I’m really grateful that I have water to drink. Cool water to bathe in every day. Even during the COVID lockdown, one day I found myself feeling grateful that there is cool water in the tap to bathe with.
Kolkata is going through a heat wave right. In that there is no electricity problem in our apartment complex. There is electricity problem in other parts of the city.
The drawing / living room of the apartment I stay in is quite cool (much cooler than the apartment my parents and brothers live in). It has a working AC (how fantastic is that!) but is minimally required.
Very grateful for that.
And mangoes? And fruits in general? Woo. उनके लिए तो ऐसा लगता है कि मन कृतज्ञता से बस चुप हो जाता है।
There is something very “pure” about fruits. The way they taste, the impact they have vis-a-vis cooked food.
When I was in the US I volunteered at a Ministry a few times. They worked for homeless people. Instead of organizing soup kitchens, they figured that the fundamental problem is having a home. Without that people can’t hold a job, even if they are capable of holding one.
They pooled resources and constructed an apartment complex. Residents were tenants, not free boarders, though they didn’t have to pay rent right away.
One of the residents there told me he bathes five times a day, simply because he has a place now to bathe in! And he talked about how it was such a pleasure to cook breakfast for himself.
To have a home, a bed to sleep on at night, these are such immense gifts life has bestowed upon us.