Inheritance of Loss

“ but what am I
An infant crying in the night
An infant crying for the light
And with no language but a cry”
Perhaps these few lines very well encapsulates the plight of millions of orphans in the world. In an age where good parenting is not just about nurturing your child with care and affection rather suffice the new age demands right from best of education ,exclusive clothing, art classes, music classes ,cell phones, ipods and list would never seem to end ; I witnessed another world, the world of orphans.
On the occasion of rakshabandhan I had the opportunity to visit an orphanage. Little toddlers who couldn’t even speak their name were left all alone in the hostile world. I was astounded to see the performance of some kids who danced like professionals without any training or exposure. Half the day they would do carpentry or stitching and the other half they would study. To think of it , adversity had taught them so much ,to work for their survival, to take on the responsibility of their life at a tender age .All of them had big dreams to become doctors, pilots ,actors and you know the crude reality that barely anyone will be able to realize their dreams because of lack of proper education.
These children were still better off than those abandoned on the streets, railway stations, dustbins exposed to brutalities that is even hard to imagine.
But why?
Why is there such a startling difference in this world?
I am but a small voice
I have but a small dream
But oh the tears in my eyes
My visions blur
I am an orphan
My dreams shattered.
Perhaps its high time for all of us to realize that for every time we shouted at our parents, there was a child wanting to be loved. for every time we showed our tantrums , there was a child wanting to be hugged. For every time we demanded for more , there was a child all alone
“full many a gem of purest ray serene
the dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen
And waste its sweetness on desert air.”
Its sheer destiny that there are millions who have this inheritance of loss and its sheer irony that there are many who have got everything in this world but never had the perseverance nor the dedication to do something worthwhile in life..