This was one of the best bedtime stories I've ever listened to.. Actually, it was a real life incident narrated in story form. I write about this in my blog to share this story with as many people as possible, wishing that they'd learn something out of this little story!
Once, while in Mumbai, my brother and his parents took a ride on a very interesting auto. It had a PCO, a box to collect money, another box filled with chocolates, a mobile charger and newspaper.. all this and the fares were nominal. The autowala explained that he was collecting money for some cancer institute, and also donates some amount from his daily savings. He also provides free rides to pregnant and old women. Some of you may be familiar with this "God person", as he'd once given an interview in BBC. Yet another person, a beggar, saved up the money he got and bought dresses for some 7-8 challenged children. He also sends money to his wife who stays elsewhere.
This is what true charity or altruism is about. Giving away old clothes that are of no use to us, extra money with which we have no clue what to do, sponsoring a day's meal during festive occasions is a poor demonstration of what fools would call charity. Any skeptic or critic would laugh at such a gesture, or at a beggar giving off his money. One would wonder , who's money he's giving off in the name of charity, while he himself is living at someone else's expense. The so called "morality", a farcical term, would be put under scrutiny then. Little would they pay attention to their selflessness or their altruism. After reading this, one may think, if people who earn this little can do this much, why can't I?? That's exactly the kind of feeling I'd pray one would not get. It would be better to sit back rather than doing it to beat someone at it. Selflessness, love and charity go hand in glove.
Let me give you an excerpt out of our great epic, the Mahabharatha. This is a story about the "Golden Mongoose". After the great Kurukshetra war, the Pandavas were asked to throw a "Charity feast" for the poor by a sage, to wash away their sins. In the midst of the feast, they noticed a moongoose rolling on the ground. They went up to it and demanded to know what was happening. They were also surprised to see that one side of the mongoose was golden. When asked for the reason for its action and the golden skin on one side, the mongoose narrated his experience: The mongoose was walking past a village. It decided to rest and took a nap near a shabby little hut. When he woke up, to his surprise, half his body had turned golden!! He could not understand how this happened. He later came to know from a sage that there was once a very poor family of four, that lived in that hut. They were so poor that they could afford only a meal for two days. Once a hrishi walked up to their door and asked for food. The bread earner of the family decided that he'd give his share of the food rather than to let his wife and kids starve. The hrishi had it and still demanded that he was hungry and needed more food. The wife gave up her share too. However, this did not satisfy the hrishi's hunger. The kids had to sacrifice their share too. Contended, the hrishi blessed them and left the place. However, the family died of starvation. The land there was blessed of their sacrifice and selflessness that had turned the mongoose's skin into gold! The mongoose then explained that he was told by the sage to go to a place where there was actual charity going on, to turn the other side of his skin to gold too, and that was why he'd walked into the Pandavas' feast. Inspite of rolling on the floor, the mongoose's true color actually remained.
The Pandavas' mistake is what all rich and honored people of our society do. There may be a lot of people who debate whether our epics are a myth or a record of ancient happenings. Whatever it may be, the story definitely gives us a lesson to learn.
Readers, I wish and hope that this post of mine makes you ponder over the true meaning of charity and also drives you to analyze where you stand. Let us learn to love and respect fellow human beings, regardless of caste, creed, gender, education, and even profession. Let's first open our hearts, and make way for True Love.. the rest is bound to follow...
PS: This is my a very little birthday gift to my brother, Siva, who narrated this story to me.. Belated happy birthday dear, and happy Rakshabandhan too :) :)
