There are people who give you that slap on your face and wake you up from that wrong idea of yourself you have! He was one such man!
He wore the same shirt for the third day. His pants had that big black stain; His hair last saw a comb a week ago. And inevitably he came from Bihar. The Bihar of poverty and snake charmers; Of filth and dirt; Of disease and corruption. He did not speak any English of course. The language, which makes me so proud of!
And then came that slap! What a man he turned out to be. He has single handedly abolished Tuberculosis from his village and is aiming at doing the same for the neighboring ten villages. And to put things in persepective, nearly 2,40,000 people die of TB every year in our very own country. Especially in the Biharian villages due to lack of knowledge and hygiene.
And no, he is not a medical doctor. In fact he is not even a graduate. He works on his own interest with the government; takes people suspicious of TB to docs; help those who can't go to the hospital receive their dose of medicines and also spreads awareness about the disease to all and sundry. And all this, apart from his work, without getting a paisa for it.
Life throws up people like them often enough, to give that tight slap, and to put you on to your place!
He wore the same shirt for the third day. His pants had that big black stain; His hair last saw a comb a week ago. And inevitably he came from Bihar. The Bihar of poverty and snake charmers; Of filth and dirt; Of disease and corruption. He did not speak any English of course. The language, which makes me so proud of!
And then came that slap! What a man he turned out to be. He has single handedly abolished Tuberculosis from his village and is aiming at doing the same for the neighboring ten villages. And to put things in persepective, nearly 2,40,000 people die of TB every year in our very own country. Especially in the Biharian villages due to lack of knowledge and hygiene.
And no, he is not a medical doctor. In fact he is not even a graduate. He works on his own interest with the government; takes people suspicious of TB to docs; help those who can't go to the hospital receive their dose of medicines and also spreads awareness about the disease to all and sundry. And all this, apart from his work, without getting a paisa for it.
Life throws up people like them often enough, to give that tight slap, and to put you on to your place!
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