Raj was about to drive his car into the parking lot at his office, when a truck appeared out of nowhere and drove into his car. Since, the truck driver had tried to apply the brakes, the impact was minimal but the car now had a huge dent on one side. The truck driver was quick to apologise and offered to pay the cost of repair. Raj, who had seen the driver in the area before, knew that the driver would find it difficult to pay the charges and so he  decided to let the driver off with a warning to be careful in the future. A few days later, as Raj was passing by the parking lot, he heard the truck driver joke with his friends about the simpleton whose car he had hit, and yet he did not have to pay the car owner a  single dime. Raj was forced to think whether his decision to help the truck driver had been wrong.

Rakesh was driving back from work one day, when he saw a young man waving frantically for him to stop the car. Rakesh stopped, and the young man told him that he needed a lift to the hospital as his mother had been rushed there. Rakesh decided to help him. On the way to the hospital, the young man asked for some money because he said he had nothing on him at that moment. Rakesh smelled a rat, but he decided to help the young man anyway. The young man thanked him profusely, noted down his phone number, and promised to pay back the money in a week’s time. More than six months have passed now, and Rakesh is still waiting for his money, and wondering if he was right to help the man.

One day Rohit got a call from a good friend of his, who told him that he was in urgent need of money. The amount was not small, but Rohit decided to loan the money as  he trusted his friend. Two years have passed now, and Rohit is still waiting for his friend to return the money. His friend always has an excuse for not being able to return the money. Rohit can’t help but wonder whether he was taken for a ride by one of his good friends.

The three incidents above are not isolated cases. All of us have experienced something similar, or know someone who has. Most people  would say that in today’s time it is never a good idea to help others, especially strangers. Some might, like the truck driver, say that Raj, Rakesh and Rohit acted foolishly, and should have known better.

If we look at the number of scams that have come to light in the recent months, the case for the world becoming increasingly selfish becomes even stronger. It seems that everyone is only interested in looking after their own interests, even if that means hurting others. Why should anyone, in such times, bother about other people’s problems?

Are we living in times where helping others has become foolish?

I would choose to believe not. Whatever the doomsday prophets may say, the world, even today, is not such a bad and scary place as it is made out to be. Undoubtedly, there are bad apples – as there have been since the time of Cain and Abel – but the number of god apples exceeds the bad apples by a huge number.

If we take a careful look around us, we will find a large number of people labouring ceaselessly – without hoping for a reward – to make this world a better place. It is these people that we should try to emulate, but unfortunately, sometimes we focus too much on the bad apples.

In the above three examples, it is easy to focus on how Raj, Rakesh and Rohit were taken for a ride. We quickly derive the message  that helping others is not a good thing to do. In doing so, we ignore the other side of the message. The side of Raj, Rohit and Rakesh.

For them, these were not the only times they tried to help others. It was a habit, cemented over years where they actually helped people who were in need of help. Every time it was a satisfying experience.  Whenever they had any doubts as to whether they were doing something foolish, the faces of the people who were actually in trouble flashed before their faces, and the doubts vanished.They were not expecting anything in return except that the problems of the people around them were solved. How could they be happy, if the world around them wasn’t? How can you be happy if everyone around you isn’t?

And every time you have a choice : You can either be like Raj, Rohit and Rakesh or you can be like the truck driver, the young man, and the thankless friend. Choose wisely.

(Image courtesy: lumix2004 from sxc.hu)

(The incidents narrated above are true incidents, but the names of the people involved have been changed)