I remember myself walking along with my father during early mornings and I could see many people sleeping along the roadside. I was tempted to know the reason for such an act and finally I asked my father about it. Son, these are homeless people – those who have no home of their own to live in, he replied with a bizarre look on his face that I had ever seen. His eyes were filled with tears as he replied.
A feeling of sympathy and love arose inside me for these homeless people, and I knew my father was not the only one to have the feeling of love towards the homeless but that there were many more people like him. The place where I grew up is an urban area. Its one of the busiest cities in terms of business and trade in the entire country of Nepal. Concrete buildings cover city center whereas the outskirts are mostly covered by huts which are made of mud and clay. Roads and streets are well developed and markets look busy throughout the day as people are busy buying and selling goods.
Even though the city is way ahead in terms of economic growth with regard to other cities of the country, not many people living in the city are rich, and not all of them own a home of their own. There are many who have to spend most of their nights sleeping beside roadsides, in parks and on the streets. These people not only include the old but also children as well as teenagers. About 8 percent of the total population living in the town was homeless. As time passed I developed a habit of helping the poor and homeless people in any possible way I could. One cold winter morning while I was returning from my school along with my friends, a strange incident happened.
It was cold outside; a bitter wind blew throughout the day. I could feel the temperature decreasing as I passed down a narrow street. There were very few people walking down the streets. I saw a small teenage boy, 13-14 years old, standing by the roadside. I knew he was not one of us.
He was shivering as he lacked clothes on such a cold day. His appearance revealed his inability to find shelter for himself as he was clearly homeless. A trouser which was not long enough to cover his thin legs and a shirt which was not thick enough to avoid the winter were the clothes he wore. His lips looked dry; he had big eyes which were wide open as if searching for someone. As I approached him, without saying a word, he took out his hands from his pockets and pointed towards me.
I knew he was asking for help. All I could do was search for money that I had with me. I handed him whatever I had in my pocket. He had almost no hope in doing that and as usual he was surprised to get the money. He ran, as I watched, to a nearby gas station and bought a packet of cigarettes (there are no age bars for people in Nepal for smoking) and started smoking.
I was shocked and I stood still, shaking my head in disbelief for a while as I thought of scolding him, but I refused. A kind of abhorrence towards the boy arose in me; it was hard for me to figure out his desire for smoking at such an early age. However, I later realized that it must not have been his wish to smoke. He was tempted to do so in order to survive on that cold day.
I realized that Homelessness Essay not only has made people live a life of uncertainty but also has forced them to use drugs, alcohol and many more drug-related substances for their survival. The incident, however, not only changed my views towards homeless people but also motivated me to work for the betterment of society as I believed society was the only thing which created these homeless people. And anyone of us could on any day fall into the trap of homelessness. Now .
