Those who give to us, teach us to give….

How do we learn to give ? Is giving instinctive, or does it need to be taught ? Do we give of ourselves and what is ours, wholly and spontaneously like Nature ? Nature gives us all wholeheartedyl and unconsciously: the plants grow, the trees flower, the fruits ripen, the rivers flow, the minerals are there for our taking, the birds chirp and the butterflies flit spreading their beautiful wings. But we the human race, need to make a conscious effort to give. How do we learn to do so? Most of us are in spired by those around us who give to others happily .

They are people who we read about like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther king, Nelson Mandela, Medha Patkar, Bill Gates, Azim Premji, Aruna Roy and so many others, all, with a vision to bring about change, and with a drive to transform society. But there are also inumerable anonymous people who also give willingly their time, money and services. They are people like us, the taxidriver who ensures that a child reaches home during trouble in the city, the number of hands that are linked to form a human chain so that people can walk to safety in times of flooded streets, the hands that pull children out of a burning house, the donors who queue up to donate blood for complete strangers, the homemaker who spares her time to tutor her maid’s children ,doctors who give up their weekends to conduct health camps in villages, the student who signs up for volunteer work, the corporate executive who supports the CSR cell in his organisation, the anonymous donors who flood relief centres with cheques, clothes, utensils, blankets, medicines; all these people, are amongst the ‘Givers’ for they give wholeheartedly without any expectation of a reward, simply for the Joy of Giving. These are the people who commit their time, their money and their services to the many causes that demand it.

Aside: Do you know the word ‘give’ is used very often by schoolboys in the 10-12 age group. Puzzling ! Just spend some time in a classroom and observe the number of times a boy comes up and says, “Miss, he is giving me bad words.” Try asking him to show you the bad words, the reply would be ; “Miss, I can’t give them to you. My mummy will shout if I give bad words.”