Friday, August 27, 2010

We Dwell in Possibility

A year ago I sat on an early morning flight to cape town and began writing one of my infamous blogs. The topic was my usual cosmo-ishq satire and opinionated “ bullshyt” you have started to enjoy … frivolous issues that affect the day to day lives of young people in there 20’s

But let me throw a curve ball … on this afternoon flight back I have more important issues to voice … matters that affect you , I , our families , colleagues , neighbors , communities, fellow south Africans even the silver haired friendly gentleman sitting next to me .
This epiphany was brought on by reality that shook me up and made me see first hand the affects of the current economic crisis.. This recession is not about the red arrows you see on Bloomberg or the stats and figures that even economists can’t always grasp. Its not about inflationary pressures of the deficit on the trade account . Its not about consumer spending or market trends. Its something larger than that it’s the phenomenon of the butterfly affect that starts with a flutter of the NASDAQ and hang seng then simultaneously creates storms in the lives of people so far removed and so many miles away from those worlds. I liken this recession to the storms I experienced in cape town this week extreme , sudden, destroying the weak first and leaving disastrous damage in its wrath ….
I have a large customer in Cape Town that I earned my consulting stripes there. They are major players in the South African dairy industry and employ people from various demographics. In the time I have worked on this project I have come to know on a personal level people from all parts of the business … Directors , IT specialists’ , receptionists , and most importantly the minimum wage warehouse workers who etch out a living out of R1200 a month with ten mouths to feed and tons of humility and love …
The honor in which they do their difficult grueling jobs humbles me every time I get an opportunity to run around that warehouse with them … and even though I bring with me a fancy hand held PDA that they expected to learn to operate and an even fancier warehouse system that is suppose to replace some of their functions and takes their warehouse into the dawn of cutting edge technology that they will never understand .. They treat me not as a stranger but as a young lady who they respect and treat with as much care as they would their own daughters “hello massah …. U having a lekker time in cape town ? “ I always reply with a smile on my face .. Amazed at there happiness and contentment with life.
To my horror and shock I got to Cape Town to find half of the depot and plant closed due to cutbacks. I guess the business impact of this is not severe as its part of an economic cycle that trends itself to ups and downs and large companies often hedge against crisis. So they will ride out this period and the many pallets of product not moving due to low demand will eventually be sold at special prices..So in terms of business my client will be okay.. But this blog is not about that. That’s not the real issue … due to the cut back in the past month they have layed of 900 plus workers …. The impact of this is frightening 900 bread winners … 900 families without an income to see them through the rising food prices how are they going to put bread on the table???
The fact is that this recession is merciless and unforgiving and it will hit the poorest and weakest first , their livelihoods jeopardized by things they can’t control . Human beings will be tested and true humanity would be the only savior .now more then ever its time for the spirit of humanity to emerge it is possible to alleviate the crisis . if all of us can spare a taught for our fellow man who are unable to believe anymore who have been subjected to poverty robbed by circumstance and been given a raw deal in life and who have been denied the right to basic human necessities.
Life has let them down , their awaited freedom has let them down , their mayors politicians and religious leaders are still letting them down and subjecting them to an unfair existence. Today I write a different kind of blog .. asking this questions as a citizen of this world , a young adult and a future mother … what kind of world will be left if humanity lets them down ?
And yet I don’t want to paint a hopeless picture of this world. Humanity exists in so many great forms and it has shown itself in saints that have graced this earth … the mother Teresa’s the princess Diana’s . Today the world has billionaires with billion dollar homes and 50million dollar planes and the world also has amazing billionaires who can pledge their entire fortunate to the upliftment of mankind . perhaps the extreme is this if you were to be an Ambani or Mittal grandchild a few years from now your inheritance would be endless wealth and an empire … BUT if you were a Gates or Buffet grandchild your inheritance would be a legacy of absolute selfless contribution to mankind that generations from now would benefit not only you but millions of fellow humans throughout the world , if every man and women had just a little bit of warren buffets foresight then imagine how much better this world would be. YOU don’t have to be a billionaire to make a difference you just have to understand the power of giving a little to someone in need . don’t only think money because destitute people don’t want to know how much you can give but how much you care .


If you have ever felt a need to contribute to this world now more than ever is the time your little help can make an enormous difference . My wish for 2009 is that in the days ahead I can contribute to the lives of as many fellow humans as possible . I think that is a resolution worth making and keeping . I pray to god that he gives me the strength to do so .
My dear reader I hope I have inspired you today. For once my economics degree means so much more then cycles and curves. Tough times await South Africans and the people of the world but there is hope coz we all have the god given ability to make a difference .
 My beloved readers I once again wish to make a very bold statement please do not take offence to my opinion but allow me the right to voice it : true devotion to god is not at a church during Sunday service or during pooja at a temple . it is not in namaaz or ritual . even though these elements are important they are less relevant than serving gods creation. your love and devotion for the creator will be proved in reaching out to your fellow man. That is what the world needs now I often think its sad that temples have become a place to show power and create ego’s time is spent splitting communities and fighting over frivolous mundane sickening issues and power struggles . In an age of today we still believe that priests , preachers and imaams can pray for us and assure us a place in heaven who has ordained them our redeemer what makes them more god fearing than the rest of us and why are they gaining so much from the business of religion ???. all that energy and time is more needed helping those who can’t help themselves that is spirituality and that is the true message that the big business of religion and its teachers fail to send out these days.
Perhaps it is appropriate now to leave you with the words of Shri Sathya Sai Baba
“ service to man is service to god “


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