden and your empathy for the poor comes gushing out. It is probably for this reason that the famous kings of yore took a tour of their kingdom in disguise to understand the living conditions of the people. Occasionally one or two got so moved by the plight of the people, they renounced everything and attained Nirvana. Even today we hear of extremely rich people particularly in the Jain community taking up a life of total renunciation and living the rest of their lives unbelievably frugally. What motivates them to do it? The kind of things that you witnessed during the 36 hour power-cut?

The famous Malayalam poet and mystic Poonthanam sang Jnanappana (The song of Wisdom) with the dead body of his only child on his lap. The words ensuing from such enlightened souls became a beacon light for mankind to lead their life. But unfortunately we just quote their lives and words to achieve an enhancement in our image! I quoted the instance of Poonthanam only to illustrate that words of wisdom coming from people in such dire straights ring so genuine that they become scriptural. How 'bombastic conversations in stylish tongue' as you describe it can benefit mankind that is starving and in great agony?
Sri

jayasala42 · May 19, 2015

Dear RGS,
I didn't mean that the poor people are not refined.Actually they help more than what we do. What I meant was that they cannot go into hi-fi discussions on a higher plane .I have no doubt that they excel in many things. But caught in poverty, all their merits sink deep .Once getting accustomed to a type of living, they prefer to suffer rather than come out and see the world outside.That way it pricks. Even in a city like madras, I see more of such people.It may take centuries to see any improvement.

Jayasala 42

PavithraS · May 19, 2015

Jayasala Madam,

Thank you for a touching article. I remember having encountered all these characters in childhood and also in the recent past..At least you were mentioning a decent money as their income, I do not remember paying more than Rs. 40 for a coconut tree at the max for "marameri"..

Reading your post, I remembered an interview in Kalki magazine some time in recent past, with those people who cut "Karuvela" trees for a livelihood . All their days are spent in scorching sun among dangerous thorns . It is not uncommon for their children to supplement their family's income by helping out in cutting tress. Either they do it after school or they just do not go to school.

The "income" they get even after working as a bunch of whole family , is just like that of what you mentioned in other "below the line" people's job. They also belong to the majority of society's people on edge. Still they were laughing all the way through out the interview.. They sung songs to keep them entertained, cracked some jokes.. Literally the interview took me to the location

But this is not the main thing which moved me, at the end of the interview, they asked the journalist just to print it as a matter of fact. They requested him not to publicize their poverty or inability to give their children three square meals a day, or for that matter a decent education ..

They said despite facing struggle, they were full of self esteem and contented about doing a job that is not illegal, that does not affect any body , that earned their livelihood even though not a comfortable one. They just asked not to be shown in poor light and definitely did not want the readers to sympathize their plight..

I read that interview again and was surprised at their maturity level, and the strength to face their day to day struggle, all the while not losing out on small happiness that they could afford. Their children might be or might not be getting the certified educational qualifications, but they sure are learning the biggest lesson of all, LIFE...

Thank you again for the post,

Respects & Regards,

Pavithra

jayasala42 · May 19, 2015

Dear Cheeniya Sir,

I am delighted to see your feed back on my snippet.You have added more value to the snippet by referring to Gnaanap paana by Poonthaanam.Among elite circles we talk of so many things, share so much of valuable information which are capable of changing the very trend and attitude. Sadly we are unable to create any awakening in their midst as they are more worried about day to day living.When Nithya sri Mahadevan was giving a wonderful performance during SriRama Navami this year in Ayodhya mandapam, I was overhearing a mason telling" Naama sottukke thaalam podurom.ithile paattukku enge thaalam poduvathu?Ithellaam padichcha iyenmaar samaachaaram'.
Personally I feel only if minimum basic necessities are fulfilled, not by free buys, but by increasing real employment opportunities,the position can improve a bit.There is a long way to go.We hope for the best.

Jayasala 42