Loss and gain!

I just listened to the face book posting of BBC Hindi news of 15th May, by Salman Ravi, who gave his shoes to a migrant labourer who was walking barefoot, to his home town in UP, from New Delhi. The groups  consisted of an eight month old pregnant lady, a another with a one year old child, a man on a cycle with two children and few others. The interview tells us a lot about what has been going on in different part of the country where migrant labourers have had to leave the places of their work as they lost job, no money to pay the rent of the houses they lived and finally no food for themselves! The video also showed some people coming in car and distributing food packets to people who walk home. The loss of migrant labourers is colossal. On man confessed the the was paid Rs. 280 for masonry work, where as we pay in Kerala Rs 800 to 1000 to a mason. 

I watched the video a few times to observe the facial expression of the man who was given the pair of shoes by the BBC reporter. He looked amazed and without words. He gained foot protection fo this journey. The BBC reporter lost his foot protection. The story of our lives is losing oil order someone else might gain. The BBC reporter even after his loss fo shoes had his socks left for him.

Is it not a story worth pondering on! Those who have enough would still be left with sufficient for  

ourselves when w give away something that looks important or essential to us.

It was last Saturday the bread fruit tree got uprooted in our garden and losing a tree which Anna and I planted. It had two stems, which was symbolic of our lives.  A week later a rose plant which was in the shade of this tree and which remained without flowers produced a flower!

The loss and gain may not be comparable! In fact to accept each loss and gift in its own merit is batter than comparing with each other!

We live with stories of loss and gain in our lives. 

It occurred to me from the story of Mr Salman Ravi that those who loose for helping others live with a noble mission in life!

It is the same message I got from the loss the bread fruit tree suffered. It was allowed a small rose bush to bear its flower for the first time!

When we lose something voluntarily or accidentally, think of the gain for someone!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)