At day break !

During a walk on the road to a village, I saw different sights at day break. On one day this week,  the sight of people beginning the day caught my attention. There were adults and children on their morning walk and some others with their shoulder bags, on their way to their work place. There was a man on his motorbike with his merchandise ! Around the same time each day of the week, these sights were different on the road. The traffic on the road at day break was minimum. By about 6.30 am the road became crowded with school buses and autorikshaws, carrying children to schools. 

What remained constant during the week was the sight in the garden outside the cottage where Anna and I live. The coconut tree and the flowers in the garden looked the same. The bird movements were also similar in the mornings.

There are changes and routines in our lives each day. 

What is not often easy is to adjust to, are the changes. 

The changes are sometimes unsettling. 

It was while listening to a vendor who sells vegetables I realised how vulnerable he is! On certain days, not even half of the vegetables he brought to sell, would be sold. He would suffer loss as he has no cold storage to keep the vegetables. On some days, he would not have earned enough money to purchase vegetables to sell on the next day. Perhaps demands on those days might have been more. The demand-supply situation is so variable that he has losses on more days in a week than enough profit to sustain his family. He lives borrowing on such occasions. 

The changes bring a demand on his wellness and routines at home. He spoke about his experience with some anguish as the large shops around the area make vendors like him  redundant. He has lived selling vegetable for twenty years that a shift to any other business is not so easy. 

There are many at cross roads in life, in similar situations. The way forward is frustrating to some of them. 

I read recently that people live in Finland with high level of happiness as the social security system is able to take care of any one in distress. The senior citizens are well taken care of. The health care system is on a welfare mode. 

It occurred to me while returning from the walk, that people in this village, adapt poorly to the changes around. 

The above sight of construction work in different parts of the village, in the farm land, sends out the sad message of distress sale of land that people are forced to do to survive. The farm land is getting reduced with land converted for industrial purpose. The farmers although gain   from the sale, are left without an occupation and a regular income. It leads to another cycle of distress. 

The demands on life are harsh on some people. The mind set of the national government is to promote industry and investors. It is a utilitarian approach with little consideration towards those whose subsistence needs are not yet attended to adequately!

The changes in the economic fabric of the rural life receives only a peripheral attention from the policy makers. 

I got a close up view of changes in the social and economic fabric of rural life, which displace people from a wellness path!

Some people walk into uncertainties each day and return home in the evening, to prepare for another journey into the uncertainty on the next day!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)