I met one-handed rickshaw puller and I died with shame...

[From Deepshikha Shanker*, Mangalore University]

I met this guy who pulls rickshaw for a living and guess what I was never more ashamed about complaining on my status (complains about life)... I know most would kill for what I have while others would scorn, but this guy who lives by a rickshaw when he can beg and make better money.

 

Oh yes! I forgot to mention that he has just one hand.. So??? I found a new found dignity in lives of people who make their living every day...I have nothing more to say than that but i was not just ashamed of what he did, I was ashamed of why he had to resort to it... why he didn't have a system supporting his kind.. I don't know but will at least soon find out...

 

[*Deepshikha is now a journalist working with CNN-IBN, New Delhi]

 

Bond in life and beyond

BANGALORE: Filial affection is not the domain of human kingdom alone. It is found in the animal kingdom too.

A mother monkey, unable to come to terms with the death of its young one, is roaming at the Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, carrying the carcass of its baby, for the past two weeks. The simian was seen clinging on to its offspring as though it was alive.

Dr Jagadeesh, deputy director (Horticulture) said, "The monkey has made Lalbagh its home for the past one-and-a-half months. Two adult male monkeys accompany the female on either side when she roams about. Probably one of them had fathered the baby monkey," he said.

Regular visitors to the garden say that the mother has not been taking food ever since the death of her baby. "Many monkeys visit Lalbagh during summer and stay for a few months," he added.

Source:Deccan Herald

When this better half made her life whole

By R Venkatesh

Bangalore: This true love story began three years ago, on the eve of Women's Day. When Venkatesh, friend of Hemavathis brother, expressed his love for her, she brushed it aside as a show of sympathy.

When men view women with deformities as a “curse,” Venkatesh, who works in a slaughter house, had no problem marrying Hemavathi, who is polio-stricken and paralysed waist-down.

This true love story began three years ago, on the eve of Women’s Day. When Venkatesh, friend of Hemavathi’s brother, expressed his love for her, she brushed it aside as a show of sympathy. She joined the Cheshire Home for the disabled on Airport Road to pursue her studies. After she completed her 10th standard, Venkatesh again repeated the gesture and offered her a ring, despite knowing that she was suffering from tuberculosis.

Venkatesh attends even to Hemavathi’s basic chores and takes her around in a wheel-chair. He works in a slaughterhouse on Pottery Road, Frazer Town, from 2 am to 10 am and spends the day with his family.

For over a year, they were hesitant to have a child as they were scared that their offspring would be born with deformities. Finally, when they decided to have a child, the couple visited temples, mosques and churches during Hemavathi’s pregnancy.

All their prayers were answered the day Sapna was born, hale and hearty. As an orphan, Venkatesh had to take care of himself. “I don’t remember from where I belong to. I started working at the slaughter house at a young age,” he says.

Hemavathi’s family is from Andhra Pradesh and she spent her childhood with her brother. Later, she joined a school for the disabled and grew up there. This family has their share of woes as well.

“During the last monsoons, our tiny house roof came down. But we have no regrets. We are happy and hope our dream of having a roof over our head will come true one day,” she said.

Source: Deccan Herald