I am honoured to be in your presence, said he!
The audience was august. The who's who of Christian Medical College was there. Some of them, among the best doctors the country has seen. Few of them do world class research, the brightest brains. There were Harvard and Cambridge scholars in the crowd as well. Some of them could have lived multi billion dollar lives of the developed west, yet they have stayed back, just to work in India and serve the masses.
I have never been to a University. I don't belong here, he started slowly. His english was not up to the haughty standards CMC prides itself in. I have been here before to this institution as a few of my relatives work here, he stuttered; And then his life took over.
Over the next hour, his life shone bright. CMC gave him a standing ovation. Thrice! Three times we all stood up and clapped for this man, for his life spoke. And it was loud!
He is the son of a safai karmachari (manual scavenger). His parents cleaned up human excreta with their hands in the dry laterines of the olden India (What am I saying, they still exist). But he refused to be drawn in to the same demeaning job, though nobody gave him another. For those who understand caste system in India, he belonged to the lowest of the lowest tribes. The untouchables. Yet he refused to be called himself that! Rather he took the fight to the opposition.
He had single handedly united the many people who are made to do these menial jobs and has fought the might of an indifferent and unconcerned Indian government for over thirty years. And in the process has helped pass a law banning manual scavenging and helped rehabilitate thousands of workers in to better jobs.
Oh yes, the casteist Indian mindset had often come in the way. The lords of the supreme court has never punished one man in the last thirty years for misusing another human being, he said. His voice crackled. No, we don't get justice in this country, but I don't stop. I sensed a tear drop peeping out of my eyes.
Then he challenged the CMC community; the intellectual and sometimes class-conscious elite. Do you live in rigid structures created by the society? Oh yes, you don't let casteism in its true form come in to you, but is there a hierarchy that you live with? A hierarchy of the glass doors? A hierarchy where one human being is treated higher than another? I felt an uneasiness. Then the slap! And another! May be we felt his life speaking through the pricked conscience.
CMC stood up again when he finished! And again when he got his citation. And again when he answered the few questions. No you don't need university driven education to get standing ovations. You don't need the British accent or impeccable vocabulary to get standing ovations.
For when your life is so loud, the world stands on its feet!
The audience was august. The who's who of Christian Medical College was there. Some of them, among the best doctors the country has seen. Few of them do world class research, the brightest brains. There were Harvard and Cambridge scholars in the crowd as well. Some of them could have lived multi billion dollar lives of the developed west, yet they have stayed back, just to work in India and serve the masses.
I have never been to a University. I don't belong here, he started slowly. His english was not up to the haughty standards CMC prides itself in. I have been here before to this institution as a few of my relatives work here, he stuttered; And then his life took over.
Over the next hour, his life shone bright. CMC gave him a standing ovation. Thrice! Three times we all stood up and clapped for this man, for his life spoke. And it was loud!
He is the son of a safai karmachari (manual scavenger). His parents cleaned up human excreta with their hands in the dry laterines of the olden India (What am I saying, they still exist). But he refused to be drawn in to the same demeaning job, though nobody gave him another. For those who understand caste system in India, he belonged to the lowest of the lowest tribes. The untouchables. Yet he refused to be called himself that! Rather he took the fight to the opposition.
He had single handedly united the many people who are made to do these menial jobs and has fought the might of an indifferent and unconcerned Indian government for over thirty years. And in the process has helped pass a law banning manual scavenging and helped rehabilitate thousands of workers in to better jobs.
Oh yes, the casteist Indian mindset had often come in the way. The lords of the supreme court has never punished one man in the last thirty years for misusing another human being, he said. His voice crackled. No, we don't get justice in this country, but I don't stop. I sensed a tear drop peeping out of my eyes.
Then he challenged the CMC community; the intellectual and sometimes class-conscious elite. Do you live in rigid structures created by the society? Oh yes, you don't let casteism in its true form come in to you, but is there a hierarchy that you live with? A hierarchy of the glass doors? A hierarchy where one human being is treated higher than another? I felt an uneasiness. Then the slap! And another! May be we felt his life speaking through the pricked conscience.
CMC stood up again when he finished! And again when he got his citation. And again when he answered the few questions. No you don't need university driven education to get standing ovations. You don't need the British accent or impeccable vocabulary to get standing ovations.
For when your life is so loud, the world stands on its feet!
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