A new pipeline for PNG was being laid and a group of bare-backed labourers were digging the trench for the pipe to be laid in. If one would take out the time to look closely, one could see the complete apathy and detachment in the eyes of the labourers working the shift.

Yes folks, there are two Indias which co-exist. One speeding in AC cars on the race track to fast paced economy hurtling out of the third world bracket.There is also the cliched 'developing' or 'slumdog' India which still throngs the villages and streets of the country. You can see them everywhere; on top of an overloaded bus, like sardines in a can in the general bogey of local trains as it speeds past, the melas, the market places, the temples and everywhere else. But do we really see them? Aren’t they inconspicuous and invisible despite their numbers? After all, who notices a group of haggardly dressed very common men hanging around a dumpster? Have we ever wondered what goes on in their minds? Do they crib against destiny, life or the establishment? Or do they just accept their situation with a pragmatic shrug of the shoulders? Or do they manage to conjure stars in their eyes and somehow believe their difficulties will pave way for their offspring? After all, hope floats and when it doesn't, it sinks without a trace.

 Have we ever considered what goes in the minds of the underprivileged when they see other people's success? What does the maid think when she sees an amount equal to half her monthly salary being paid to the pizza delivery guy just for an evening of fun.

 Here I'm not condemning material success but merely trying to explore how people deal with other people's success on material front.

 The Haves possess the unique attribute of assigning a set mentality to the Have-nots! Clearly such cliches are repeated; 'Oh these people like living in dirt and misery' or 'they eat one heavy meal in the mornings' etc. etc. Or do they? How do you know? Is it merely the prerogative of the privileged to presume expertly what goes on in the life and minds of Have-nots.

 Things can take an adverse turn from here on sometimes. What happens when generations after generations of people face deprivation living on the brink of life itself. Sometimes the unfairness of life itself may accumulate and bubble up to the surface in criminal and extremist uprisings like the naxalites and maoists etc.

Certainly not condoning the barbaric outlaws, friends, we cannot forget that we are living in economy driven times. The ever present gap between Haves and Have-nots has widened like never before. Restlessness prevails and there is chaos in order.

On the other hand, let's talk about gentry class (a flashback to the British class system). The Havenots in this class are no less dangerous as more and more people are unable to digest other people's success. In fact your success can infuriate the Havenots in your neighborhood to quite an ugly extent. Success, prestige, fulfillment and persona sometimes become too much to bear by people remotely around you who mistakenly assume themselves in the same league. It all starts with a lack of purpose to human life. People having an un-evolved goal-less purposeless existence harbor a deep sense of frustration and worthlessness. Team it up with jealousy and envy which does not let them sleep. But the worst possible emotion is the 'sense of entitlement' which they feel is their right which erupts in an ugly form.

A prayer: God, grant success to those who are chasing it; fulfillment to those who have found it; acceptance to those who have yet to achieve it and loads of calmness to those who are not likely to!

PS: Nothing gives more heratburn than someone else's success but would you trade success for universal goodwill? Naah! I didn't think so!