Feel the elation
Did you know that, there exists
an alternative way to doing charity? There are various ways in which we do
charity, cash, and kind or man hours. Most of us have seen our elders and peers
contributing to charity in a prescribed manner.
An appeal in a newspaper or magazine is heeded or a neighbor’s
philanthropic cause is seconded. We are also quick to donate our lot to various
religious organizations and NGO’s doing charity work.
Be it in kind or cash we
empathize with the hapless and trust that our offerings reach the intended while
burying the guilt of our relative prosperity in such acts of charity that lead
to some succor. In all the above cases we are rarely face to face with the
intended receiver. It is only in our inner being that we relish the work that
we have done. Not even for a moment do we stop and think of the alternative
mode of giving as charity.
Look at these alternative ways of
giving besides the oft repeated mode described above. Try not bargaining with
the rickshaw puller, the old tailor who does repair work, the authorickshaw
driver who is reluctant to part with the change, the cab driver who does not
have change, the maid who would love to receive her wages rounded off to the
next hundred.
The delivery boy when he delivers
at your doorstep. The dhobi when he comes up with a bill at the end of it all.
The roadside fruit seller with whom you bargain for every gram of produce. Or the
vegetable seller who pushes his cart throughout the day, the lad below the age
for legal employment who cleans the car and the dazed looking sanitation worker
who clears our clogged smelly sewers.
The old man with a thin yellowing
white linen covering his body who sells precious nothing but can be found at his
perch every day. The various manual labourers who go about their routine amidst
the fury of the Sun God, the traffic cop who is standing in the hot sun merrily
oblivious to his perspiration having drawn funny contours on his uniform, the
one who has just been fired walking back with a dazed look, the unseen
expression of every emotion portrayed on the face of mankind.
Consider letting go of that
little change that is due to you, try offering money rounded off to the nearest
fifty or hundred. Stop bargaining with the vegetable seller even when fully
aware that his prices are loaded. Try noticing the glow of appreciation on the
face of the maid when you absently round off her wages to the next hundred.
Smile when the tailor who just repaired your clothes tries to extract a little
more. Try putting a Rupee 100 currency in the begging bowl of a deserving
beggar and step back to receive his blessings. Help folks who are out and lost
with your knowledge, network and connection.
All these acts of knowingly letting
be, of being fleeced or taken for a ride are small acts of charity but the
difference is that you can see instantly the acknowledgment of faith, trust,
sincerity, reciprocity, tears, joy, elation, gladness, sheer bliss all
transfixed on the face of mankind. This will give us far better joy that the
acts of magnanimity that we often profess while indulging in charity to the
unknown.
5th September 2017
