A Knife to my Heart

I was on a bus with the other ISPers and Karmin on the way to Aurus Purum. We were going to go fabiric shopping. I was thinking about how I finally was feeling ok. I was getting my groundings here and it was becoming more and more like home. I was sitting next to the windo on the bus and was looking out of it as cars and motorcycles wizzed  past. We were on a hwy and I was looking down under one of the underpasses when a scene caught my eye.

There was a man with an object in his hand and a figure crumpled up on the ground flinching as the man above her struck her. Not only was I taking in this scene but a child as well was near watching the incident happen before their eyes. Before I could take in the scene completely with utmost detail the bus moved on to its destination. However, this did not keep a knife from stabbing my heart. I felt the pain of the woman- a woman I had merely seen for seconds. There was a pit in my stomach and any sort of hunger I had had a minute before was utterly gone. I have heard of men beating women but to see it with my eyes was another thing. I thought that this scene henceforth would cloud my day.

However, when we got to Aurus Puram and the fabric shop I completely forgot about it as I tried to pick out a fabric for myself--which took forever. There were so many different types and colors. I finally settled on a purple silk fabric that cost quite a bit but thought “hey I’m in India when else am I going to get a chance to buy such beautiful fabric?”

After getting my fabric and we walked out of the store my thoughts went back to the scene. I became angry at myself for forgetting what I had seen in light of trying to pick out my fabric. I think this happens for many people. We see something that breaks our hearts and then we go on with our lives to where we care more about them than the lives of others. We forget to remember the homeless, the abused, and the mentally handicapped and what they have to deal with every day.

While I understand that it is not humanly possible to dwell on all of the horrible things of the world I think we must become more aware of them.  We must then ask the question of what part we play in righting the wrong. What does it look like to live a life that brings hope and light to others? What character can I, can you play in the scene to stop the violence, and disrespect of our fellow brothers and sisters?