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The Speaking Tree

The author visits a drug addict living in a slum near Yamuna river in Delhi. Despite living in poverty and sending his family to beg, the man speaks to the author in a calm manner and expresses his desire for his children to get an education and have a better life. This makes the author realize the shared humanity between all people and our universal desires of family well-being, regardless of social status. Later that day, the author covers a speech by the Prime Minister, seeing the vast difference in circumstances between the poor addict and the leader, yet feeling a deeper connection to the former.

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Ankit Rawat
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1K views1 page

The Speaking Tree

The author visits a drug addict living in a slum near Yamuna river in Delhi. Despite living in poverty and sending his family to beg, the man speaks to the author in a calm manner and expresses his desire for his children to get an education and have a better life. This makes the author realize the shared humanity between all people and our universal desires of family well-being, regardless of social status. Later that day, the author covers a speech by the Prime Minister, seeing the vast difference in circumstances between the poor addict and the leader, yet feeling a deeper connection to the former.

Uploaded by

Ankit Rawat
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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THE SPEAKING TREE

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yamuna pushta is an emvbankment of jhuggis(hutments) behind raj ghat, delhi on ther
bank porter for he delhi based english newspaper of yamuna river. i had gone there
in 1993, as a reporter for a delhi based evening newspaper to cover a story about
drug trafficking that was allegedly taking place there.

when i got to pushta i visited the jhuggi of a man who had been a drug addict since
childhood. i sat in his 8 foot by 8 inch jhuggi. his wife and 2 kids has been sent
by him at connaught place. the proceedings from their daily begging activities
would help them survive and also cater huis ongoing drug addiction.

he offered me a glass of tea and we start talking. for a man who lived in yamuna
pushta, he was surprisingly serene. he spoke to me in a clam, composed and
collected manner. he confessed he regretted his habit, but doubted if he would be
able to survive with the daily dose of drug. "when i was a kid a bad man injected
me with drugs and i become drug addict- it was not out of choice- he told me that.

he also told me that what really he wanted in life was for his childeren to study,
be healthy and hopefully some day by a gift of destiny, become educated and get
good jobs and eventually marry and have their own families. at that moment i
realised that we both wanted the same thing in life. i also realised the
connection that exists between all human beings on earth and all beingfs in he
uiverse.

it struck me that though a man could be a drug addict living in yumana pushta who
had to resort to sending his family out to beg. he is not just a 'statistic' or
just a 'story' but a human being who wants what all people want the well being of
the family.

that day, i left yamuna pushta a little wiser and a lot more aware of the
connection between beings- the love of he god that binds us all through we may look
different, have differet ways of living even if it is of a completely different
level in social spectrum.

the story doesn't end there. by a strange twist of irony, that same evening, i went
to cover an event that then prime minister pv narasimha rao, as attending. i waited
in the media aread heard the sirens of pm's motorcade, listened toi the speech and
event home.

that day i had seen 2 men who were perhaps from completely opposite end of the
social spectrum. on the one hand, a man living in a 64sq ft jhuggi, a drug addict a
man who sends his family to beg in order to survive, but yet a man who wanted
something nice for his family on the other hand, the prime of india who had
everything possible with in reach. i don't think there can be any more extreme
levels on the social spectrum than these 2 men.

the men from yamuna pushta and i connected that morning at a mental and spritual
level. oddly, i didn't feel that whne i heard the pm address the gathering in a
meticulously prepared speech.

i returned home wiser and felt toucheds at the level of the soul. the man at the
'lowest' level of the social spectrum affected my heart more than the man at the
'highest' level.

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