In this era where “tit for tat” has become more practical, who can live with a person who is given and does not give back? Who would want to live with a burden? Who can befriend, according to them, “a useless” person? What about hanging out with a poor guy who cannot pay a bill for only a day? Who can walk with a poor person, wearing only one cloth day in, day out?
Who can marry a sister of someone who would ask for help every time? Who can invite a poor man with ideas either in a family or community meeting? Who listens to an advice of a poor person? Who checks on a poor man whether he is dead or alive? Who can dare pick a phone call of a poor man? The answer is always “NO ONE”.
Poverty is a disease of all. Even biological brothers are separated by poverty. If one is rich and another is poor, the rich one buds off, goes and looks for his class. Anyone who advises him to lift his brother to his level is always an enemy to him. This is exaggerated to the core if one becomes rich after a lottery win, large inheritance or theft. Paranoia and social isolation can make a person to separate him/herself socially and morally from former relationships and familiar environments.
Daniel and James were great friends. They were friends who could kill a person and keep the secret to themselves whatever the situation. They were known for that. Each time they hunted for food; they always shared the little food they got. Even if it was one groundnut, they could dissect and divide it equally. There was no hunger they had not faced. They had faced hunger A to hunger Z.
It was always expected that, when one got an opportunity, it would also be an opportunity of the other. They themselves even used to tell people. James was tall, huge and good-looking. Daniel was like that. But he was always the one whose plans mostly succeeded. One time, government officials came to conduct rallies in their village as elections were nearing to conduct. Daniel and James went to listen to them. The officials scanned the nature of James and kept it in their medulla oblongota.
When they returned to the city, they reported it to the big man and suggested that he should be made the one who stands behind the big man. Elections were in the corner. So, they had wanted to do this to win votes from Daniel’s and James’s village. The big man sent some officials to collect James and bring him along. James demanded that he be taken together with Daniel, but the officials said they wanted him alone. Daniel remained in the village.
In the palace, James was chosen as that special guard who stands behind the Big Boss. But he was first taken for trainings. After trainings, he officially assumed his duty. 3 months later, he was seen building a tower, buying a Jeep, living in an apartment and sending his family to Dubai for shopping. People were expecting him to call Daniel and assign him somewhere there or give him to one of his wealthy friends to employ. But he never thought of it completely.
Daniel did not put it in his mind. He took off to the city, came to the palace and asked for his great friend, James. When James was informed, he sent soldiers with lashes, what they call “uncle black”, and instructed them to whip Daniel until he heard him crying inside the palace. The soldiers did it exactly as James commanded. Daniel walked away bleeding. He had wounds all over his body.
James was heard saying, the poor do not mix with the rich. There is a big river between me and Daniel. Tell him not to again come to where I live, James concluded. James thought Daniel would infect him with poverty. So, he abandoned him for good.
In this era where the rich walk with the rich and the poor with the poor, the only solution is to work hard to get what you could call “yours”. When you have ‘yours”, you are always everybody’s favorite. You can never be abandoned even if you contract Ebola virus, people would still not run away from you.
Thanks for reading “Sowing The Seed Of Truth”.