Lakshmi Narayan
T here once was a man, a decent sort, who wanted to become a prophet, change the world and make people behave in a nicer way. But every time he opened his mouth, people either yawned or sidled away, or worse still, teased and needled him. The few that listened, misrepresented his teachings so badly that he often cried out frustratedly, “Lord, if they twist what I’m saying in my lifetime, what will they do when I’m gone?”
The Maker took pity on him and said, “My dear son, I know you mean well. But for people who are listening to you, it seems like you are saying, I’m the best! Be like me! Even if it were true that you are a better person, nobody likes to be told they’re useless. It looks like you are showing off, and they get put off.”
“How then do I get my message across?” asked the perplexed aspiring prophet.
“By example, obviously!” elucidated the Source. “Do what you think is right, quietly and unobtrusively. Do not sermonize. Look and feel happy about what you are doing. Then see the ripple effect!”
The man took this advice to heart and began doing small acts of charity without making much ado about it. He fed a few people, who were homeless and hungry in his locality. When someone was sick, he arranged to take him to hospital. He started reading to the blind. He volunteered for unappealing and back-breaking jobs, refused by others. He brought cheer to the old and the infirm by visiting them regularly. A talented musician, he performed free for charity
But in doing these jobs, he had to fight his own demons. When he tended smelly wounds, he nearly gagged. When he fed the poor, he felt disheartened when some repaid him by taking the food and selling it to others. A few of the blind he read to tested his patience by being cranky and demanding. Once when he took a terminally ill patient to the hospital and he died on the way, his relatives blamed him. When he performed free for a charity, some whispered that they had to break the bank to pay him.
He was ready to give up. Why should I do anything for these ingrates? Far better that I look after my own needs, he thought bitterly. But being a person of high calibre, he pushed on. He decided he was doing good, not to win accolades but because he wanted to. Yet he couldn’t help being a martyr about it.
However, as the months went by, he learnt to laugh at himself and at the quirks of others. Though there were times when it seemed thankless, it was also true that he was experiencing soul satisfaction. When someone hurt him, he shrugged it off as collateral damage.
Slowly, ever so slowly, a handful of people started emulating him. A little later, some others started imitating them. And so it went, till there were quite a few doing excellent work. He now understood what the Supreme meant by the ripple effect. Throw a pebble of good deeds into a little pond, and see how it spreads like a ripple, growing wider and wider, creating a circle of goodwill.
He was so genuinely happy helping others that he was no longer keen to teach and preach and become a prophet. But he had become one without trying!
Do good because you want to, not because you have to. Trying to influence or impress others is not part of the deal.
(Excerpted from Fables from Beyond, Authors Upront, 2020)
Journalist, author and animal activist Lakshmi Narayan is a former assistant editor of Femina and former editor of Eveʼs Weekly & Flair
