Out Of Mind, Out Of Sight

The beauty of children lies in the fact that they know nothing of the world.

When I was born I had no thoughts, only feelings of being hungry or sleepy. 

And if not those, then of love.

As I grew, I began to make memories, accumulating knowledge and information about various things. Various prejudices. 

And with this, I started loving less number of people. 

From loving anyone who held me and played with me, I started recognizing the strangers- not to be trusted or spoken to. 

I was taught that some people are different from me and therefore deserve no or less love. I can play with them and be friends, but they are different from me. I must never forget the line between them and us. 

I kept learning, everything that my surroundings taught me. 

I went to school and was told that I must keep my hair tied neatly and my clothes clean, if I wanted to be good. 

I must study when the bell rings and stop only after the bell rings again. 

And the more I learnt about the world, the more I forgot to be a child. 

When I would walk on the streets with my parents or wait in the queue at the station to get a train ticket, I'd watch kids no taller than me sitting on the floor in rags. Some begging, some playing with each other on their mom's lap as she begged for change.   

I'd watch as my parents turned their eyes away, ignoring them. I wondered then, how is it that they can look away from someone who is so small and so hungry? 

I'd beg my parents to give them the change, but I was told to not encourage begging. Begging is a bad thing.

And so I learnt that begging was a bad thing and people who beg are too lazy to work and earn a living for themselves. It is sad that kids have to do it too, but the situation is helpless. What can we do?

I have now mastered the art of ignoring moaning, crying, dirt-covered fellow human beings lining the streets of my city. I'm really good at it, if I may say so myself. 

When they tell me that they haven't eaten in days, my stomach doesn't turn over anymore. 
When they show me their infant babies clinging to their flat, shriveled chests and beg for mercy, my heart doesn't cry anymore. 

I'm used to it. There are millions of people in the world starving and dying. Is it my responsibility to care for all of them? 

And if I have to do that, who will take responsibility to complete my assignment for tomorrow? No, I must concentrate on what is important; my education, my job. 

In the world that we inhabit today, growing up is every person's greatest defense mechanism. If we all could feel like children, be as receptive, as compassionate and concerned as them, we would be the most miserable race on the planet. Because then, we would actually have to do something to counter the damage we're causing to the world by ignoring the misery around us. By doing nothing.

If our country was run by children instead of educated/experienced adults, the people in charge would never think of Pakistan as a bigger issue than starvation, or the land of Kashmir as more important than the people of Kashmir.

If we left the reigns of the country in the hands of children, they would choose to spend money on healthcare rather than developing nuclear weapons.

If children taught adults in schools, we'd have institutions where we would learn to laugh and play harmless games and love and be happy instead of tying ourselves down with rules and standards and discipline.

Sometimes I wish I could unlearn everything that I know, un-see everything that I've recently seen on the news channels. 

Sometimes I wish I had the memory of a gold fish, so that I never remembered terror attacks from the past and every time a bomb blasts another 18 people to pieces, I feel the pain like it's new, like I did the first time. 

I wish I could never stop being shocked by the brutality of men on men. I wish I could never grow up. 

:/