“How do you cope with the poverty? I don’t have to. The poor do”
on Jana Gana Mana (India), 24/Jan/2011 07:30, 34 days ago
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My blog post title is actually a quote from Mark Tully’s “No full stops in India” and is a response to quite a few similar comments recently about my blog posts. I am asked if I'm letting on to what it’sreallylike in Delhi or I am being too positive and hiding the negatives?For me, the rhythm of India and the irrepressible energy and consciousness of this place makes positive things happen. Of course, there is poverty and the slums are numerous but when faced with the poverty in Delhi, the temptation is to despair or to pity. I have tried to guard against that: it is futile and does not help the poor. The strength of India lies in the resilience of the poor. I, like many outsiders, forget that the poor do manage to make lives for themselves, they do have friends and families, they have their hopes and their fears. They are to be admired, not pitied.The poor may be fatalists, but that does not mean they have despaired.
