Plastic Bottle Hunter

My daily chore starts with wine offering " Soelkha"  to my protecting deities at seven morning sharp and some light breakfast to kick-off the day. Having to travel few minutes to attend my classes as scheduled by the College of Mahidol University, Thailand. It is disturbing and sad to see and meet always an old lady, bent back, with huge plastic bag on her back, gathering the plastic bottles from the dustbins being dumped by the dwellers for earning some money to sustain her old life. Seeing her struggle to hunt for plastic bottles at this critical age around eighties could be painful and difficult under the scorching sun that pounds her daily. Immediately, I could remember my old mother at home who also have to do some little domestic works to support my brother and kids at this old age. Deep inside my heart, I also share her pain and suffering for having to suffer in this way. 

This incident probed me to question that whether this old lady is having any sons and daughters to look after her at this old age instead of hunting for plastic bottles everyday? It is her best time to rest at home and recite some prayers to prepare for the death. The Thai people are proud of saying that they take care their parents very well at old age with comfort and peace. Seeing this old lady's pathetic condition gathering the plastic bottles proved to be wrong in what they used to claim always in front of me. In the oceans, there could be crocodiles, sharks, sea lions and also gold fish too. In the same way, there could be some bad sons and daughters  who never care their parents after their wishes are fulfilled in every society.

The western style of thinking as "individualism" has encroached every Country and old parents are becoming burden to their sons and daughters and finally chased out from home to sustain of their own way by doing such activity of brushing through dustbins smelling so horrible to find some bottles. This is the pitfall side of our modern economic paradigm and business mentality. Every one is hooked to do some ugly jobs for the sake of money. The concept of money has created all greed and war on this earth. For sake of money, people are murdered, sex is sold out and  banks are looted out. 

The most disturbing thing about this old lady is that I could meet her every street corners that I do visit. She is found at Victory Monument, Century Park, Century Mall, Rangam, Ding Daeng Road and  Center One shopping Mall carrying her plastic bag filled with bottles under burning sun. She looks very weak and tired after the long hours of hunting all dustbins for her sustenance.  I can see many rich sections of society in Thailand enjoy the life of luxury driving BMW  and enjoying swimming pool at condominium.  But on the other hand, this old lady represents the income distribution in Thai economy  is in-equal and unjustified one. 

As a Buddhist Country, we always claim to be kind and compassionate to our parents, but this lady really did not get any support and kind showering from the richer sections of society. She is left alone to fight for living at this old age brushing all ugly dustbins. She is living the life of street dogs standard. No one notices how much she suffers alone. Who bothers when some is dying for water; every one is now self-fish and want to become rich by cheating others in the form of business and forget our human values of loving kindness and compassion. We are going into deep life style of individualism and self-centered forgetting our parents completely behind. 

This is a great mistake we educated lots are making in this twenty first century. We should achieve our dreams to become rich and powerful people but never forget to take care of our parents who toiled their whole life for our upbringing. We all should be helping the old parents with decent home and foods to enjoy their last minutes of life on this earth. Whoever, could do this task of making our parents happy, could be the most learned and highly educated person with values and ethics of life. Otherwise, we are just not better than animals.  May the old parents enjoy peaceful life on this earth and end their suffering in toiling ugly jobs which is  dehumanizing valuable life that is rare to get.

Mindu Wangdi