The 10 Questions

The child's lips diverged maximally. They couldn’t be split to any greater extent. He was staring hard at the sky above, hoping to receive a divine reply. His face had sullied by the tearful deposits and his shirt was tattered from different sections. His whole body was punctured with scars exposed through the torn sections of his 'so called' clothes. He seemed to be protesting at his condition, which he least deserved. He was a small child definitely not more than 7. The ground on which he stood was littered with blood and indiscriminate debris. There was smoke all around him and even the contours of the picture were becoming fuzzy. The child was barely holding on to a broken Lego piece in one hand and a crumb of bread in the other but the most striking aspect was the receding light in his eyes. They looked hopeless and glazed over. The sparkle at once visceral and untainted had been replaced with half understood, half expressed surprise.

I spotted the picture in a Facebook advertisement. I said to myself.

“another victim of collateral damage.”

The situation in the Play Land was going from bad to worse. Both sides were playing the victim card. But their failure to claim responsibility was playing havoc with human life.

The international community looked the other way. A resolution was tabled in the Neutrality Office. A fierce argument broke out. There was an over presence of decorum with dignitaries sitting at their respective seats with a studious look in their eyes. Tables were tapped ferociously whenever passions were evoked. People looked at Mr. Objective to give his verdict. However, there was no stir among the delegates as if they knew the verdict even before it was announced.

Finally, Mr. Objective rose from his seat. He delivered a long speech that chronicled the mechanics of the process. At the end, he sounded very grim and ruled in favour of the oppressors. However, the delegates instead of getting vexed tapped the desk to show their pleasure. The oppressed side just gnawed their teeth; they could only sulk and suffer.

The next day social media went into hyper active mode and the newspapers cried hoarse but nothing changed on the ground. It continued to be business as usual.

Compassionate calls were made but the men who mattered the most remained unmoved. 'Likes' were aggregated and people went to great lengths to prove their sympathetic stance by emptying the full range of their emotional content that threatened to overflow at times!

The Facebook crowd typed the same emotions that were as dry as the grassless pitch for a cricket match. Vows were made to help and sustain creating an impression of marching off at the very next flight!

In the meanwhile, the violence continued. There was not even an iota of a difference on the ground situation. The world seemed to have other priorities.

Glances were cast at a spectator who held aloft the flag of Play Land. He was rebuked for his overt display of sympathy.

People reduced the consumption of the staple products that Mr. Bane produced but all these measures could not stop him going on air to announce his ambitions to expand the operations. He publicly admitted that he would not stop!

Where is the conscience of the world? Where is the moral policeman?

Where is humanity and where are the human beings?

May be they are in a deep sleep and fail to be roused.

Mr. Rhetoric gathered in his glitzy office to condemn the violence. He gave a passionate speech to advertise their support but could not translate into action. The child in the picture could not be consoled with this impressive rhetoric!

The point was delivered home by Mr. Wisdom while appearing on a private You tube channel.

He did not mince his words.

“What would you do if the child had been yours?”

The whole crowd fell silent. Some even glared at the speaker for being so blunt. They could not even imagine this thing happening to their child. So it was clear that equivocal stance on this matter was deliberate based on complete insight about their indifference.

The child in the picture asked questions to the world that defy straight forward answers.

Q-1. What is my fault?

Q-2. Who will give chocolates to me at the weekend?

Q-3 Where is my mother?

Q-4. Why am I being bombed?

Q-5. Why have you destroyed my house?

Q-6. Why can’t I play in the garden?

Q-7. Why can’t I go to school?

Q-8. Why am I starving to death?

Q-9. Why can’t I drink safe water?

Q-10. Am I a human being?

These are all harrowing questions. It is a slap on world conscience that is allowing the violence to go on. This is only one child. There are millions of children across the world who are suffering the same fate.

I closed my eyes for a while and tried to size up the situation but it was so big that I could not clasp it within my limited space.

The money being spent to pip the competitors in the arms race and indulge in other luxuries comes at the expense of these children who are perhaps perishable commodities- waste to be thrown in the gutter.

What is the standard of being a human? Just make money and milk others!

Selfishness has risen to such an extent that we have lost our basic sense of purpose.

Evolving into adults at some stage in the future, these children would end up pretty much more brutalized than at present. What kind of generation are we producing? And all this amidst the talk of man going to Mars and the mantra of human rights and development.

Mr. Thoughtful had it summed up well!

“The world has lost its fulcrum. It is rotating against the natural pivot. The law of the jungle that prevailed in primitive times has only changed its appearance and language. The core remains intact that is devoid of any values or code of conduct. It operates as brutally as before but it is sanctioned as civilized behaviour! My God! how far we have degenerated as human beings! How far we have maligned our identity as the finest creation of God! We inhabit a world where concern is immediately sported for an injured animal but the same empathy is extricated from being extended to children of lesser men! The Elite of this world is unquestioningly dancing to the tune played by money and luxury- spawned by the capitalistic philosophy. Humanity is left to rot and decay. One person thrives and blossoms whereas the other is condemned to live below the poverty line. The progress that is claimed to have galvanized the world is sadly absent on the streets. The justice is for the powerful whereas the weak find it as elusive as a fugitive. Although, living in the 21^st century we are still being stalked by the shadows of the Dark Ages. We have failed to grow beyond the cave men. All changes are sham and beneath the gloss there are dark marks that are nibbling slowly at the declining living space of the common man.”