Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Hideous human nature

This incident took place a few days ago at a PG where I live. There are about 15-20 girls living here. The PG owner also runs a catering service and to support it they have a few workers including a Nepali family working for them. This family consists of a mother, father and their one-year old daughter Anju. Anju's parents are good looking and no one can tell that they're domestic helpers. Anju had inherited her parents features. Fair, chubby and cute, she easily attracts attention is usually petted and pampered by everyone including girls in the PG, all workers, the PG owner and his family.

It so happened that recently, another Nepali family moved in. The new family consisted of a father mother and 2 children, a three-year old girl and a year old boy. All four of them looked pale, thin and not so attractive. Every morning it was like a routine, all three kids would start crying in chorus. The PG owner or workers would immediately try to pacify Anju. The other two kids would be left to cry their lungs out. Their parents busy working in the kitchen found it difficult to attend to them everyday. These kids would keep crying and the irritated workers would shuttle them from one place to another.

One such morning, when I stepped out of my room and walked towards the kitchen to get some breakfast, I witnessed something that left me  dumbfounded. At the corner of the building, I saw the three year old girl crying and beside her was the PG owner.He was shooing her away, tellin her to get lost and was pinching her on the face near the eyes, while the kid howled in pain. I stopped there, my jaw dropped, eyes wide with shock. When the man saw me, he jumped and hurried away. All the respect that I had for this man came crashing down in that one minute.

What I had just seen, was very disturbing. On one side, there was Anju whom they treated like a princess, they would do anything to make her happy, reason - she was fair skinned and good looking. Whereas on the other, there were these two kids, who instead of being loved, were being abused, just because they didn't look attractive enough? The PG owner is an educated man,  the way he carries himself and speaks to his customers is very refined and professional. He himself has 2 daughters. I was shocked to see his this side of him. What bothers me most is, how did he have the heart to do such a thing to a helpless little soul. Not even animals behave this way. It still surprises me that not looking good can inspire such hideous behaviour in humans.