ME and MY Thoughts !!

I remember going to the old age home besides the now defunct and derelict Elgin flour mills (near Bangalore Military School) and spending quality time with the then residents of this home with my classmates and fellow members of the Interact Club on at least three or four different occasions, A bar of soap, a few discarded medicines, infinite patience, a sense of empathy and a few kind words was all it took to bring a delighted smile on the lips of these oldies who had been battered by life's vagaries and deserted and discarded by their loved one's like any other household article that has outlived it's usefulness; today I am older and supposedly wiser, devote my undivided time and attention towards making contributions to CRY, Helpage India and other such organisations devoted to making this world a better place to live in by helping them through cash,kind, writing the odd article or piece for them and also contributing my mite through counselling and educating students and elders as the case may be, yet I am alone, have my better half for company at best, find myself dismayed and amazed at the sheer callousness, apathy and indifference displayed by a vast majority of us towards our less fortunate brethren, why do we grow more materialistic self centered, indifferent and apathetic as we grow older and supposedly wiser(?) aren't we supposed to acquire wisdom with advancing age if conventional held beliefs held in this regard are any yardstick to go by, if this is what being older and supposedly wiser means, then I guess I am better off being the butt of ridicule and jokes of more than a few of my neighbours and fellow residents who feel that I am an oddity and hence fool to be laughed at cause' I am not like them, obsessed with making money through means both fair and foul, have no material acquisitions like the latest gizmo, mobile phone, designer jewellery or the swanky car to flaunt in public, do not own a flat or home of my own or for that matter do not even own a two or four wheeler because I am of the humble opinion that I ma better off without one, my bank balance more often than not is zero or sometimes a little better and frankly does not bother me and cause me any sleepless nights, what bothers me is the fact that millions of Indians sleep hungry every night and die before their due date because of a system that is obsessed with lining the pockets of those who subscribe to greed and avarice rather than reaching out to those for whom the system is purportedly meant, if I am an oddity, maverick,eccentric, madman, oddball, psycho and paagal; so be it, I am more than happy being branded all this and more, I am at least trying to make a difference in my own humble way and lend a helping hand to people who need the same; can you cross your heart and say the same about yourself????????? NO, then put a stop to this reprehensible practice of sticking or affixing labels to the foreheads of those who dare to march to the beat of their own piper, they are the people who make this place worth living in, so do try and emulate them if you have shred of humanity left in you......