Going the distance…

The physical, emotional and educational distances that I have covered in the last three years are more than I ever thought I was capable of. The journey within and without has been life-altering. In the last couple of months itself, I have lost weight, gained a few more grey hair… there are days I believe I am at my emotional best and then there are some when the uncouthness and unpredictability of human existence scares the daylights out of me.

I do not take anything for granted (even when I do, I immediately check myself not to)… the slightly dysfunctional family that I have, the food on my plate, the broken fridge I share with eight other girls, the man I date…

When I first thought of becoming a professional social worker, people who really knew me knew I didn’t stand a chance… and they were right; the first few months left me sleepless and depressed. Now, I am better… maybe because I have chosen to look reality in the face. From Palampur to Jharkhand… from Rajasthan to Bangalore…  Chandigarh to Delhi… I have been there, done that… cold flushes, headaches, hairfall, acne, tightness in the chest, blood in my stool… but, if you ask me, I’d say emotionally daft people have troubled me more… vulnerable souls trouble me most… and believe me, both are too many to count.

Presently, I work with and for children who do not have a home…  ‘street children’ being the accurate term… not all of them are orphans, but most of them have no one to call their own. Fate has clipped their wings and rendered them rootless… missing children, runaways, abused children, deserted children, cases of incest, children whose parents are HIV positive, whose parents are addicts or criminals or way too poor to raise them. Every child has a story to tell. Each one of them is exquisite. Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs… oblivious to the concept of majority and minority, they are united in their suffering and bewilderments. Instinctive, receptive, empathetic… and still alive, ambitious and zen.

I have learnt that this world is a hopeless place, but, a little kindness, love and self-awareness can help you get through the day. Also, when the day of reckoning comes, I would be grateful to Him for all that I had, but more for what I could give away.