A Selfless Act

 A Selfless Act

I shot an arrow into the air.
It fell to earth,I knew not where.
For,so swiftly it flew,the sight
Could not follow it in it's flight.

I breathed a song into the air.
It fell to earth,I knew not where,
For who has sight so keen and strong
That it can follow the flight of song?

Long,long afterward,in an oak
I found the arrow ,still unbroke
And the song ,from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.

- Henry.W Longfellow.



An old poem read in school.
The essence of helping someone without expecting returns..
Randomly helping someone who is unknown and you consciously are aware of getting nothing in return of your favor.....
Studying any thing you know will not fetch you monetary value....
Or you are working hard or doing good work which today is not getting any appreciation or reward......
All of us have experienced all these emotions.
Many a times leaves us wondering
Why am I doing this?
What good ( Reward ) is this going to get for me?
If one is not getting anything in return.....
We question ourselves....

Why ?

Some acts never get instant gratification....
Some acts never get acknowledged....
Some acts get totally overlooked......

Still Humanity and Sincerity drives us to good work.

It is these values instilled into us by elders and Mentors which directs us to perform selfless actions....
Bhagwad Geeta says...
Karmanye Vadhika rasya maha faleshu kadhachanaha.....

One needs to just perform one's duties without expecting or desiring or thinking of the fruits in return or the outcome or the results.

A student needs to study...
A Teacher needs to teach...
A Doctor needs to treat and heal....
A  lawmaker needs to protect....
And so on so forth.

In the long run,the outcome of our work will reap rich dividends if not for us ....then for generations tomorrow.

A Gardner plants a sapling in his garden....which bore fruits only after his death....but his generations got to enjoy the Fruits of his hard work.

But today, the young are taught a different lesson.
Every Fruit you get for your hard work is your Right.
Every act you do must give you Instant Gratification.
A Smart person makes millions with every cent he puts.
Every action has to be counter balanced with a reaction.
This is expected from a student from his School......or Coaching class.....
This amount of studying has to score me this much marks to acquire a Seat.....here Knowledge is overlooked.
A Person working in a place....needs instant appraisal and increments,Holidays,Perks....with respect to hours of work he gives.....
Here Loyalty and Sincerity gets overlooked.
2 People in relationship ( any kind in life) need equal or more gratification from each other.Here emotions get hurt under duress of Ego and Betrayal.
When Everything we do is with Expectations and Desires.....
Reality never meets the Demands of Expectations.
This is causing all us to be never happy.
This is leaving us every desiring....
Disappointed ,Disgruntled and Angry....
With ourselves....
With people around us....with the Society we live in.

H.W. Longfellow wrote a simple poem which has so much indepth meaning to it.
We need to re teach this poem we studied in school to ourselves.
Schools need to teach this poem to young minds again.

- Dr Tripti Milind Galgali
Hubli.