BMW vs Stalking Vulture
I was at the local grocery store today and overheard two kids talking about how one’s daddy had bought her a BMW to take to high school. The other girl talked about how her dad did not understand her needs and gave her his old car to take to school. The BMW daughter said,
“Yea but you know, I think I am undergoing major “depression”. I mean I have a new car and all but daddy wouldn’t let me go to Cancun for Spring Break last year and refuses this year too. I mean how sad is that! I just don’t understand why my life has to be such hell. I mean comon….I neeeeeeeeedddddddd to be in Cancun with my friends right? I think I am gonna have some major depression if he doesn’t let me go this time either”
The other one seemed to totally understand what the deal was and nodded her head apologetically. Yours truly here wanted to go shake the girl up and tell her that she was way blessed and just had to take a look around to get rid of the depression. Pitied her too. Poor little rich girl.
In contrast, am posting a picture I had come across a year or so ago.It is a young girl photographed during the Sudan famine. Contrary to what the picture says about the photographer, he did not leave the scene immediately. He “sat under a tree and cried and chain-smoked” and couldn’t distance himself from the horror of what he saw. He does not know what happened to the girl. What would I have done?
A picture is worth a million words….
Luck of the draw????
Me first again !
:D
haha DJ…by hook or by crook eh?
..abhi read karke commentbhi karoji!
Read it - pretty depressing to see this early in the morning … i guess it’s like ‘auro ka gham dekha toh apna kitna kam laga…’
About the BMW girl, cant blame her as well, that’s what she has all seen, so for her universe, not going to cancun is the biggest tragedy of life….auron ka sukh dekh toh apna kitna kam laga ….
Read it … pretty depressing to see the pic early morning … its like, auron ka gham dekha toh apna kitna kam laga…
Waise, cant blame the BMW girl also fully, this is the universe that she has seen, and in that not going to Cancun is the biggest tragedy for her … sigh! auron ka sukh dekha toh apna kitna kam laga …
sheesh…mera comment box dukhi kar raha hai..
Sorrie Deepak, forgot it was morning there..but the picture is very very depressing….and true cant blame the BMW girl..but how ignorant can some people be? I mean just by luck of birth…she was born to some rich daddy and the girl in Sudan wasn’t…to get philosophical for a minute there….nature has weird ways..kab kahaan kaun kyu paida hota hai pata nahi..
yeah… true!
And I agree with DJ - that we might find some people really selfish and ignorant but the truth is that they dont know any better and some who do know better dont want to worry abt it or admit that its there.
Is this nature’s way to balance?! Rich with the poor…?! I dont know… how fair it is for the poor…. I don’t know….
Some have the courage and the opportunity to make something of their lives even after being born in the poorest of nations/situations while some like that girl…… will never get a chance to survive………
Strange indeed!!
Just saw your post. I had seen the photograph a long time ago - some had fowarded me. at that time, I had wished that I hadn’t seen it - it was very very depressing.
Frankly speaking, I had that perception in mind that prizes are given for good things, so I couldn’t understand - Why this photograph was given a prize and that too Pulitzer.There is nothing wrong with the photograph as such, nor with the person who photographed it. But, mankind should have been shameful for this horrific state of human beings.
And yeah, about the Cancun girl - everyone in this world is living in his/her own world - world created by his/her own mind,thoughts,views - as seen through his/her own eyes. so don’t know - its as life is.
Hi Kaush, finally I make entry in the first ten atleast..
As for the BMW girl, there is no end to desires..really no end. Its very correctly said naa money can buy a lot of things but happiness and satisfaction are among the few things that money can’t buy.
And that picture, it is really depressing, saw it somewhere else..After seeing these things, all I feel is how can ppl even complain about anything..how can they !
Hi Kaush..
I just posted a comment 2 minutes ago, but it doesnt show it here,
As for the BMW girl, there is no end to desires, none at all and I think its very correctly said that money can buy you a lot of things, but happiness and satisfaction are among the few things that money cant buy.
The picture is really really depressing. I saw it some time ago too. All I feel is how can people even complain about anything when some human beings face situations similar to those..
There’s a problem with your comment box. I wrote a long reply and guess what? Just after I pressed the Post button - it got lost
Gone with the wind 
Eaten up by the bloggers 
Now I am writing it again my wordpad - hopefully this time I’ll succeed.
I saw this photograph quite a while ago - someone had fowarded a mail to me. at that time I had wished that I hadn’t seen it - it was very very depressing, to say the least.
The other thing is that I had a perception in my mind that prizes were given for good things,so I wondered - Why this photograph was given a prize? and that too - Puiltzer? There is nothing wrong with the photograph, nor with the person who photographed it - but mankind should have been shameful for the pathetic state of human beings, the photograph represented - not glorify it by an award.
Regarding Canun girl - everyone in this world is living in his/her own world - world created by his/her own mind/views/thoughts. So don’t know - Life is as it is.
OOPS! Sorry, got that one twice!
Hmm… so very true… at the suicide helpline in A’bad, where I was volunteering, I came across a lot of such cases, and I really feel like showing them cases of ’survivors’, and there they are thinking abt suicide just coz something similar to a cancum or a BMW did not happen.
Yes , Difficult are the ways to understand the creation … Yes , A real life incident telling abt the Happiness not related to the material things …. But at the end of the day for me its not abt the photo( I had seen it long back as a Fwd ) nor the BMW it all boils down what difference we can make , How can we assist in making the world a better place and are we giving our best to it ….
A moving picture indeed. It makes me guitly for having such a nice life and still cribbing about little things. Its not just in famines and in faraway africa but also in our own country where you sometimes come across some really shocking instances of extreme poverty and malnutrition especially in some of our villages.I just hope any other person who clicks such a photograph does not get depressed and commit suicide but does his bit to make this world a better place.
i have shifted from rediff to blogspot and would like you to visit
have seen the pic before…it does make one sad n count their blessings n say a thanks….
n abt that girl n cancun.she did need to be shaken up n shown wats arnd…..i do agree we r never satisfied with wat we have n want more….but things like that r just too much…nobody shud be spoilt beyond a limit….wantin more is normal even OK….but sometimes remainders abt how much u have wen others dont is necessary….for example u neednt compare that case with the hungry kids of africa but of some kid in the US who is strugglin to get a scholarship for further studies or is in a split home……
Lil miss richie rich needs to be handed a dictionary to look up “depressed” - that is assuming she can use one. I bet she doesn’t even know what BMW stands for but that’s what happens: the knowledge bank of such people is restricted to only what they would like to know. Their limited knowledge of events becomes their own small world to which they compare all their ‘plights’ while remaining comfortably oblivious to the hardships others around them face.
some ppl are amazing..i wanted to do the same thing as you kaush.. some kids are so spoiled..that really they want everything given to them.. life is not that easy..and that’s why woh log badhak jaate hain..
anyway..jo bhi ho.. meri life philosophy.. apni life jeeo aur khush raho.
“yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaye to kya hai “…song from Pyaasa…
being happy is more of a habit than a co-incidence..
The difference between rich and the poor will always remain. You can’t change that. Things that may look like problems to you maybe the most trivial things for someone else.
The BMW kid is depressed in her own way (though you and I very well know, what happens in Cancun) while this child do not have a choice. The picture is moving, will be the mildest way to describe it. I am unable to see it after the first look.
The world is unfair and fair in its own myterious way…
Hey..Someone Somewhere is back Finallly….! ..after a long long time…! …Sorry for the prolonged absence….! More Details on the blog….do visit…!
….btw….nice new blog…but why change of blogs….and change of sites too…? ditchin rediffblogs…?
True Nupur, that those who are never exposed to such harsh realities don’t know any better. But to see that girl call her cancelled trip to cancun as “depressing” really pissed me off. I mean I am sure the girl has seen poor people! I was next to her and I am poor..hehe..anyways jokes apart, nature’s ways are mysterious and we can only bow in front of the its power. It was just so heart wrenching to see this picture..
Yes Navjot, the picture is indeed very depressing..I thought something similar. However, I think the photographer was awarded this prize because of bringing this truth out to the world. True, it is horrific, but would we have known such a situation exists in our world if not for pictures like these? And also, true that this Cancun girl has lives her own life completely oblivious..but dont these people watch the news? Dont their rich parents know not to spoil the kids so much that they think of something so trivial as depressing? “depressed” is a pretty strong word if you think about it…kya karen..again I would just call her poor little rich girl.
Navjot and Mehul and ALLL —my comment box seems to go weird every once in a while. If it doesnt show your comment, please refresh it! I just don’t know why it does that ..so sorry for the inconvenience..but do keep those comments coming..appreciate them a lot!
Mehul, yes indeed you make it third this time…sorry my comment box is messed up. And true there is no end to desires at all and i think all of us always are looking for something or the other. Money can never buy that happiness. Even if it makes one happy for the sheer luxuries and comfort it brings, it is temporary unless you are not content from within. Poverty is everywhere..and even though this picture is depressing it does bring out one side of this humanity that we all choose to ignore and pretend that it doesnt exist. Sad but its true.
Sahi hai ITNL. First of all, I think suicide is for those who do not have enough courage in them (although there might be those who are really truly depressed due to various reasons however,that is also not reason enough to commit suicide. Then there are those who are devastated because of things like cancun and bmw…these ppl really need to be shaken and showed such pictures. Atleast this little girl was surviving trying to make it to where food was available.
How very true Prakash V, that in the end we do need to make sure atleast we are doing our best in this world. If we all did even our bit by atleast being content and happy within, I think it will make a whole lot of difference atleast to the people around us and that is a start!
Hi Prabha! Great to see you after such a long time. I have been tto your new blog! Nice..and hope you continue regularly with this one. Why should you feel guilty? We should not feel guilty but atleast be aware that material gains are not the only thing in this world..also maybe try to do as much as we can reasonably do to make it better for those less fortunate than us.
Yes Divya, wanting more is okay..is needed sometimes too. BUt then being spoilt to such a limit is really not required..that was exactly my point and wanted to shake that girl up. sigh! I wonder if her bmw daddy would have filed a lawsuit against me if i had done that
How well said Encrypted! I bet she doesnt know what BMW stands for either. Maybe for it would be Big Money Wars? Own little world of big money..sigh.
Yea Poonam, some kids are spoiled that they get everything without asking for it and are never made to go through any kinds of tough times..so times like these when they cant go to their favourite vacation destination becomes a “tough time” for them. Kya kar sakte hain in logon kaa? sigh.Aur teri life philosophy ekdum sahi hai! Life jeo aur khush raho..kaash har koi ki yehi life philosophy hoti..:)
Well said Vicky….and yeh gaana bahot din baad yaad aaya…sahi hai!
Yea Ricky, we can never change that difference. But what can be changed is the perception of this world through some people’s eyes.i.e it is not all about bmws and vacation trips..true the girl is depressed in her own little way but she really needed to be shaken and brought to this “real” world! As for the picture…it is pretty sad but an eye opener to things that most people chose to ignore and pretend that such situations dont exist. Sadly, even today they do. True what you said..the world is unfair and fair in its own ways.
Someone Somewhere!! Welcome welcome again! Kya baat hai are you back with a bang? or back and bang and gone again? is baar regular rehnaa..and I jsut changed my blog kyunki rediff se mann uth gaya tha..gemini traits you see
Shall be over to yours soon 
take care and be back and regular in blogsville!
it’s really a touching picture.. i too got this fwd last year.. was moved.. we neva know how lucky we r until lwe gotta see the REALITY like this. Wish & rpay the world wud a better & happier place…
Oh God!!