seven wonders of india cross post indiawin

[Guest guest]

[This compilation of 7 short stories was prepared by Shri Badri of Vatsalyam for

Dr. Mira of IW. Sh. Badri's comments at the beginning of the message, and Mira's

comments at the end of the mail are included. Titles to the stories are added to

catch your attention only, but if some of them may appear slightly offensive,

please debit me for that.]QUOTE:Dear Mira, We have been used to reading so much

of trash in newspapers. A sure way to get depression is to keep reading today's

newspapers. Very rarely do we come across acknowledgement of good deeds

performed by very simple people in our society. Here is a compilation of such

deeds which don't make the headlines. 1. DO YOU HAVE THIS WEALTH?Shivanna, 35,

works on daily wages at depot 4 of the Majestic bus stand, Bangalore. All the

same, his wealth is boundless. They call it Honesty. It was October 12, 2001.

While on job, he found an envelope among the parcels of a newspaper office. It

contained a cheque for Rs. 1.75 lakhs. He handed it over to the police. The

city police commissioner patted him for his honesty and honoured him. This is

actually a déjà vu experience for Shivanna. In 1997, he had found a Rs. 43.67

lakh cheque at Majestic bus stand and had passed it on to the police.[based on

a report in DINAMANI (Tamil Daily) of October 16, 2001.]2. THE HEART OF GIVING

(THE ART OF LIVING)Meet Smt. Amudhavalli. She works as a graduate teacher in

the G.R.M. Girls' Higher Secondary School, Thiruvaarur (near Thanjavur) in

Tamilnadu. Schools or families that wish to establish a herbal plants garden

consult her, and she happily comes forward with her expertise and distributes

to them medicinal herb saplings free of cost as well.[information culled from a

letter to the editor written by a reader (Smt. M.Chandrabai of Cholavaram)

published by DINAMANI, Tamil daily, on October 16, 2001.]3. ACT WHEN YOU MUST..

A CHILD LABOURER KO SALAAMMeet Elango. Age 12 years. A helper in a roadside

automobile mechanic's shop in T.Nagar, Chennai. A town bus speeds past him as

he stands near his shop. Elango notices something unusual with the bus; he

hears a sharp noise from under the running bus. Yes, the transmission rod -

rear axle joint had broken and the bus was about to go out of the driver's

control. Elango decided to raise an alarm. He started running along with the

bus shouting "stop, stop!" The driver applied the brake and the bus ground to a

halt. All the fifty-odd passengers got down and learnt that their lives had been

saved by the efforts of Elango. They heaved a sigh of relief. When they looked

for the one who saved them all, they found the boy walking back to his shop

calmly. A traffic constable who witnessed all this ran up to Elango. In

gratefulness he offered to buy a breakfast for him. Elango politely declined

the offer and kept on walking toward his workspot.[based on a news item which

appeared in the Chennai edition of THE INDIAN EXPRESS in 1982.]4. DIED IN

SLEEP... LIKE A FROZEN FISHMeet 14 year old Om Prakash. A roadside dweller of

Jammu, in J & K state. Once G.M. Jagtiani, a journalist from Mumbai, engaged

him to carry his luggage. He took pity on the boy and gave a little more money.

Om Prakash won't touch it. He said he would not accept alms. Jagtiani, in

appreciation, left a few copies of his booklet with Om Prakash; asked him to

sell them and send him the proceeds after deducting a commission. A few weeks

later Jagtiani received the due amount. He was overwhelmed and sent back the

same to the boy as a token of his happiness over the lad's honesty. To his

utter dismay the money came back with the note that the addressee was dead. Om

Prakash had died of frost bite while he was asleep at the roadside in that

Himalayan state.[based on a Letter To The Editor published in the Mumbai

edition of THE TIMES OF INDIA, contributed by Jagtiani.]5. IF "THEY" CAN DO IT,

HOW ABOUT US?Dahipara. A hamlet of Orissa 5 kilometres away from the coast. It

had - yes, had - a population of 1,050. Of these, 587 were killed by a super

cyclone which devastaed 5 coastal taluks of the state in October 1999. Even as

the survivors of Dahipara were trying to adjust to their life in makeshift

polythene jhuggies in the relief camp, an earthquake struck parts of Gujarat.

These villagers of Orissa managed to collect Rs. 7,000. This they promptly

handed over to the Chief Minister of Orissa with a request that the amount be

sent to the quake hit families of Gujarat.[based on a report by THE HINDU dated

February 22, 2001.]6. TRUST THEM, THEY ARE USUALLY MORE RELIABLE THAN USMeet the

people of village Pokharan in the middle of the deserts of Rajasthan. They have

witnessed two underground nuclear tests, one in 1974 and the other in May 1998.

Prior to the second test, one defence department official had a chat with some

of the villagers. He hinted that some army men will be patrolling the place as

a routine. To his surprise the villagers responded, "Sir, it is the bomb, is it

not? We shall keep the secret. Don't worry." They did. Even the CIA's

surveillance satellites failed to locate the spot of implosion, media reports

revealed later.[based on a 1998 INDIA TODAY cover story by Raj Chengappa.]7.

DON'T RUSH, PAUSE AND THINKThe intersection of the then Mount Road and

Nungambakkam High Road in Chennai was once the 'Gemini Circle'. About 35 years

ago, on a busy hour, a man lay there on the roadside in a pool of blood,

screaming for help. Seemed to be a road accident. Office-goers kept rushing to

their offices - after a split-second glance at the man. Lakshmi had no office

to rush to. Once her eyes fell on the pathetic scene, not a second was wasted.

She threw aside the construction worker's (Daily Wager's) 'bond' from her head

with the spade and her lunch box in it. Gathered the victim, put him in an

autorickshaw and sped off to the hospital. This timely step helped save the

man. Of course, Lakshmi had to part with her tiny nose-ring made of gold to pay

the auto fare. Add to this the loss of that day's wage which Lakshmi would

otherwise have earned by dint of hard work at some construction site. But had

she the mind to calculate it all? No chance.[based on a report in DINAMANI, a

Chennai Tamil daily.]THE POOR ARE 'BAHADUR' EVEN IN CITIES (BY: MIRA)When I was

working in a Delhi hospital, there was this man with left main CAD who started

to crash. When we were trying to shift him to the ICCU the lift broke down. The

young ward boy named Bahadur slung the (heavy!) man across his shoulder and ran

down two floors to the ICCU. Contrast this with our Amma (Jayalalitha) bedecked

with ill-gotten diamonds, moving around in AC comfort and eulogizing her own

economic performance when farmers in Thanjavur are eating rats for sustenance.

There are people like Bahadur and these folks all over the place in India. They

could play a major role in nation building. Like I keep saying, the power, the

authority and control of resources are in too few hands and those are the wrong

hands.Mira UNQUOTE=========