[Reader-list] A possible thin thread!

[S. Jabbar]

Lovely!


On 8/26/08 11:52 AM, "Jeebesh" <jeebesh at sarai.net> wrote:

> dear All,

Recently a friend who is in journalism recounted an encounter.

He
> went to find out about the land acquisition conflicts in Himachal  
on account
> of a big skiing resort that is being planned there.  He was  
among many
> claims and counterclaims. What strongly stayed with him as  
a puzzle was an
> old man of about 90 years. He gently said that he does  
not see the urgency
> to move from where he is now. On being asked why,  
as the compensation
> package was good, he explained that the  
"dhoop" (warmish sunlight) that he
> is used to for last 20 years in the  
patch where he sits everyday will
> disappear from his life and that he  
is not keen to loose it.

Now my friend
> was a bit bemused by the response. It may not come into  
his manifest account
> of the troubled times but had definitely arrived  
at him as a life long
> puzzle.

I was trying to understand this strange presence in my friend's mind
> 
amidst stories of violence and injustice, which he has been  
encountering in
> his travels within India.

In a landscape overflowing with language of scorn,
> the gentle remark  
of the man takes our mind to another way of thinking.
> Elevare.  
Raising. In our culture we have an abundance "tollere" (to take
> away).  
And Tollere without Elevare is a life gone
> dry.

warmly
Jeebesh
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