Painfully real!

Senali S.Perera

Some things we overlook. Some things we ignore. We walk past reality in chase of fantasy and on our way, more often than not, we are blind to the struggles and suffering of those around us. Panting in exhaustion, trying to keep up with the fast pace of life, we overlook the tears and solitude of human kind. In our haste we sometimes even ignore the pleading in the eyes of another human being made of flesh and blood just like the rest of us.

Waiting for a few coins...

Walking along the streets of the concrete forests of Colombo, you will find lonely, helpless souls waiting or wandering in solitude. The struggle is not to reach the moon but simply to find something that would quench the thirst and satiate the hunger. They ask. They plead. Waiting for your heart to soften, wondering if you would care and wishing more than anything that their hunger would fade due an act of kindness by you. Mendicants.

"We have been doing this for ten years," says Mulin Fernando who comes to Colombo everyday with her husband to sing in the streets hoping to keep the ship from sinking. "I have been blind for more than six years. And my husband lost his sights two years ago."

Mulin and her husband H.D. Ebert go to two places everyday to collect money for food and rent. They rent a small house and it is expensive, too heavy a burden for them. Mulin is 65 years old. And Ebert is 70. Both claim that they have a patch of land with no ability to build a house of their own. "We don't have a proper place to spend the last few years of our lives."

You might see them, help them but the memory wouldn't last for more than a few

hours. But for them, the struggle continues and they will fight each day to survive. It's a funny thing about the reality. Everyone is struggling. Some struggle harder than the others. Some deserve more than what they've got.

Different story

Ramani, on the other hand, has a different story. She comes from Panadura. "I lost my leg about a year ago. And I have been living like this ever since," she says. "I live in a rented room.

The cost is too much. I have to pay water bill and current bill as well. I find enough money some days. But most days, it's not enough." To top it all off,Ramani has to deal with diabetes. "I go to the hospital once a month but I don't receive enough insulin. I don't like to live like this. But I can't help it. All this struggling and pain is to survive," she says further.

Seventy-nine year old Wilson used to work as a mason. Now he is old and is not capable of working. "Everyday I try to find enough money to last a day. And every night I sleep near a shop -the owner lets me sleep there," Wilson shares his story. He has two young children who are not yet married. They are not able to look after their father because they don't have enough money. "Life is hard. It always has been. I try to survive each day even though it takes so much effort."

To look in to their lives is such an eye-opener. These innocent, lonely people fighting their own fight each day to live their lives. It shows just how hard life can get.

Alone..alone.. all alone Pictures by Sudath Nishantha

We live with expectations that reach the sky but this painful reality shakes us awake. With his white cane faithfully by his side, Sarath stands and waits with hope. He remembers his wife and his son and is determined to makes their lives as comfortable as he can.

He has never seen the light of the world. Nor has his wife. "We both can't see but our seven year old son can. My wife sells Pahanthira and that is not enough to support the family. So I have been coming to Colombo for 21 years," says Sarath. "We rent a small house. But we can barely afford the rent. I have posted letters to authorities asking for help to build a house. They said they could help if I had land. I don't. I even posted a letter to the President. I am still expecting help," says Sarath further.

Street children

"Street children are being taken care of. They are provided with education, shelter. But we are always the same.

There's no development for people like us," says Sarath. They deserve attention. They deserve support. They have dreams, expectations,hope just like you and me.

Munasinghe is sixty-nine years old. He has been coming to Colombo for fifteen years.

He waits everyday for a generous person to support him with a simple meal. That's all he asks for. "I worked as a driver.

But I can't work anymore. I'm too old. So I work at small restaurants on Fridays -washing dishes. Other days, I comer here in the morning and wait," says Munasinghe. He sleeps near a shop every night. Long, dull days and the struggle continues.

Like Munasinghe, seventy-two year old Sumanasiri waits with hope for someone to be generous enough to offer him a meal.

"I don't earn money here. I just wait for the food. Some weeks, I go two, three days without anything to eat," says Sumanasiri."Those days all I can do is drink some water and go to sleep." He is alone. He has no one that would look after him. His life is hard.

Suffering

Sirisena is yet another person who waits everyday at the same place as Munasinghe and Sumanasiri for a meal. "I've been living like this for twenty-five years.Some days I ask for small jobs at restaurants -to wash dishes," says Sirisena. He has constant chest pain and no one to look after him. His brothers neglect him, he says. "We're here and this is what we can do.

We don't steal or hurt anyone. We wait here,hoping we'll find some food. But there are times I don't find anything to eat and I go for days in hunger," he says further.

These lives are precious. They matter. Our busy days pass in lightning speed but do we stop to think and look into a day of a life of a mendicant? Do we imagine what struggles they're facing? Long, monotonous days with nothing but solitude for company. The struggle to stand on their own feet.

They might not have riches and treasures but their hearts are pure gold.

Those innocent hearts hold so much hope despite how unfair life has been to them.

Despite the struggles, despite the tears, despite the pain, they hope.