From as far back as I can remember, I have always questioned why we cannot help those less fortunate than us to reach a level matching our own... Be it when I would see a really bent old man begging for alms near the temple, or when the sweet lil girl with cute dimples would come hobbling on crutches at a signal close home...

And from the same times I do not remember having a satisfactory response to my questions either. On asking my granny she would simply say that what we are doing would help them so very much, much more in fact than we would imagine it to. As to matching my expectations of the levels, she would say that it is God's will and the fruits of their 'karma' [karma here being 'deeds']... My parents would most often than not reply that that was the way of the world, and what we feel as the little would go a long way in alleviating their miseries... Not always can we do for others all that we ideally feel we should, they would say... After all, all said and done we don't have any illusions that we inhabit an ideal world, do we ?????

I have come a long way from that idealistic and maybe impractical kid... My questions however remain to haunt me . . . Alongwith the old, familiar feelings of powerlessness...of helplessness.....

Everytime I come across a less fortunate soul than me, I am moved by their plight... More so by my helplessness in the face of their misery and situation... The powerlessness I feel as I know that I cannot simply wave a magic wand or wish for better things for them and make all of it come true...

I am not a sop, who is easily swayed by every beggar on the street... Nor do I open my purse and donate generously to every beggar who comes knocking on my door [be it at home or at a traffic signal ;) ]... My feelings of helplessness and powerlessness spout more, when I see adversity in the lives of people I interact with every day...

On the eve of 'International Women's Day', I am hearing about the adversities someone I know, [P], has been facing everyday, from the past 4+ years... I know that there is very little I can 'do' to make her feel better, and even less to improve her situation... And the feeling of being powerless overwhelms me again...

A cup of tea and a listening ear . . . Are these really the only substitutes I could find ???

I will be reading about the marches and rallies that scores of Women's organisations will be taking out tomorrow... There would be a few tales of exemplary courage and fortitude shown by some women in overcoming their situations... I will read them all and wonder at the plight all the other unsungs would continue going through...

I will wonder as always, whether we really need to 'empower' our womenfolk... As I see P move about with a small smile on her lips tomorrow morning, I will wonder and marvel at the innate strength she possesses in such abundant measure, without even being aware of it... I will ask myself then, if she really needs to be 'empowered' . . . . .

To me tomorrow will be a day when my familiar long time companions - the feelings of being helpless and powerless - will take a backseat, at the least for a day...

I will see P and scores of others like her... I will read about hundreds more...

I will salute their innate strength, their spirit... And then I will realize that my being helpless and powerless, is in a way responsible in me recognising in them this spirit...this strength...

Tomorrow, I will lay aside my personal failings and salute the true spirit of a woman... In P . . .