Self Discovery

Knowing yourself well is the best way of self-discovery......    anonymous.               

Smriti you at it again exclaimed her friends. The reason was very simple. Smriti had achieved a milestone in her journey of self-realization. How and when let us discuss. Smriti belonged to an average family who had migrated from a small village to a big city. Her father struggled and finally got into a good profession that fetched him a decent income. He was able to provide a comfortable living to the entire family of five. Smriti was the eldest among the three of the children. She was studious and hardworking. She did well in school in all aspects. A fine quality she had was that she was very compassionate towards everyone to the level that she could forgo her expensive clothes to someone in need. This was something noble for a young girl of 12 years to do. Smriti had a classmate whose parents were not earning well on top of it they had quite a big family to look after too. One day it so happened that Smritis classmate the above-mentioned girl was drenched in rain. Her clothes were soiled too due to some personal girly reason. She was feeling uncomfortable as she had to travel back to her home by bus after School hours. Smriti understood her plight, ran home that was nearby and picked up her best frock, and gave it to her classmate who thanked her profusely for this gesture.

Smriti felt so elated and satisfied with what she could do. Her classmate went home and the next day when she came to School Smriti asked her about her frock that had to be brought back by her classmate. Her response was shocking to Smriti. She replies saying the frock was torn and so she had to throw it away. Smriti was shocked beyond words but could not do anything. This was the first lesson she learned that helping someone can backfire too. But did she give up her habit of supporting someone in need? No, not at all. She continued such acts as and when possible within her limits. Some backfired some appreciated but who cares?. She was happy with that. As she grew up her acts of generosity increased which were sometimes rebuked by her family. The reason being Smriti was taken for granted by many of her so-called friends This was indeed very bad on their part. After her marriage, she moved to another State and continued with her routine activities of the household and looking after kids, and attending to every bit of the family matters. She got an opportunity to work in a residential School patronized by a well known religious sect of western India. There she got a wonderful chance to fulfill the philanthropic pursuit She conducted coaching classes for economically weaker students Imbibed the value of giving in students who belonged to well to do families. This was rewarding to her as well as the students who were very happy doing so. She used her counseling skills to guide students who were indisciplined She personally used to contact the parents of these students and used to go to the root cause of the problem thereby doing her bit in such instances. The list goes on. Now during this pandemic to she tries to do her bit by supporting the vendors, her house help, courier agents and others not monetarily always but in kind too. She believes a good word of appreciation is what makes all the difference during these testing times.