One story; many lessons

One hundred young boys and girls (or men and women) were waiting for the chief guest to address them. All in their early twenties, they had assembled in the hall looking forward to a bright career in a premier bank of the country.  One of the General Managers of the bank had arrived from the bank's head office to welcome them to the bank's family. He inaugurated their training program and covered various issues of interest to the future bankers during his inaugural address.  He guided them through his inaugural speech, encouraged them to follow the path of hard work and dedication, cautioned them about the possible pitfalls and assured them of all support of the bank in their positive endeavors.  He concluded his speech with a story.  The true story he recalled was an indicator to the abundant opportunities they get to help other members of the society, during their journey in the bank.

The story he mentioned was about two young students of Stanford University in the year 1892.  One of the students was an orphan and was continuing his studies with lot of difficulties.  They had no money to pay their fees to the college.  The two students came up with an idea to arrange a musical concert in their campus.  They thought that the funds raised by sale of tickets would pay off the artiste and the surplus would meet their fee and other expenses.  Ignacy J Paderewski was a famous pianist at that time and was traveling in the United States.  The artiste's fee for the concert was fixed at 2,000 US Dollars.  Concert was a great success but to their horror the students found that they could raise only 1,600 US Dollars.  They went to Paderewski and gave him cash of 1,600 US Dollars and a check for 400 US Dollars.  They told him that the check would not be paid now, but they would ensure its payment in due course.  Paderewski did not agree to this suggestion.  He tore up the check and returned the cash.  "Deduct your expenses for the concert, pay your fee and study well", he told them.  In effect, the concert was a free exercise and paved the way for their fee payment.

Paderewski was a great pianist as well as a great human being.  He later evolved into a composer, politician and spokesperson for Polish Independence.  World War One (1914-1918) resulted in heavy destruction of life and property in Europe.  More than 16 million people, including about 7 million civilians, were killed.  Poland was one of the worst affected areas and was severely ravaged.  During the year 1919, Paderewski was appointed as the Prime Minister of Poland and he also doubled up as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.   He had a major problem on hand.  The war had destroyed all infrastructure and he had more than 1.5 million hungry people to feed with absolutely no money or other resources.  He decided to approach the "US Food and Relief Administration" for help.  The administration had certain problems but they were overcome.  Thousands of tons of food grains were shipped to Poland and the menace of hunger was contained.  Hundreds of kitchen were established to feed children, expectant mothers and the general public.  Shipments of condensed milk, wheat and flour continued to arrive till the crisis was averted.

Once the major problem was solved, Paderewski waned to personally thank the head of "US Food and Relief Administration".  He crossed the Atlantic and arrived in the United States.  He met the Chairman of the USFRA and thanked him for the support.  "You need not thank me Mr. Prime Minister.  I learnt the lesson of helping others from you.  You might have forgotten me.  I am one of the students you helped at Stanford 27 years ago!" said the Chairman of USFRA.  His name was Herbert Hoover.

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Herbert Hoover was a Engineer by profession and after his stint in USFRA, he became the Commerce Secretary during 1921-28.  He was elected as the 31st President of the United States and served during 1929-33.  There is a blog post titled "Magnificent Hoover Dam" wherein I have mentioned about our visit to the dam in 2005 and the contributions of Herbert Hoover for construction of this dam.  It can be read by CLICKING HERE.  Herbert Hoover made many remarkable contributions during his tenure as Commerce Secretary as well as President.  The headquarters of the United States Department of Commerce building in Washington DC is named as "Herbert Hoover Building".

Paderewski made his first piano concert in Vienna in 1887.  His concerts in Paris (1889) and London (1990) made him extremely popular.  he represented Poland in Paris Peace Conference in 1919, after the first World War.  He also served as the Chief of the National Council of Poland between 1939 and 1941.  He is said to have been very witty and disciplined.  He would stop his performance if someone among the audience talked during his concert and say "I am sorry to interrupt your conversation.  I will resume after you are finished".  It is said that once he was introduced to a polo player and mentioned that they were both masters in their respective fields, though very different.  He replied that there was not much of a difference.  He said, "You are a dear soul who plays Polo.  I am a poor pole who plays solo"!

*****  

There could be many lessons from this true story.  I found these:

• Help someone in need, if you can.
• Do not look to only material benefits in life.  There is more to life than material things.
• Do not forget favors received.
• Do not forget to thank those who helped in the past.
• Repay your debt to the society.
• Of course, any help rendered must not deprive some other deserving person.

There may be other lessons too.  They can be added and the list can be enlarged. 

Returned, with apologies!

We often hear the words "Returned with thanks".  Most of the printed receipts read "Received with thanks".  But ever heard of  "Returned with apologies"?  Today's THE HINDU (26th July 2012) carried one such news item.

In Kotturpuram extension of Chennai, house of Shri Azhar Hussain, a retired anesthetist from a Government Hospital in Chennai, was burgled last week. Burglars entered the house by unscrewing a window on Friday evening. Over 70 sovereigns of gold jewellery, including diamond and platinum items, and 2,00,000 rupees in cash was taken away by the burglars. After four days, on the next Wednesday, his daughter-in-law answered the door bell at 6 AM in the morning.  She did not find anybody near the door. She spotted a plastic cover placed on the door step. When she opened the packet, she found all the items that were taken away during burglary.  There was one additional item as well; a note of apology in Tamil (local language) expressing regret for having burgled the house.  What an honest act even in the midst of total dishonesty!

An friend and well-wisher told me that similar acts of honesty (!) is displayed by pick pockets in Bombay.  A picked purse usually contains many items besides cash; credit/debit and ATM cards, visiting cards, photo of a little son or daughter or even a girl/boy friend, or some piece of paper or noting.  Some may even keep an Identity Card or PAN Card.  The one who stole the purse is only interested in cash. May be credit/debit/ATM card if the holder ignores the instructions of the issuing bank and notes down the PIN number on the card itself.  Other items do not interest him but they may be invaluable for the owner of the purse.  A lot of trouble in getting the duplicate of these items. Some items can never be replaced; like a photo with one's mother taken several years ago.  The thief needs money but not other items.  He is aware of the importance of other items to the purse owner. He does not throw them in the nearby dustbin.  He takes a manila envelope and puts all these contents in it. He mails the envelope to the owner as per address available in the visiting card and drops it in the post box. He takes care not to put stamps on it as he does not want a reduction of his booty. The envelope is delivered by the postal department by collecting twice the normal postage.  On receipt of the envelope, the owner thanks the thief instead of cursing him.  He is grateful for the honesty and understanding shown by the thief in returning the priceless posessions!

It is true that the thieves are quite understanding in Bombay trains.   But they could be equally ruthless also.  I am reminded of an incident I was told several years ago by another friend. A thief stole a girl's gold chain from a overcrowded compartment. When he went to sell the item he found that it was not made of real gold, but an imitation.  He was angry at being cheated.  His efforts had gone waste. Had he known that the girl would cheat him by wearing an imitation jewellery item, he would have tried his luck elsewhere. The "Opportunity Cost" was too much for him and fair wages for his efforts were denied. The girl was a regular traveler on the train, commuting from home to work and back.  He came back on the next day and found her in her regular compartment. He threw the chain on her face and gave a blow as interest. She was warned not to wear such items and deceive others in future.

Another friend mentioned about his son's cricket gear.  The young boy is a hard core cricket enthusiast and keen to work hard and make it big in the game.  He has quite a pool of talent too. The family recognized his talent and eagerness and got him a sports kit with all the items required for a budding cricketer. There were good quality bats, leg guards, gloves, boots and a helmet to protect from short pitched deliveries.  His talent was spotted by a well known coach and the boy's desire got wings.  One day he reached the cricket field, kept his kit in the usual place and went for warm up exercises.  When he returned after a few minutes the kit was gone.  The young lad was heart broken.  For him it was not just a kit or a few items. It was the package that contained his dream.  Undaunted by the loss he continued his mission with a substitute kit. But the loss of his beloved original kit made him sad.  A few days later, one of his friends told him that another boy was playing in the nearby ground with a bat which looked like the lost one.  When they both went to the other boy and checked there was no doubt at all and it was the same bat.  The boy was confronted with identifying marks.  The other boy had no answer and the bat then led to the kit itself.  The kit is now back with the original owner and he is now pursuing his mission with renewed vigor. There was neither an apology nor a thanks muttered in this case, though.

Then there was the famous case of returning of stolen property, may be due to fear.  This is a story I heard from my mother when I was a school boy. Saint Thyagaraja was presented a beautiful portrait of "Kodanda Rama" by some of his disciples during the marriage of his daughter. The saint cherished it and used offer prayers before the portrait every day.  Some thieves broke into his house one day and carried away the photo. Saint Thyagaraja was devastated by this loss.  He is said to have composed many kritis describing his pitiable conditions due to the big loss.  The persons who stole the photo faced many sufferings and misery after the theft. They could not hold the photo any longer and one night came back and kept the photo near the front door and ran away.  When the saint opened the door next day, he found the smiling photo of "Kodanda Rama".  He was mightily pleased and carried the photo inside the house. He is said to have sung the kirtana "Echharikagaa Raa ra...." meaning something like come, carefully....  Another version says that his jealous brother Jalpesha stole the Saint's idols and threw them away in the nearby Kaaveri river.  The saint prayed continuously unable to bear the loss of idols.  One night Sri Rama appeared in his dream and told him the exact location in the river from which the idols can be retrieved.  The saint promptly went to that spot and gleefully retrieved the idols.  This was not a case of "Returning with thanks" or "Returning with apologies".  It was indeed a case of  "Returning with divine love", not by the thief, by the stolen himself!

As Saint Thyagaraja himself sang,  "Endaro Mahanubhavulu.....Andiriki Vandanamulu".