Of late, making my way to the mosque, I chanced upon a woman, begging her heart out. Many men snuck past her. No one bothered to take a look at her.
It was as if she was a ghost, waiting there to haunt the people. She lay there, her eyes flitting here and there in hopes of finding a person who could give her a few bucks. But the people acted deaf, dumb, and blind. The scene was so pathetic that it would make your skin crawl.
Yet another tragic incident, a few days back, was when a girl took her own life by diving into a river, and the reason again revolved around financial problems. Everyone living in different corners of the world does help the needy, but when it comes to us, we avert our gaze. Even this cold season seems to have no significant impact on our minds as to under what conditions the needy would be living their lives. We have become out-and-out beasts.
That lady and now no-longer-alive girl aside for a moment, there are so many amputees, divorcees, orphans walking down the street, visiting our homes, mosques, but we almost never direct our gaze at them, or listen to their stories, or provide them with something adequate enough to bring a smile to their faces.
We hardly ever make them feel lovable. We rarely are kind enough to them.
Anyways, the question again arises: to where do they go when our blasted presence has dominated this piece of the planet wholly? Do we want them to break down in tears and invoke the Almighty to curse us or take them away?
If such incidents fail to shake our conscience and make us take concrete steps towards saving the destitute from dying, we are hardly human beings.

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Faizaan Bashir