Something interesting

Received this very interesting forward (in italics below) a few minutes ago from a friend.

"The World of Interpretations: In a worldwide survey, conducted by the United Nations, the only question asked was: "Would you please give your most honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?" The survey was a HUGE failure because:

• In Africa they did not know what "food" meant;

• In Western Europe they did not know what "shortage" meant;

]• In Eastern Europe they did not know what "opinion" meant;

• In the Middle East they did not know what "solution" meant;

• In South America they did not know what "please" meant;

• In Asia they did not know what "honest" meant; and

• In the United States they did not know what "the rest of the world" meant! "

I don't know why but my immediate reaction to this was "I wonder if the 'ekta mein bal' philosophy could help produce the answer to this question if they try to answer it together". Probably that breaking-a-bundle -of -sticks-tied-together analogy does not quite work here. How very limited and applicable-only-in-certain-situations are the lessons that we are taught! How very open to interpretation they are! Sometimes I feel that all doctrines are just a web of words.

Dekh tere insaan ki haalat kya ho gayi bhagwaan

About 10 chess grandmasters including Vishwanathan Anand were in town for a chess tournament this weekend.

As it is I find the whole exercise of taking autographs a little weird, but what I saw was weirder.. A lot of people were taking autographs from Anand's wife...

...Iske aage hum aur kya kahen.

Kya karein kya na karein ye kaisi mushqil haaye..

I don't want to be responsible. I want to be reliable, though. But it seems like 'being responsible' is a pre-requisite for 'being reliable' :( ... Greedy me :D

"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]