Oh! Colombo
Reading the front page of the newspapers is quite depressing. A man murders his wife because she was wearing a pair of tight jeans; a mother pushes her son towards an oncoming since her estranged husband does not provide for her financially to support their son and herself; a granddaughter kills her grandmother over a dispute of her pet dogs, and it goes on with dead bodies discovered here and there. It all seems endless. At the same time people are happily bragging, for instance, of the delightful time they are having diving into truffles that cost a colossal amount and all the la di da happenings of the well to do enjoying life. Yes, the well to do will argue that they have earned it the hard way or that they are spending their spouses’ hard earnings and they cannot be found fault with. But an equally important question is are they at all bothered about the disparity that exists around them or care at all.
The silent do-gooders are also plenty. They are those who neither make announcements nor publicize their noble work. The even more nicer thing about these people is that they do have loads of cash but are not flashing it around in a vulgar fashion for the world to see. Even though there are many self-proclaimed philanthropists in Colombo one does not hear of or see them generously donating their money. Instead they are happy to solicit heavy contributions from others and play the great philanthropist, ensuring that there is accompanying publicity, when making the donation to the charitable causes.
Christmas is a joyous time of the year. It must be one of the hardest time for those parents who are not so well to do seeing all the shops loaded with goodies, be it toys or food items. Needs of children for food, clothing, health case and shelter are aired by children over radio stations in the hope of at least some listeners contributing towards are meeting the need, whilst lavish over the top hampers are gifted to the rich and bigwigs holding big positions who can well afford to buy themselves all of it. Such end of year gift giving is a done thing in Colombo and it would seem that nobody seems to give a thought to the fact that the cost of one such give could see an impoverished family through at least a month.
Behaviour of such nature never changes in a hurry. It would be great if this disparity could be narrowed rather than widen further each year. I am sure most of us are guilty of some of the above in one way or the other. It is our responsibility to give a lending hand towards the less fortunate and, hopefully, we will see the world a happier place.
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