Approach road to our apartment is reasonably wide by Indian standards. But these days most of it is occupied by construction material dumped on either side of the road by big and small builders. Their hoardings promise heaven to potential buyers. Not sure if they'll meet the promise. But they have already managed to create hell on the road.
I was on the way for an evening walk. A school bus was trying to maneuver its way through the approach road. My son already reached home. So it was not his school bus. There was a big truck on the road with construction materials. The bus driver was yelling at the truck driver to make way for the bus. But the truck driver was not yielding. The bus driver got furious. He got down and charged at the truck driver as if to hit him.
I felt bad for the kids in the bus because they had to witness these unpleasant scenes. But I was helpless. I proceeded for my evening walk and grocery shopping. It was only after a couple of hours that I was back.
That evening on the dinner table my wife asked me - Do you know that one school bus driver was beaten up very badly by the construction workers in front of our apartment?
I could connect the dots. The school bus driver hit the truck driver. The truck driver called for help and got his colleagues from the construction site to join him. Together they beat up the bus driver who was alone.
And all this happened while the kids where inside the bus. They watched a few men attacking their "uncle" (that is what the kids call the bus driver). They were helpless. Did some of them cry? what did they feel? fear? anger? helplessness? Maybe all of these.
My wife came to know about the incident from our neighbor. She doesn't know if the driver was in a condition to drive the bus after getting beaten up. If he was not, then what happened to the kids in the bus? Did they have to wait for a different driver? When I was coming back from walk, the bus was not there. So definitely someone has driven it away after the incident. My mind was disturbed.
That night my wife called our son to have his usual dose of "chyavanaprasam" (an ayurvedic medicine supposed to help in building immunity) . He started taking Chyavanaprasam because someone in our extended family suggested that the best way to build immunity in kids was to take this medicine regularly. All the more important in Bangalore because the pollution levels are high here. But I was realizing that there was another kind of pollution happening. Pollution by violence/aggression. And what do I give to him to make him immune? A dose of "non-violence/compassion". But where do I get it? Can I get "non-violence" tablet/syrup? I decided to tell him some stories from Gandhiji's life. Now the challenge is to give a dose regularly. I could afford to tell him stories yesterday because I was relatively free. For an engineer working in Bangalore, that is usually not the case. So what do I do when I'm busy? Which is the case most of the days. I'm still searching for "non-violence" in tablet/syrup/lahyam/choornam form.
I was on the way for an evening walk. A school bus was trying to maneuver its way through the approach road. My son already reached home. So it was not his school bus. There was a big truck on the road with construction materials. The bus driver was yelling at the truck driver to make way for the bus. But the truck driver was not yielding. The bus driver got furious. He got down and charged at the truck driver as if to hit him.
I felt bad for the kids in the bus because they had to witness these unpleasant scenes. But I was helpless. I proceeded for my evening walk and grocery shopping. It was only after a couple of hours that I was back.
That evening on the dinner table my wife asked me - Do you know that one school bus driver was beaten up very badly by the construction workers in front of our apartment?
I could connect the dots. The school bus driver hit the truck driver. The truck driver called for help and got his colleagues from the construction site to join him. Together they beat up the bus driver who was alone.
And all this happened while the kids where inside the bus. They watched a few men attacking their "uncle" (that is what the kids call the bus driver). They were helpless. Did some of them cry? what did they feel? fear? anger? helplessness? Maybe all of these.
My wife came to know about the incident from our neighbor. She doesn't know if the driver was in a condition to drive the bus after getting beaten up. If he was not, then what happened to the kids in the bus? Did they have to wait for a different driver? When I was coming back from walk, the bus was not there. So definitely someone has driven it away after the incident. My mind was disturbed.
That night my wife called our son to have his usual dose of "chyavanaprasam" (an ayurvedic medicine supposed to help in building immunity) . He started taking Chyavanaprasam because someone in our extended family suggested that the best way to build immunity in kids was to take this medicine regularly. All the more important in Bangalore because the pollution levels are high here. But I was realizing that there was another kind of pollution happening. Pollution by violence/aggression. And what do I give to him to make him immune? A dose of "non-violence/compassion". But where do I get it? Can I get "non-violence" tablet/syrup? I decided to tell him some stories from Gandhiji's life. Now the challenge is to give a dose regularly. I could afford to tell him stories yesterday because I was relatively free. For an engineer working in Bangalore, that is usually not the case. So what do I do when I'm busy? Which is the case most of the days. I'm still searching for "non-violence" in tablet/syrup/lahyam/choornam form.
