This is not a shot at anyone in particular, it's just the way I think. I am not trying to, well let's just say I don't understand how this works. This whole... making fun thing.
It wasn't long ago... I think all through the last year... till June, I think, I considered myself a cynic. It was the "realistic" way of looking at things. Things happened. People died. People left. Life turned up side down. Left to right. And all around. And I turned from being a cynic about the world to being a cynic/realist about me. And me only.
Why I decided to do so? About the world? For reasons I can't put my finger on, my fingers and my toes on, I did it. It's pretty simple. It's not THAT simple. There's no logic. I can't fight your reasons, no matter how harsh they seem. I think it comes down to the fact that I'm not a harsh person.
I think it's a useless waste of emotion. Tell me, why you would rather not give a beggar some money rather than give it to him? Don't give me all the hogwash about encouraging them and all the "what good will it do to them" hokum. Because that's what it is, balderdash.
I'm not talking "make poverty history". I'm talking about simply helping a person in need. Why is it such a hard concept to absorb? Which part of helping, simply because the person at the other end needs it, is so hard to understand?
It's not the fact that you might be encouraging them, that is stopping you. It's the whole "giving up" factor. Which is even more pathetic. Please explain to me, how an old man with a broken leg and hand, with nothing on him other than the rags he's currently wearing, will you encourage by giving me a few coins? The only thing it'll do is give him hope.
Hope for food. Food to eat today and die tomorrow of hunger again, you might question. Yes, food that will sustain him for today. That's all that matters to him. 'Cuz you know what? At least this beggar, even after all he's gone through, hasn't given up and gone and killed himself. But you have given up. Even without considering helping this beggar, for more than 30 seconds.
Kaushik, might call this fate. The beggar's fate. And your fate. If he dies tomorrow it's what was written for him. That's your logic ain't it Kaushik? yes, I agree there are somethings we have no control over. Some choices that have been made for us. But there's other choices you have to make... you have to live by also. No? So, If I throw my hands in the air and pronounce that I'm now tired and I'm leaving it all upto fate, put my legs on the couch and sit down with the latest paperback, it's fate. If everything was written for me, all my choices have already been made for me, I'll just keep sitting with the lastest paperback of the next tomorrow and the next to next tomorrow, until, my destiny is reached.
Now, you'll say that IS probably what your're fate decided for you. Sitting back and thinking you were tricking fate, when it was really tricking you! Yeah? So, if people have everything written for them, why do they make an effort to NOT waste their lives? 'Cuz that's written for them too?
I don't know, but doesn't all this make it sound like you have no purpose at all? It sounds pathetic to me. If everyone kept thinking that everything was already written for them, they'd stop making efforts. Stop believeing. Stop trying. After all, that's what their fate was supposed to be??!
Do you get my point? Or is it like asking you to find a needle in a haystack? It's simple. It's not complicated. Don't make it complicated. You have a mind. A heart. You aren't a robot that's been programmed with certain feelings and certain thoughts ONLY. Your mind is yours and your heart is yours. Yes, your thoughts are conditioned by your surroundings. But what you do with these surroundings and how you apply these thoughts, is in your hands. There is something you were brought here to do. Do it. Don't wait for IT to make you do what you were meant to do. What's the point of you living then?
Shakespeare once said something along the lines of "All the world's a stage and all men and women actors." You do your part, play your roles and leave. It sticks to my mind. The catch here is to remember that it's an impromtu play. Aye' that's the wonder of the thing.. You write your story, and others carry it on.
By chosing to give the beggar some money, I did what I wanted to do. What I could do, right then, with what I had. Call me a fool, but tomorrow, my sis, might help another person, just because she saw me help someone. And the circle goes on.
Today, I could only collect 200 bucks for a cause, in a week. It's a small amount to you and me. But not to someone who has lost everything he's ever worked for, because of some sesmic plates moving, it's a way to support his family, give him a meal a day, a sweater, anything. I didn't NOT do anything, at least. I didn't sit back on my couch and call the government all kinds of a fool for not doing their work while muttering a few pityful oh's and ah's and how sad's staring at my T.V. set. But, maybe it was their fate to die? Why should anyone do anything? It's anyone's fate to not do anything?
What's more is that it was bigger than the 2 rupees I've given up until now. The pennies I could afford to give. It was a step. A step forward.
We went on this orphanage trip from college. We had just finished lunch, and I was walking down the steps when I saw some seniors play catch-catch with a small kid. And some this lil kiddo heard me tell a friend of mine that I wanted to play too. No sooner had I uttered the words, did I find myself being trotted onto the field with a mere peice of plywood for a bat and small ball. So, I was made to play football, cricket and catch-catch barefoot in the middle of the day. It was the best time I'd had in ages. I was the star bowler since I took three wickets in a row!! :)..Seeing these kiddos laugh...It was the first time in more than a year that I found myself laughing. Laughing without a care in the world. Laughing with these lil kids. I was the "foreigner akka" (akka meaning sister).. 'guess my attempts at tamil speaking didn't fool nobody :)
They didn't choose to be orphaned. It was a choice made for them. They didn't choose to be taken in, loved, and cared for either. It was a choice that was made for them. What they do with this love, is in their hands. They have somewhere to go, some thing to do. How they reach it is up to them. One kid could get angry at the world and get on the wrong tracks, earn money, and become rich, for example. While another could be greatful for the love he was being given, work hard, and want to prove that it wasn't a total waste of time, earn money and become rich. Either way, they're both rich kids at the end of the day. If that's what their destiny was meant to be, they've got it. Either way.
Point I'm getting to is, amongst the other's I've tried to make, is that it felt good to give these kids, aged from somewhere in between 15 days to 14 years, fun and laughter. So, what if it was for a day? I'm not saying we are going to stop with one day. I'm saying don't say "what will this one day of fun do for them?" It's just a pityful excuse for not doing anything. Yes, we might not be able to go back and play with them, but for that one day they left loved and happy. And that does more for them than anything you'll be doing by mocking.
There is nothing more to helping others than helping them. That's it. Whatever satisfaction you derive from it is an added plus. It's a bonus. It's a no-strings attached affair. Helping people less fortunate than you, in whatever way you can, however you can, whenever you can, is just about helping people. Helping them.
Srutt your stuff. Do your thing. Use your mind. Follow your heart. Don't complicate the simple things... kick up your heels. Let your hair down. You get a chance only once. Make your choice. Write your story.
