a.Oliver Twist, orphaned at birth by the death of his frail, peniless and homeless mother had been brought up by the parish authorities. After spending his initial years being underfed and receiving absolutely no love of any kind, he is sent away to become an undertaker's apprentice. After having been brought into his new master's home for the first time, the lady of the house very generously offers Oliver a few pieces of left over meat that she had intended to feed the dog which she couldn't find at the moment and hence it came to pass that Oliver was offered the viands. At this moment in the story, the author remarks and I quote:- "I wish some well fed philosopher, whose meat and drink turn to gall within him, whose blood is ice, whose heart is iron, could have seen Oliver Twist clutching at the dainty viands that the dog had neglected. I wish he could have witnessed the horrible avidity with which Oliver tore the bits asunder with all the ferocity of famine. There is only one thing that I should like better- and that would be to see the philosopher making the same sort of meal himself, with the same relish".
How many times have we seen men offering philosophical retorts when instead, their blood ought to be boiling and ready to burst forth and try and solve the injustices? How many times have we heard ourselves saying, "The world is like that and nothing can be done about it"?
In the adjoining picture, Oliver Twist can be seen pleading for more gruel at the parish house for orphans. He was seen as a villain and called a troublemaker and locked up for this! Now its difficult to imagine all this but crimes against children are still occurring at an alarming rate. In an astonishing study, 4 out of 5 boys were found to have been sexually or physically harassed in some way in India, I am not aware of the rate at which such incidents occur in other countries but I'm sure that it is a universal problem that all of us face. Children are repeatedly seen as soft targets by fiends in society and unless we bring in stricter laws and punish these offenders strictly, they are not going to be mitigated. How many of you do not shed tears inwardly when you see bone thin children on the roads begging for one morsel. Traveling in our trains is enough to enlighten the most insulated of us. It is not enough that we simply educate and train an army of engineers and scientists and doctors. We should also make sure that they are humans and are ready to give back to society once they have established themselves. It is not enough that our politicians simply pay lip service, while a Ramadoss is vociferously trying to improve the health of the nation through loud propaganda against smoking and drinking on screen, there are millions out there who don't have access to the most basic of health care, drinking water or hygienic living conditions. Rest not my friend until you have helped thy neighbor, rest not until you can look into the mirror and say satisfactorily that you have lived life honorably.
