It is said that kindness makes you the most beautiful person in the world, no matter how you look.
In real life, however, most of us do not mind looking as we are. A neighbour of mine goes out shopping for vegetables late in the evening. His first destination is the area near the market, reserved for village women bringing their meagre produce from their compounds or small farms for sale. They are usually aged women, often accompanied by small children. He knows they want to go home after disposing of their wares even at a loss. When he strikes a deal after a hard bargain, he congratulates himself. He would have paid much more for those vegetables inside the market.
We are often advised never to bargain with such poor people. Even if they demand a little more than the market price, expecting a hard bargain to follow, surprise them by buying their wares at the price they demand. They are not there to fatten their bank accounts but to avoid going to bed on a hungry stomach. If we buy things from malls and chain stores run by industrial houses at exorbitant prices without a murmur, why can’t we pay the same price to the roadside vendors?
I get upset if I miss my morning newspaper. I am not aware that the boy who drops it at my doorstep every morning has to get up very early to finish his task before his school opens. Can’t I be liberal when he asks for a tip, once a year, on the eve of Diwali?
That goes true for the housemaid who works hard to keep our house clean. If, once in a while, she wants to leave early to attend a marriage, we are not so gracious while nodding our heads. We are also not so broadminded while shopping for her dress at Diwali.
It is not that there are no exceptions. The other day I saw a short video showing the good and bad sides of human beings. At the end of haggling with an aged woman, a well-dressed man fills his bag with vegetables with a triumphant glee. A good guy observes the incident from a distance, approaches the woman, and asks her to supply vegetables daily to his nearby hotel. No need to sit in the hot sun on the pavement with a little child, he tells her.
I know a man who goes out every evening with a bag full of rice powder, dropping a handful near holes where several ants live. Another man goes now and then to a colony of monkeys with lots of food for them. Some of them jump onto his shoulders in a profusion of love. They are disciplined and leave after taking one or two pieces of bread, allowing others to approach the man. Yet another friend regularly donates a part of his salary to an old age home.
This world would be a better place to live if we lend a helping hand to the less fortunate ones while realizing that kindness begins with the understanding that we all struggle.
