words spoken in anger

Sheba overheard a portion of an argument today at the clinic:

He:
I am not going to give any money for this man. When I was in jail for 5 years no one came and even visited me. Now I have a proper job as a bus conductor and all I earn is Rs. 250 per day. There is no way we are going to help out.

She:
He is your brother. My family will only help me out - they will not pay for my husband. You are his brother...

The man that they were talking about lay half-conscious. The first speaker is the brother of the dying man. The second is the wife of the man dying. He was discharged this evening for palliative care at home. About 15 different relatives came to the centre to decide what to do. It was finally decided to hire an ambulance and take him back to his village in Karnataka for his last days. It will cost about Rs. 22,000/- for the trip. Rs. 10 per km is the going rate. 1100 kms from Thane to their place. Then the trip back for the empty ambulance.

The lives our friends live are so real, and so raw. It makes what we read in the papers seem like such foolish froth.