As 7.30pm ticks by here in New Zealand and as families sit down to enjoy a hearty meal to fill their hungry stomachs from the busy day of activities, it ticks over midday in India. Just like every other day in Mumbai, at 12pm two little kids will be begging pedestrians for a few coins. We all came to know these kids while passing through Mumbai for the few days we were there. To us they will always remain unnamed as we never got their names out of them. To me however they're Baskin and Robyn, named after the ice cream store where we met them each day.
However their stories didn't start when we arrived in India, and they won't end just because we've returned to NZ. They were begging there well before we arrived, well before this trip was even in fruition, and they are probably still going to be begging outside that store to get the few rupees a day well after we finish school, university, or wherever our lucky lives take us. This might go on for years, day after day, month after month until they end up dead on the street like the kid we saw in Kolkata, or perhaps Robyn, the little girl, will be sold into the sex trade. It's disgusting, it’s horrible, it’s heart wrenching, but whether we want to forget it or not that's Baskin and Robyn's life from here on out. This will be their lives, along with the thousands of other street kids in Mumbai alone.
Why am I telling you this story? Because this has been plaguing my mind ever since my arrival back in NZ. And it has got me asking three simple questions; 'What am I going to do about it?' , 'What are you going to do about it?' , 'What are we going to do about it?'
As Bono once said, "It's not about charity, it’s about justice", and that describes it perfectly. There is no reason why those two kids suffer so much and my family and I have so many blessings in our lives. That's just how the dice were rolled, for we haven't earned this luxury and definitely do not deserve it any more than they do.
This obviously puts me in a difficult position. Is it then my responsibility to follow Mother Teresa's example and abandon everything my life has given me so far to go and work with the people of Mumbai or Kolkata? As noble as this may sound if everyone in Auckland decided to drop their jobs and pursue such a path we would find ourselves in a very odd situation. Therefore one must find a balance between selflessness and selfishness. To me it comes down to two things; we have a responsibility to love ourselves, our friends and our families, but furthermore, just as importantly we have a responsibility to love those in the world where justice isn't being upheld, where living day by day is a struggle, and where love is missing. And if one thinks that this second responsibility can only be achieved by overseas missions they only need to travel five minutes south of Auckland to learn that many of these problems are a lot closer to home than we think.
So a month on from India where do I sit? To be honest I'm excited; not only because I have another month of New Zealand summer, or because I'm finally getting to start university this year, but mostly because I'm excited about knowing where my future is heading. I can't wait for my sixth year of medicine when I plan to spend my elective back in India, I can't wait to finally get my doctorate and start giving back after having being given so much, and I can’t wait with the excitement I feel towards the awaiting journey to these goals, and the challenges, joys, and sorrows I’ll face every day from here on out. Although it should never be my place to try and answer the question, "What are YOU going to do about it?", I am now sitting comfortably with myself and what I have personally planned out for the future; a future where I will give back through my medical career, letting India shape my decisions and always being present in the back of my mind.
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