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It is a painful realisation but that is how the world makes you feel. One realises that not necessarily is it the guilty alone who gets punished nor does only the innocent get acquitted. A poignant four-minute-long film I watched recently was about a school student who always was late for the class and the teacher would scold him and finally cane him. Even then situation did not improve. The boy continued to come late; but instead of waiting for the teacher’s reprimand, he would silently show his palm to the teacher to let him cane him. He would thereafter silently walk to his seat. The situation continued till one day the teacher by chance saw the boy attending to his sick parent on a wheelchair and taking him back home. After taking care of the parent would he hurriedly run to the school. The teacher realised how cruel he was and treated the student kindly thereafter.
The other lesson is about how others view you. It is only normal that you would not be liked by everyone you come across. It is more likely that many would even despise you, would object to what you suggest, would sideline you. These are all learning opportunities. How you learn depends on the value system you wish to follow. If you are strong on your belief, you keep doing what you consider right. Don’t abandon your pursuits for the headwind. You should look for a favourable tailwind that takes you towards your goal.
I am reminded of the case of a sincere and committed person who I found was pursuing his passion of making audio files of famous short stories. That he was operating on a shoe-string budget never bothered him. He lent his own voice for he could not afford professional help. He borrowed small amounts from friends. The work continued and he was happy at the progress. I thought I knew someone important enough in the government who could help the efforts as government had such a programme but had done precious little. My attempt failed. I suspected that it didn’t click because I had taken up the advocacy. The person, however, I found remained unperturbed and continued pursuing his interest besides doing his normal work. There was a change of guard in the government and I now spoke to a person who could help. He went out of his way to own up the programme because it was of immense relevance for the government programme that had not made much headway even after years.
Why do people pursue matters which do not concern them or their family? There are many who do that. They spend their time and resources to help others. Such people make our world a better place to live in. The person in government who agreed to my request did a noble job. He could have readily responded because he had a liking for me, he could as well have done it because he realised it was a worthy proposal. I thought about why I was so eager to help this person and did not abandon the effort even after someone had cold-shouldered it? Why was I interested in the case particularly when the person himself never really hoped that someone would recognise his work and come forward to help him? He was just doing it because he loved doing it.
I remembered the words of my father when I was going to Mussoorie to join my job in the government. “You would come across many cases in your career when you have to decide in favour of one among many claimants. In such cases where the claimants are equally worthy,” he had said, “tilt the balance in favour of the weak.”
(DISCLAIMER: This is an opinion piece. The views expressed are the author’s own and have nothing to do with OTV’s charter or views. OTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
