Sunday, July 7, 2013

An educative evening....

I'd met young Ashwin at this evening's get together at his residence. His dad and I are comrades at arms. He's doing his post graduation in dental surgery and on completion, wants to go into the interiors of Madhya Pradesh to do his further practice. He's also poised to marry the girl - whom he's been in love with for the last few years - by the end of this year and has invited me for the same.

He's been part of a global team of doctors and social workers, which had done extensive philanthropy work on the western coast of Africa viz. the Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Sensing my interest on his work and impressed by my awareness of the area, he was soon showing me a comprehensive album on the activities covered by the team on his personal computer.

I've read about the abject poverty in many of the nation states of the African continent. Illiteracy and the harsh natural elements of extreme weather, coupled with the wild flora and the fauna make the human population literally fighting every minute for their existence. Adding to their miseries is the lack of effective communications - the main highway in the Ivory Coast is a wide dusty, unmetalled road, just to cite an example - and a life that hasn't been exposed to the technology that you and I are aware of!

Frames showing hospitals and their 'operation theatres' gives one the impression that time has stood still in those countries for many, many years. Primitiveness - what it was here, in our country, almost two centuries back and no, I ain't exaggerating. Yes, that's the vintage as per my reckoning! - is the way of life in those hapless countries during this modern, technologically driven times that we're familiar with outside it!!

How come they missed the path of development? Apologists who find the dependence on technology as the cause of all ills prevalent in the society are quick to add that human beings, from such environment, are simple, straight hearted and outrightly innocent. How come, then, do those people behave otherwise towards their fellow brethren with scant regard to the finer feelings of accommodation and love?

An eye opener! Will those people be able to experience the benefits of technology in this century itself? Or will they have to satisfy themselves with just cooked rice and no add ons, which is their only square meal and that too, just once in a day for many?


Tailpiece.

1. Have read that when slavery was abolished in the United States, the freed ones had returned/migrated back into Africa. And they'd taken charge of the existing population to suit their whims and fancies. Have they purposely kept development away from the country lest their free run would get arrested? Paradoxical and sad.

2. Thanks, Ashwin for the valuable education!

3. And here's wishing that many more kindhearted people like you embark on a journey to provide comfort and succour to the suffering masses and to bring them to our standards at the earliest!!

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