Author: Amita Raj
That term ‘frozen hearts’ brings to my mind some of the most ugly scenarios of human behaviour, the unbelievable depths of inhumanity that people can stoop to.
I’ve seen these with my own horrified eyes and through observations of fellow beings. Here are some actual examples:
At a level requiring basic courtesy, a cashier in a certain grocery store did not check in an item that a customer held in her hand. Instead, she not only accused the innocent customer of shoplifting and ordered her to leave the store, but grabbed her physically and threw her out. The owner of the store fully backed the cashier’s brutal behaviour, instead of hearing what really happened.
At a more personal family level was in my experience, another familiar scenario of relatives finding clever and cold-blooded ways to steal the rightful inheritance of a family member, after pretending to offer to help them with selling their property.
I know of two or three such greedy people, who left their own kith and kin almost homeless, finding heartless ways to justify their theft.
In the family arena again were also those who despite amassing huge amounts of wealth, did not extend a penny to a brother or sister, who fell upon very catastrophic times, facing financial damages or sufferings from dire ill-health. They just didn’t care!
Then were those so-called friends, who profited from one’s loyalty and support and yet, only used all the kindness they got merely as stepping stones, and trashed these very friends brutally.
So, while reflecting over such examples of frozen-hearted people, I certainly don’t suggest a saintly acceptance and passivity.
Of course, one should call out such unethical behaviour directly and seek if possible, solutions.
The larger picture for me from all this ultimately is to accept the importance of each of us raising our standards in treating our fellow humans more honorably, the value of compassion and of being careful in whom we trust. People might find a toxic moment of victory in pelting a rock in a serene lake, but it is the glowing lotus that leaves a much more everlasting beauty that so many of us crave.
About the Author:
Amita Raj has always loved creating imaginatively rich stories through the melody and colours of language. Her writing talent was sparked off in her childhood at age eight in a classroom assignment where she wrote the autobiography of a pen. Since then, she has been enchanted with writing, also reading and enjoying the works of Rabindranath Tagore, Satyajit Ray, Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe. She has been a contributing writer to Deccan Herald, India Currents, Twist&Twain magazine, and of late regularly to Story Scrapers, ArtoonsInn Poetry Parlour and Soul Craft. She looks forward to her ongoing lyrical journey, writing and sharing with the world many more of her short stories, poems and novellas.
