Sunday, June 20, 2010

One Good turn......


Bachpan se we have been taught "Achai ka phal humesha acha hota hai" (One good turn begets another) but I am not really sure this saying holds true anymore......



  • A couple of days ago, M (a pleasantly plump friend) and I were travelling to Chembur by BEST. While I blabbered on, M decided to eat the motichur ka ladoos her mom had packed for her. That day was one of those rare occasions when I wasn't in the mood for Motichur ka ladoos. So while M munched happily, I kept her entertained with my bakwaas. Spotting an elderly man in the next row staring at her, she asked me if she should offer him a ladoo. "Uncle bhuke lag rahe hain" she said. As I nodded my approval, she reached out and offered him a ladoo. The guy refused and in his booming voice said "Nahi nahi, agar main yeah ladoo khaunga toh main bhi tumhare tarah mota ho jaaunga...Apna size dekho aur apni friend se kuch seekho..thoda patla hone ki koshish karo" Stunned, M didn't know how to respond. We got down a couple of stops later, but not before I had given the guy a piece of my mind.

  • Travelling to Vashi by bus, I was standing for nearly an hour. When I finally got a seat, I gratefully gave my poor tired legs some rest. A couple of minutes later, a lady got in with an infant in her arms and a toddler by her side. Trying to balance herself and the child, she tried removing the bus fare from her purse. I looked around. There were people who were sitting for the last one hour but not one moved a muscle. No one offered her a seat. My tired legs complained. "You dont need to give up your seat" they told me and I succumbed. (High heels in a BEST bus - bad combination). Suddenly the bus gave a jerk and the lady lost her balance. She crashed against a rod but managed to save the child from getting hurt. And yet no one moved. Ignoring my feet, I got up and offered her my seat. She sat down gratefully and the infant and the toddler found a cozy place to sit - their mom's lap. I did not get another seat for the next 1 hour and I reached Vashi with sore feet.

  • On a train ride to Dadar, I saw a pair of twins barely 3-4 years old, jostling for place in the crowded compartment. The babies couldn't stand for a minute without being stamped on by someone. I got up and offered them my seat. Out of nowhere, their mom came scrambling by, asked the kids to get up and sat down. The kids were left jostling for space again.

If they say, a good turn begets another..I have yet to see that happen. These 3 incidents in the last one week have left me questioning my beliefs. And this is not just about offering food to strangers or giving up my seat in crowded public transport.

I often wonder if there is any point being nice and kind to anyone especially when you dont seem to get any kindness from anyone around you. If good karma attracts good things into your life, shouldn't bad karma attract bad things? If yes, how come some of the meanest and nastiest people I know, are also the most successful and happy people I have seen? If there are no shortcuts to success, how come there are people who have taken shortcuts and are still successful. Why does life seem so freaking unfair at times that it threatens to destroy every iota of goodness in you?

I know everything turns out fine in the end, but what if the end comes too late? What if by the time things turn fine, I no longer care?

Fullon Frustrations on Fullon Bakwaas!!

43 comments:

eye-in-sty-in said...

uh oh! that was one really mean uncle....

gayathri vishwanathan said...

oye shanu ko le aao oye...shanu kahi gayab ho gayi hain.

Ok...first incident: maybe the uncle's wife told him that strangers se meethai nahi lena just like how our parents told us strangers se chocolates nahi lena. So ignore it.

Second and third incident...its realy sad to see how hard hearted people are in the city.

Karma karo...phal ki apeska mat karo.Just keep doing such good acts...anyways there are very few around us who do good things...so continue doing it :)

Harini said...

Mean mean uncle. But babes when it comes to seat nothing good ever comes from sacrificing yours. All you get is thank you if they are sweet and some kind of satisfaction that you are the only not so selfish person in that bus/train.

Life is never fair but yeah if everything was fair nd went according to rules and plan... maza kya hai?

Tall Guy said...

You seem to travel a lot :)

People react in different ways so its best to ignore it when they are not meant in a good way.

There is a saying about karma"
"Karm kiye ja phal ki chinta mat kar"

The universe is a mystery and no one knows how the good deeds one does gets paid back.

Life is unfair but when one takes the hard road they know the trick of surviving which the short cut does not offer...

hamaarethoughts.com said...

I love reading ur blog...its too good..! something light ...close to reality ...
about..KARMA... it usually comes back in one or other form!

Anita Jeyan said...
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Anita Jeyan said...
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Anita Jeyan said...

These are some questions which have no answers...and many a times I've also wondered ..how ..why...all this happen. however the bus-train episode is very common and have seen moms with infants struggling...
Anyways whatever you did is good...u might not get rewarded instantly, but there is surely a reward for a good deed..it comes in a different form that you will not even realize. :-)

moonlite:D said...

oh oh mean ppl... n it all hpnd in just a week's time,, so bad :(

chill madi,, no point thnking abt such things,, just continue to be what you are :)

Kanishk said...

How do you know they're happy ?
Being successful pretty much depends on the definition of successful.
Also, I believe one should do what he/she feels is the right thing to do at that time. Hoping for something good as a 'return gift' might not be an ideal way of going about it. There might be incidences of you being nasty and getting away with it. So may be it balances out or may be it doesn't... But we'll never know :)

NIM said...

woah!
That uncle in incident no.1 was way out of his line! how mean could someone get?
The 2nd and 3rd would be been there done that for me... People traveling long distances by bus/train tend to get really ignorant and selfish
(no offence! :P) good deeds and decent people don't count for nothing these days!

gayathri vishwanathan said...

Nice header btw...bole toh i liked it...

Dreamcatcher said...

it happens wid me!!!!!!!!!!!
i act like this mother teresa n giv up my seat to elderly people n all i get bak from them is a "hmph" or at other times, a grimace!

i wonder sumtyms about y i even bother...but sigh the gulty-conscious inside me!

i tried sitting at the back seats for sum tym so as not to hav to giv up my seat n not feel guilty at the same tym..n the result was one week of severe back-ache!

i swear, there's nothing fair in anything in my world!

sigh agian for us mumbaiites!

Shanu said...

@ I-in-sty-in

Yes, he was :(

Shanu said...

@ G3:

LOL..Good explanations G3..Main proud hai behna!

Shanu said...

@ Harini:

Nahi re babes, the karma thing was nt abt the seat..it was abt life in general re. I have seen so many good ppl suffer and mean ppl live thr lives happily that I wonder if there is any justice in this world!

Fullon frstu bas saath main nikla!

Shanu said...

@ Survivor

No re..a friend got married last week and all her ceremonies were at diff places..isliye itna travel kiya..Nahi toh main aur meri rick ka saath kabhi nahi chutata!

I guess you are right..but sumtimes waiting for too long kills the joy, doesnt it?

Shanu said...

@ Harman

Thank you :)

Yup, thatz wat every1 says..I have yet to see that happen!

Shanu said...

@ Anita

I hope so yaar :)

Shanu said...

@ Moonlite

Ya, imagine wat a sadu week!

Not thinking re..was just really bugged!

Shanu said...
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Shanu said...

@ Kanishk

Being successful pretty much depends on the definition of successful.

Well said.

How do you know they're happy ?
To be honest, I dunno.

Hoping for something good as a 'return gift' might not be an ideal way of going about it.

yes, you are right. Itz wrng to expect nethin in return for a good turn..but wat to do..dil hai ki manta nahi :) But will keep tis in mind next time.

Shanu said...

@ NIM

You are so right..Methinks we should start a seat give-uper club or sumthin :P

Shanu said...

@ G3 Bhai

Thank you hai!

Shanu said...

@ Jitsy

Aare the elderly are phir bhi ok..its these hatta katta ppl who dont ack wen we do sumthin for them that pisses me off...the least u expect is a smile..woh bhi nahi dete..shaane log!

buckingfastard said...

haha!! sad week it seems!! well point is u dont do good things expecting good things in return!!

coz if u hav not given ur seat to dat lady or those kids...i m sure ur feet wud hav got rest...but wud u had dat great feeling u did coz u helped someone!!! we r such a sucker of mental peace and dats the good thing dat happened to u!!

Thousif Raza said...

us uncle ji ki toh mai...... he was meanie... us ko bhul jao.. but shanu you did a really nice thing with the infant lady.... i know you ended up being hurt but stilll, and the 3rd one is oh whatb to say... indian railways are always like that....


i gotta tell you sometimes in life these things happen, but all in all they teach us a lesson in life.... i just gotta say... you are being good, continue that, becasue agar tum bhi chod dogi then... is desh ka toh ram nam satya ho jaye ga ;)

but seriously, i dont know abt karma and all, i just do things becasue they seem rgt... and if seems good to you... then duniya bhad may jaye...

and if you think what did i get well... a blog post and a lot of frenz to stand beside you... isint that enough ;)

take care and keep writing.....

bliss said...

hey, that was such a nice post. although about the sadness u seem to be facing, i dunno, maybe u did get something good in return and u didnt realize. see, no good in this world can ever go unnoticed by god (thats where it actually matters) and even if u haven't gotten your share of kindness in return, i am more than sure its somewhere on the way!!! in the meantime, go on with the nice deeds you are doing, it is definitely making a difference somewhere!!!

Anonymous said...
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Blunt Edges said...

first things first...AWESOME header! :D

haaye rabba...shanu kitni achhi ladki :D

n honestly i think all these quotes n sayings only sound good...yet to find a saying that's actually true n practical (apart from "chandramukhi ho ya paaro, ki farak hai yaaro?") ;)

1st scene - the guy needed a piece of mind n a dhai kilo ka haath.

2nd/3rd scene - n that's precisely why i never offer my seat to anyone.

n u can't say u didn't get any rewards for being so nice...u got me ;) :D

Blunt Edges said...

oops...forgot to subscribe to comments :D

Shanu said...

@ BF

Mental peace! Good one! :)

Shanu said...

@ TR

That was such a cute comment TR. Next time se jarror yaad rakhungi!

Shanu said...

@ Bliss

Well said.

Thtz is what I am hoping for..tht it all counts in the long run..but thn u never kno do u?

Shanu said...

@ Mako Man

Tussi header pasand aaya ji? Thank u hai :)

U dnt offer ur seat to ne1? U mean mean boy!

And abt getting u as reward - Issshhh **blushes**

Sangitha said...

1st- I thot that old man wud ans i dnt take anything from stramgers.. Muz b a weirdo..!!
2nd.. Arre shanu.. why did u offer ur precious seat.. that too in a vashi bus?! There are seats reserved for women with child in arm in best buses.. even for old ppl and disabled.. Tune dekha nai hai kya? Thats the only reason even i stopped giving up my well deserved seat..instead i direct them towards their haq wala seat!! :P :D
3rd - u didnt give a piece of ur mind to that woman kya? dena chahiye tha..

even i dnt undrstand this karma thingy.. chod na why to rack ur brains behind such things..Do what u believe in..and yes dnt care..!! ;)

P.S. Header looks cool.. :)

Shanu said...

@ Sangitha

Haan re, i wasnt expecting his reaction either. And those lady seats were already taken. In the 3rd instance i was too tired to care :(

Karma warma ko maine bhi abhi chod diya hai yaar..hone do jo hona hai.

I am glad u liked the header though!

iceprincess said...

i can understand ur emotions perfectly...esp the last para...u have no idea how many times..i have thgt on those same lines...
sighg..i am disillusioned....

Shanu said...

@ Ice ice baby

Disillusioned! Yes that was the wrd I was looking for..I too am disillusioned :(

Gauri said...

Totally agree with you with what happens so often now-a-days.
This incident while I was traveling by train to Andheri, i asked the kids traveling precariously on the foot-board not to do so as it was highly dangerous. Taking advantage of my good mood, they started talking back and saying "Aunty (!) aapse nahi hota toh humko mana mat karo. apna kaam karo"
I was livid!

But in the end, our karma does reflect what person we are.
Who can forget:
"Karmanye vadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachna"
You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action..

Cheerio!

Thousif Raza said...
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Reema said...

Kudos for doing the good things..dont worry..all the little things u do end up coming back to u...both the good n the bad..not necessarily in the same form as u had done them in...sometimes hidden as a stroke of luck!!

Shanu said...

@gkam

Rightly said babe!

@Reema

Yup, you are right. All I can do is keep my fingers crossed!