He is a nephew twice removed in the extended family living in rural Odisha, a small farmer with a family to support. News reached me that he was suffering from cancer, the greatest saboteur of all maladies. On an immediate impulse and a rush of sympathy, I sent him `10,000 to take care of the initial expenses of doctor consultations, etc.
Cancer treatment would run into lakhs and any single individual’s contribution is a mere speck in the expanse. I wondered whether the others would rally round and chip in. As I was considering when I should follow up with the next dose of finance, word got round about my contribution and people rose to the occasion, some in their own humble way, and sent in their mite, a message of moral reassurance to the
suffering family.
Even the most tight-fisted member of the family, one of the better-to-do patriarchs who would not give you the time of day for free, joined in, albeit with `500, which would at least cover transport charges one way for one visit to the hospital! But then every long journey begins with a single stumbling step. I did
tap into another relative who was so forthcoming that I said to myself, “God’s in His Heaven, All’s right with the world!” There is no knowing whether the poor man would survive the deadly disease, but in his pain and grief he would certainly remember those who extended their hearts to help an unfortunate individual.
What is it that makes some of us spend lavishly without a thought on ourselves while turning a blind eye to those who really need the money that we are splashing around? What makes us think that we have exclusive rights over the money we hold in our pocket? Doesn’t our shared humanity decree that we need to stand by the other ungrudgingly when the occasion demands?
To give is to receive. To give as though it were a privilege to give and not with condescension. What can be more fulfilling? Isn’t that proof of that streak of humanity in us that brings us closer to the divinity who continues to give us whatever we have with such grace? All existential questions. I am still on this fund-raising drive with rising hopes, anticipating rebuffs, but with a basic faith in the goodness in all of us. Meanwhile I have sent off the second tranche on a wing and a prayer.
Sudha Devi Nayak
Email: sudhadevi_nayak@yahoo.com