You don't have to be a hero to be a hero

We've all heard of The Diary of Anne Frank, and it comes as a news to me, that Miep Gies, the woman who gave refuge to Anne Frank's family, lived to be hundred and died recently.

There's an excellent account of her life at Rev. Danny Fisher, and what caught my eye is these words at the end of the quoted news report:

"“I don’t want to be considered a hero,” she said in a 1997 online chat with schoolchildren.

“Imagine young people would grow up with the feeling that you have to be a hero to do your human duty. I am afraid nobody would ever help other people, because who is a hero? I was not. I was just an ordinary housewife and secretary.”"

Here we go- our news channels 24x7 forcing upon us phony heroes, and here is the real hero- reminding us that you don't have to be a hero to be a hero, it is enough to be a decent human being.

She is an inspiration, right?

Postscript: and while searching for the news report that said teens see parents as role models rather than celebs., I came across this winning entry at The Serbian Spectator- written by Alexander Tham, Class 7A- "Gandhi’s relevance in the 21st century", where I found this:

 "Gandhi didn’t win all the fights. Some of his ideas went wrong and didn’t work. But he always followed his truth and beliefs. Many people in many countries follow his ideas today."

 Now, that is original for a boy of fourteen, fifteen...

Good day for you.

Today is World Poverty Day

Image via Wikipedia

Today is World Poverty Day:

"The observance of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty can be traced back to 17 October 1987. On that day, over a hundred thousand people gathered at the Trocadéro in Paris, where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948, to honour the victims of extreme poverty, violence and hunger. They proclaimed that poverty is a violation of human rights and affirmed the need to come together to ensure that these rights are respected. These convictions are inscribed in a commemorative stone unveiled on this day. Since then, people of all backgrounds, beliefs and social origins have gathered every year on October 17 th to renew their commitment and show their solidarity with the poor. Replicas of the commemorative stone have been unveiled around the world and serve as a gathering place to celebrate the Day. One such replica is located in the garden of United Nations Headquarters and is the site of the annual commemoration organized by the United Nations Secretariat in New York.

Through resolution 47/196 adopted on 22 December 1992, the General Assembly declared 17 October as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and invited all States to devote the Day to presenting and promoting, as appropriate in the national context, concrete activities with regard to the eradication of poverty and destitution. The resolution further invites intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to assist States, at their request, in organizing national activities for the observance of the Day, and requests the Secretary-General to take, within existing resources, the measures necessary to ensure the success of the Day's observance by the United Nations."

I don't think I can add anything to this, or do anything to abolish poverty (in fact, if someone helps me rid of my poverty, I'll be eternally grateful!).

Be that as it may be, let's just be aware that there are poor people in the world, and if we do whatever we can we can help them breathe a bit easier.

Personally I would say that I am poor internally, spiritually (emotionally, existentially- not religiously)- and there is nothing you or anyone can do about that.

But there are people struggling for food and clothing- and it's a pity we think we can do nothing about that.

I would think up one or two things this day, to help ease up the life of at least one or two people. Let's see.

By the way, this is Diwali- the Festival of Lights, and I wish you all happiness.