"Thank You"

The place I live in is a nice place. People are friendly. People are 'helpful'.

This morning, I was running for the bus because it was about to leave in a minute or so. It is no big deal and I could catch the next one too but it would mean I would have to wait for 10 minutes. It is a common practice here that if someone sees you running to catch the bus, they press the button so that the door remains open. Someone did that for me this morning.

After about five minutes, the guy walks up to me and says, "You don't know how to say 'Thank you'. Don't you thank someone if someone helps you. It is not nice. It is not friendly". He was angry.

If you know me, you know I am very miserly about using the 'T' word and the 'S' word as I don't see the need but with strangers I do say those. This moment, in my absent-mindedness, I forgot.

While I do not blame the guy for saying what he did because he was at least honest about how he felt and it is the society that makes us so, this set me thinking for a while. Is that 'thank you' the only reason you help someone? Is that so necessary? Can we not be happy for 'helping' someone without getting the acknowledgment. And anyway, is a mere two words 'Thank you' enough to do justice to any act of kindness?

I read a quote sometime back by Swami Vivekanand which I liked a lot -

"Cut out the word help from your mind. you cannot help; It is blasphemy! You worship. when you give a morsel of food to a dog, you worship the dog as god. he is all, and is in all."

That is the reason, I always use the word 'help' within quotes. If I, as a giver, should believe in this, why should I not, as a recipient.

Jo kiya jaaye ek 'shukriya' sunne ki ummeed mein
Nahi chaahiye aye dost tera wo ehsaan mujhe

[Har baat pe shaayari maarne ki aadat si pad rahi hai :D]