I know I left my previous post incomplete and hence forever in the "to be continued" state. I somehow did not feel like writing more because the experience was so disheartening. What should have been simple and in fact my right as a good tax paying citizen became traumatic and cumbersome. The passport office was just one example of what we have learnt to endure over the years. Sometimes when I look around, I begin to think if the world is all a bad place where mistrust, selfishness and envy rule the roost. But almost immediately I know I am wrong. If the world was indeed such a dismal place, it would have ended long ago. There is still a lot of goodness (albeit hidden) and I remember one such instance that comes to mind.
S is my very dear friend. I do not clearly remember how our friendship started. It must be one of those days in office where you go about looking for people to have lunch with. S came across as a confident, charming, very outspoken person. Anyway, coming to the point, S had a friend P who was in a not-so-rosy situation then - he was broke and getting married. P desperately needed help in making his house a home for his bride. Needless to say, S actively took part in the whole process. She was looking to give him something that he would not have otherwise been able to afford - something that is necessary for his home (dining table, TV etc.). This kind of amazed me because what she proposed to give him was actually pretty expensive. I might think twice before I got MYself those things, leave alone gifting a friend. When I asked S how, in THIS world where people do not even share their salt with others, she could so easily choose to part with tens of thousands of rupees for a friend, not as a mere loan but as a generous gift. Her reply is the essence of this post.
"When I was in college and had very little pocket money, one of my friends used to pay for my many meals. I was uncomfortable after a point and told her to please not do that anymore. Then she told me in case I felt guilty or obliged, I could help another friend in need, exactly how she helped me in my times of need. So I help P today and probably tomorrow, he will remember this and help some of his own friends."
I recently reminded S of this story and she was puzzled that I remember it even now. It might be a normal episode for her but it had a deep impact on me - it is because some people still have these selfless values that our world is still inhabitable, else we would have all killed each other long ago and that would have been all.
2 comments:
Really great experience and felt glad to know about such person. I believe that in every era of world, all types of humans existed. Whatever we call it the balance or ignorance. But it was there from the time of Vedas. Only difference is that nowadays in this fast pace world , we come across a large number of people in our life and we remember the person who caused problems in our life and keep forgetting the person who helped even a slight. We take them as granted. If we remember the good deeds also, then we will see that world is not lacking good people. Even a housemaid , if cooks good food then we should be thankful to her that because of her we get good food, rather thinking that since we are paying her so we are getting. So there is always good and bad, it is upon us what we want to keep in our mind. :)
Really S is a great person who remembered the good things happened in her life and applying the learning in her life. You are lucky to have S as your friend. :)
I really loved your point about housemaid. We find many reasons to complain, haggle with them for a few rupees, cut their salaries when they are not regular but never ever ever thank them for cleaning all our dirt, never say a good word about them, never make them just sit for a day and feed them hot, fresh food or give them new clothes. We are so afraid that they would cheat us or take us for granted that we do not for one second think about their drudgery, every day cleaning the same dirty vessels, eating the same leftovers. Thanks a lot for bringing that up.
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