Rumi says, the worker who works in the wee hrs of dawn is no better or worse than the social worker/sufi who works for the broader gain. Both serve a higher purpose, and both form the Divine face. Bestami once said, Subhani, Glory be to me. I interpret that as glory be to all humanity and God. We are inseparable and unchangeable. You and I shall die, but God will live on. I’m leaning a bit towards pantheism here, but All is from God and returns unto Him, rite? So who’s better or worse is for him to decide, not us. Sufis say we are all equal in His eye, since we all define His boundaries and works.

As far as life goes, pain is a part of life. And it’s to say that when I’m healthy and well-off and others are dying and in pain. But still, pain is a part of life. It will come, no matter what, in its own share. And somehow, there is a purpose behind that (which I fail to understand, if you want to probe into the minutest philosophicla details of this statement). However, all human life is geared towards evolution, or at least its purpose originally was. So said Rumi:

I died as a mineral and became a plant,
I died as plant and rose to animal,
I died as animal and I was Man.
Why should I fear? When was I less by dying? Yet once more I shall die as Man, to soar With angels blest;
but even from angelhood I must pass on:
all except God doth perish.
When I have sacrificed my angel-soul, I shall become what no mind e’er conceived.
Oh, let me not exist! for Non-existence Proclaims in organ tones,
‘To Him we shall return’
-Translated by A. J. Arberry

surely they are who they are because of who they were and who they are/were with? not everyone was given ghalibs book at the age of seven and so we are worse off cos atleast we were aware and we had opportunities.

infact i dont think i am better than others in any way. i feel i have shaken off more responsibility than others since i was somehow prepared, capable and equipped to take on more. therefore i had much more responsibility to create change than others.

i still do.

True, if we were in a situation where I was to choose between you and some social worker who was actually making a difference, I would probably choose the social worker. I am sure you would do the same if you were to choose between me and a social worker. For he influences more lives, but this does not mean that your life (and my life and of so many others like us) and the persuit of small “insignificant” things is wrong.

What’s important, for me at least, is the act of staying human, of keeping that sense alive that cries out at the sight of a dead body and collapses at the sight of a body waiting to die…for as long as this is alive we would keep figuring out ways to make small differences.

That was long! But I am now a fan of your honest writing.