THE GLASS WALL

It was a hot and humid day yesterday even though it was cloudy. I went to meet a like minded friend for discussing about future travel plans. We went to a café and both of us ordered the same drink- Cappuccino, though one small and one large (Never mind that Cappuccino literally means a small cup in Italian!). We got busy discussing travel plans and soon a third common friend joined in. His order too was for Cappuccino. The room was nice and cool with large glass panes up to the ceiling and one could see people outside in the verandah. We enjoyed talking about travel plans. I personally enjoy planning and fantasizing about travel as much as I love travel itself.

Suddenly I saw something outside which attracted my attention. Some repair work, perhaps for the telephone line, was going on and there were about half a dozen people involved in it. One Sikh gentleman, aged around 65, with absolutely grey beard and hair, wearing a vest and a sort of shorts, was doing the digging. I was amazed at the fast speed with which he was digging. This went on for a few minutes and then he stopped and a younger person in his mid thirties took over. After a little while he too stopped. Now it was the turn of a Muslim gentleman who must have been around 60, to do the digging. He had a large grey beard without moustaches and a small white little cap on his head.
He did his quota of the digging and stopped after some time. Inside the cool room, the three of us sat glued to what was happening outside. Soon a small boy appeared on the scene with about half a dozen glasses of tea for these workers. They all sat under the shade of the tree and started chatting and laughing while enjoying their tea.

The sight of tea brought us back to our Cappuccinos, and to our world. Our world, though hardly ten feet away from those digging outside, was bounded by a thick transparent wall of glass and an invisible but strong social wall. We could see what was happening outside but could not become a part of their world.

This incident has left me very disturbed. I am 68 and am in good health. I am doing nothing for the society- the society where people of my age are forced by circumstances to do hard manual labour to earn an honest living.

I don’t know how to handle this.