The Choice

Dawn

I work at school setting as a speech language pathologist. I get to see many little kids at school.  I saw him there. It was just a beginning of the school year and he was in a pre-school class. When I saw him, he was a bit scared. Very much confused with the people and noise around. He was not oriented at all being in a new place. Due to delay in speech and language development, he was not able to communicate effectively either. He was very nervous as he just had a restroom accident and had to change his clothes. He was very embarrassed that he could not even tell such a basic thing to his teacher. I approached him. Took some time and then initiated some talk with him. He slowly was assured that I am a safe person to be around with. He  knew it is a beginning of  new journey now. 

Dusk

I work at long term nursing homes as a speech language pathologist. I get to work with many elderly people at nursing homes. I saw him there. It was a new admission. He was just discharged from the hospital. He had a diagnosis of dementia along with many other health conditions. Stroke was one of them. He was a bit scared. Very much confused with people and noise around. He was not oriented at all due to his affected cognition. He was not able to communicate clearly due to his recent stroke. He was very embarrassed because he had a restroom accident few minutes ago. Nursing staff helped him to clean and change. He was feeling ashamed and guilty because he could not tell such a basic thing to his caregivers. I greeted him and initiated conversation. After few minutes of talk he started feeling safe at nursing home around us. He knew that it is his last phase of life's journey. 

The Choice

I read about this person in the news. He is infamous for his crime. He started as a small thief but then became famous as a con man. He committed different crimes like forgery, misusing his wealth for exploiting people. Cheating on women. Helping terrorist, smuggling stuff. Whenever I read about him, I read so many testimonies of heart broken and betrayed people. I look at person's dawn to dusk journey and my heart wails "why!, why to make such a choice! what is the use at the end?" 

I also observe this person in neighborhood. He is not so evil. He is an average person. He is known for his rudeness around though. His family is always under pressure due to his behavior He has no friends. His co-workers hate to work with him. He has broken hearts of most of his relatives by showing them his egoistic attitude. He has made more enemies than friends. When I look at dawn to dusk, I feel what a waste of life! 

I read about this person in the news. He is very famous for his wealth and service towards humanity. He came from a mediocre background but then invented this useful technology. His invention attracted the wealth beyond an average person's imagination. He was recently enlisted in one of the top most wealthy people of the world. For most his life, he was a public figure but there was rarely a nasty rumor about him. He spent a big chunk of his money in charity. His family never stops praising him. His daughter is a philanthropist like him. When I look at dawn to dusk my heart sings the old Bollywood tune, "Jeena isi ka naam hai!" "this is life!"  

Then I thought about this person in the neighborhood. He is not very famous. He lives his life between weekdays and weekends just like any other average person. Though, he is known for his sweet behavior in our neighborhood. he has always been helpful to people around him. His family loves him. He has made more friends than enemies. He also makes mistakes like an average person but never shies off from apologizing and healing hearts. He has raised his kids into responsible adults. At job, he is a great team worker. When I look at dawn to dusk, I feel, " what a great choice!"