Parallel worlds.

We often talk of the possibility that there exist parallel worlds, like that of a Matrix kind of an arrangement.

But we are actually blind not to see the parallel worlds around us.

Take the case of the death of thousands of people in rural Uttar Pradesh due to the spread of life threatening Japanese Encephalitis. This was caused by vector bearing mosquitoes that breed in the paddy fields of UP. Paddy that is grown as a cash crop to be sold to people who live in the city. Paddy that will probably be packed in fancy bags and be re-branded and sold as Dawat Basmati Rice, Patanjali Rice, etc.

These kids died because some simple precautions were not taken. Like the application of mosquito repellent creams, wearing of full body covering clothes and administration of Japanese Encephalitis vaccine. Thousands of lives snuffed out.

Similarly the season spread of Dengue and Swine Flu in urban areas affect the kids of the middle class and the rich.

There are millions in our country who go to bed on empty stomachs while hundreds of thousands gorge on the best of food and select few eating the exotic variety of food every day.

There are so many deaths due to use of contaminated water and there are those who won't drink anything below a bottle of Evian.

Have you been to a super market in the upper middle class and rich areas of any city?

The food on offer there is vastly different in quality and price as compared to super markets in middle class and lower middle class areas.

We all see this disparity every day but we have been blinded by a sense of entitlement. Just because one person is a successful banker who handles million of rupees of others passing through his bank, he/she earns much more than the farmer who sows a few kilogram of seed to harvest tons of food for the very same banker.

As a country, we need to once again embark on a journey of sacrifice. And the sacrifice should start with oneself.

• What we need to do is to ensure that we eat to live and not live to eat.
• What we need to ensure is that we dress to clothe our bodies and not dress to impress.
• What we need is to give up the luxury of personal transport and force the government to increase public transport and improve its quality, quantity and reliability.
• What we need is to introspect every time we put food on our own table, every time we open our wardrobe, every time we think of using a personal transport.

Every time. Till we have lifted people from the clutches of poverty that prevails in most parts of the country.

We need to work towards a society that provides for everyone and not just for the lucky few, not based on the theory of Karma.

And that effort to lift everyone out of poverty should be our Dharma.