Train chugged off slowly from the station …. a lady was
running to catch the train carrying a heavy suitcase in one hand. She was
limping, unable to run fast, as her knees were hurting because of arthritis.
She was holding the heavy suitcase in one hand and struggling to catch hold of
the train with the other hand.
A person standing near the door assisted her and pulled her
inside the train. The train was a little crowded; since It was an unreserved
compartment all seats were completely occupied.
She looked around for a seat and tried requesting a few
people but in vain. She stood there balancing on her legs with her knees
hurting. She was panting for breath.
Nobody bothered to offer her a seat and a few people pretended
to look elsewhere and got busy in their own world. On seeing her plight, a
gentleman stood up and offered his seat. Lady thanked him and sat comfortably
in the seat. The gentleman was compassionate towards the suffering lady.
This is quite common in journeys, we have experienced it
several times. Many times we feel like helping but somehow we glue our butt to
the seat. A strong inner urge to help is not felt and we remain unmoved and sit
like a statue.
Compassion is the act to relieve the suffering with kindness,
caring and support.
Yes, the message I am trying to drive home is about
compassion. How conveniently we forget. What happened to the principles we
boast of ? Train is just one incidence,
in day-to-day life we come across many such helpless people, instead of showing
compassion somehow we conveniently turn our face away.
During the present Corona lockdown period, I'm seeing exactly
the opposite. People have become very generous; they're volunteering to help
those who are in distress. The needy are given food, medicines and provided
shelter. Some people don't even bother about their safety while extending
heartfelt service.
Whenever an intense disaster strikes whether it is a tsunami
or earthquake, cloudburst or flood or whatever, people just drop everything and
stand in solidarity with others. We have witnessed this generosity in all
calamities.
I read a very touching story sometime back, it's a true
incident that happened in one of the hospitals.
A young boy was nursing his mother post operation, she was
recovering. It was around 10 pm, the boy started home after serving food and
giving medicine to her mother.
While passing through the hospital wards, in one of the
wards, he heard a faint murmuring voice. Out of curiosity he went inside and
saw an old lady in critical condition lying on the bed. With tears in her eyes
she kept saying something which wasn’t clear to him.
The boy was curious and asked the nurse over there. The nurse
told him that the old lady was in critical condition and her last wish was to
see her son and eyes were looking for him.
Nurse with a heavy heart told him, we didn't know the whereabouts of her
son to reach the message.
The boy went near the old lady and she grabbed his hand
thinking that her son had come. She kept talking incoherently with him the
whole night with tears in her eyes.
The boy sat quietly throughout the night holding her hand
warmly and comforting her. Around 4 am she passed away peacefully.
The nurse was overwhelmed with emotion, hugged the boy and
said this was true compassion, “without knowing that lady you sat the whole
night next to her and comforted her, hats off to you”.
If you have an itch to help others, if you're a habitually
generous hearted with a deep urge for service, you could consider channeling
your compassion towards starting an NGO with a purpose and make a mark in life.
There are so many situations crying for attention like for instance poor
couples who can't afford treatment of their children with congenital defects
like a hole in the heart or suffering from cancer etc.
To be compassionate does not mean throwing all discretion to
the winds. Always lending a helping hand out of good nature is indeed a
laudable habit but there could always be some situations that do not merit it.
Like for instance giving alms to beggars. There are many
categories of beggars and not all are deserving and needy.
Use your discretion and help only the needy.
Knowing this well, there are some compassionate people who
are tough with beggars. However one should be careful not to deny the needy.
Other day, I saw a beggar; she was very hungry and looked
like she had not had food for a day. She approached a person for food, he was
rude and shooed her away.
Next day morning I happened to see the same person talking
about helping Covid-19 affected immigrant workers. This behaviour perplexed me,
a sudden change in the attitude and overflow of compassion!!!
One should learn to discriminate.
Through acts of compassion you make a
difference in your communities and sometimes in the world. Some of those who
made a difference are Mahatma Gandhi, Baba Amte, Mother Terassa, Nelson
Mandela. Through acts of compassion they made an ocean of difference in the
lives of people and put the smile back on their faces.
Act of
compassion enriches your life and you will see many benefits. Some benefits are
listed below
They are self-explanatory;
however, we can dwell on each one at length, but i am limiting the scope.
If any of
you interested in discussing further, please feel free to connect with me.
- Improves health
- Understand yourself and
others well
- Your social connectivity
increases
- You open up your heart
- Reduces own suffering
- You get peace of mind
“If you want to be happy, practice
compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” Dalai Lama
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