A few months
back, when I had been to Kodaikanal for a JCI training event, I went out for a
morning walk around the lake, with a group of Jaycee friends. As we were
walking, I saw a newly married couple, who were clicking photos of each other.
The lady was posing for some snaps while the man was clicking and vice versa. I
felt that they would like to have a photo together. So, I went and asked them,
do you want me to take a photo of you both together. They both readily
blushed and gave me the camera, and posed for an intimate photo. They felt very
glad and thanked me. I too felt happy that I had made someone smile. These
little acts of kindness, not only brings joy to the receiver, but to the giver
too.
As I continued
to walk, I started contemplating within myself, why was it difficult for them
to ask for help. Perhaps, any passerby would have willingly done this small
favour, if they had just asked, “Can you please take a photo of us?”. Why was
that they waited for someone to volunteer. This is when I realized that we have
started to become more and more hostile, towards the people around us. Is it because
of fear or is it because of ego? The reasons can be many, but looking at
closely I feel, by and large we have stopped trusting people. We have become so
suspicious of the people around us, that even if someone smiles at us, we are
thinking what could be the person's motive. Well, I recognize the amount of theft
and crime happening in the society, by trusting the wrong people. The amount of
negative headlines and pathetic stories of people being cheated, which we read
almost daily in the newspaper has put people in a state of frenzy and a mode of
alert.
When you are in
a railway station, you could have heard announcements or seen notice boards
with the message, “Don't take food from strangers”. So, when we travel on a
train, if even someone offers us some of their homemade snacks, out of love, we
tend to reject it. Well, we have seen in newspapers incidents,
where food/
sweets with sedative substance, had been offered and the person has later been
robbed or even kidnapped.
When we are in
an airport or in a railway station, we often hear warning announcements such
as; do not pick up any unattended luggage. Yes, we are aware that there have
been instances, when such luggages have proved to be disguised time bombs. But
there are also more possibilities that it is a luggage, which some passenger
has lost and is desperately searching for.
While travelling
on the roads, especially through the villages it has been a practice, that when
we
were not sure of
the route, we stop, pull down our shutter and ask someone standing there, as to
how to go to a particular place. The person happily tells us the route and
feels a sense of fulfillment that he has guided someone. But today, we depend
on the GPS in our smart phone, to find the route rather than asking people.
With long
stretches of highways in place and with traffic speeding at 140+, even if we
witness a
roadside
accident, we continue our journey, without caring to help, because we are
afraid of the
police
formalities and other consequences. However, our timely help could have saved a
life.
I certainly feel
that, in the name of being safe we have become selfish. We are losing out on
the
human touch. We
have lost connection with the people around us. We do not know who lives in our
next door. All our relationships have become superficial in nature as we find
it difficult to trust anyone. In our endeavor not to be cheated by wrong
people, we end up losing the opportunities of getting connected to a great
number of good people.
While there are
many reasons for us to be cautious about our personal safety, it also does not
feel
meaningful to
live such a hostile life, where we are not able to trust our fellow human
beings. Amidst so much of hostility, let us care to smile and converse with
strangers with good intentions and at the same time exercise prudent caution,
so that no one takes us for a ride.
Happy Reading,
D. Senthil Kannan
Article Dated Apr'13
