By Surendra Mishra
The young lady tried all tricks of tongue. Initiating the bargain she branded the banana vendor a cheat, a profiteer and a manipulator. When this did not bear any fruit she came down to plead before him, ‘‘please brother, give one more.’’
I overheard the talk while walking along the road to my office. The seasoned banana vendor did not budge, ‘‘I am not vending door to door to make losses. Twenty rupees for six. And this is for today only. From tomorrow twenty five for six. Take or not your wish.’’
The young lady got annoyed and hurriedly throwing a twenty-rupee note on his trolley she got inside the house and banged the door as if slapping the vendor right on his face.
Back in office when I reminded my editor of her promise to hike my salary she threw a cursory look at me, ‘‘Forget about pay hike. We have high expectations from you. Give some extra time to the magazine. Contribute a few pages more.’’ This was enough for me to overstay at the office. After work when I returned home wife burst out, ‘‘what have you given me in life? I had only asked for a bit of your time. Even that’s not possible for you. Now enjoy your time with tea and TV. I shall never again ask you to go to the market with me.’’
Not only the stroppy lady, me, my employer or my wife; almost everybody now begs, asks or demands for more. More marks, more discounts, more money, more power, more comfort, more land, more sky and more space in crematorium. Modern economics preaches that producing and consuming more goods is progress. The society, education planners and organisations working for bettering human lives echo the same voice. So a fierce race is on to collect more and more. Trying to have a bigger pie in the sky more and more people throng the race. Some even spend their entire lives in mastering the art. In this pursuit they do not hesitate to lie, cheat, steal and kill.
Here comes a question: If getting more ensures good life, then, with majority of the population in the taking side, why there is so much chaos, crime, violence and isolation in the society? Why peace and happiness are almost nonexistent today?
This is because, people with intent of only taking forget that for every taker there must be a giver also. They also do not realise that whatever they have got till today, they owe them all to others. Essential ingredients of life: the air, the water, and the land come from nature. Parents give the body. Necessities and comforts of life like food, shelter, amenities, roads and hospitals are supplied or made available by others. To put it straight, human lives rest on these accumulated debts only. Hence, man is under serious obligation to give back, if not all; that is never possible, at least some. Those who do not understand this only live and die. But life deserts them. They get isolated; isolated from society, from universe and from self. Isolation brings desperation and drives peace away.
But life is peace and bliss. It comes sacred and needs to be nurtured carefully so that it blooms to its full potential. Those blooming and growing lives make the world beautiful for they know the art of giving. This helps in cleansing the world desecrated by ever increasing disgruntled people.
It is not surprising that along with the givers the habitual takers also aspire for a world, free from sacrilege and cruelty, for their children. The future generation also deserves a much better and safer world than the present one. Hence, the reigning populace is duty bound to provide them such a world. But, how will it be possible? For this, the takers have to learn the art of giving. This will be possible, if values like love, compassion, truth, non-violence and honesty are practised in life. And, it is not at all a difficult proposition. It only needs a moment’s silence and a bit of self analysis.
The author is a Bhubaneswar-based fiction writer and has received the Orissa Sahitya Academy award for literature.
