3rd May 2011
Have you had a kindness shown? Pass it on; `Twas not given for thee alone, Pass it on; Let it travel down the years, Let it wipe another's tears, Till in Heaven the deed appears, Pass it on. - Henry Burton
I am writing this sitting in front of a Government Office for the past three hours to receive an office order and the person in charge does not seem to notice that I need his prompt attention, which in fact is his duty. I tried to remind him about my work, but he got angry and felt upset. Here's is a situation where I am in dire need of someone's help which is not taking place. I get a question in my mind: what makes a person to help another? What makes the help voluntary and pure?
Next time you meet a mother helping a child, notice the quality of the help. Isn't pure and sincere help? Observe the face of the mother and try to figure out what's going on in her mind? Does she help the child for anything in return? If the child is not able to say `thank you', will it in any way stop the mother from helping? Imagine sixty years later and the same child as a grown up person and the mother an old lady now. Will the child help the mother in her old age as voluntarily as the mother helped the child when she was a child?
One attitude you should have which will trigger you to offer help voluntarily and sincerely is `compassion'. The dictionary meaning of the word `compassion' is to take pity'. The mother knows that the child cannot read on his own or cannot walk on its own and so takes pity on the child. The dictionary meaning of the word `pity' is a feeling of sorrow for someone else' suffering.
With these two words in mind, now look at the help rendered by the mother to the child and you will understand what makes her to help the child! With this clarity we can explain why a doctor is extremely helpful and what makes a teacher to be a role model. Now you will be able to understand what made Mother Teresa to do what she did or Florence Nightingale to be celebrated as a role model for any nurse. Florence Nightingale believed that she has been ordained by God to be a nurse she came to be known dubbed as ` The Lady with the lamp' because she had the habit of making rounds in the war fields to attend to the soldiers at night.
Now I go back to the government office example. Unless the person concerned is compassionate, he is not going to help me!
Now take a paper and pencil and jot down what is your `compassion quotient' and this will explain if you will help another person in time.
N C Sridharan
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