I remember a beautiful story (I forget the source now) about a farmer who followed this commandment very earnestly.
Jones was a flourishing farmer with humble beginnings. Being the first farmer in that area to use hybrid seeds, he got considerable media attention. A young journalist who was looking for something more than just what the 'hybrid' seeds could offer hit upon an unusual angle to this story. Apart from using the seeds on his own field , Jones was also distributing the same to his neighbours for free. This surprised the journalist because he thought being a smart businessman Jones would think about his profits and not distribute his seeds around. What he didnt know was Jones was a better businessman than anyone could ever fathom. Jones believed that if only he was using the 'good' seeds and his neighbours were using 'bad' ones, then his crop would also be of lesser quality due to cross-pollination and also pest attack from the neighbouring fields. By giving his neighbours the 'hybrid' seeds not only did he ensure that his crops were of the best quality he was also being lauded a good Samaritan.
I usually remember this story in the context of 'foreign affairs' and especially in the case of India. I believe that no country can achieve its fullest potential having troubled neighbours. India's neighbours have always caused her anxiety, more because of their internal problems than their issues with India.
I fully support India's external affairs policy of helping its neighbours rebuild their country and the lives of innocent civilians there. Be it Afganistan or Nepal, extending a helping hand without really interfering into their internal matters will not just do them good but also help us in the long run. Even if the show of strength continues at the borders, the other diplomatic measures should be taken forward with all the countries including Pakistan. Even if people say that the language best understood by Pakistan is the language of strength, as long as we can change the public perception inside that country into believing that we mean no harm, we have won half the battle.
Like the Jones in the story our efforts should be towards not just building our nation but also spreading the 'good' seeds around.
Nice story and so relevent for me today. Only today I have published two articles on my blog sharing knowledge [on downloading free ebooks and JSTOR articles so useful for research and studies]! People used to hide the info!
ReplyDeleteI'm also in favour of building good relations with neighbours despite all ills! I recall a good quote "Love your neighbour as you love yourself!"
What do you mean by "not interfering".We keeping watching cowardly when the monster incarnates and unleashes in our neighborhood ,destroying any existing sanity all. It's our misplaced notions ,non-interference and peace at any cost that unleashed china and Pakistan.Imagine how much pain it had caused to a Tibetan when the congress justified China's occupation of Tibet.
ReplyDeleteWe project useless ideals and bigotry that no other country respects.National interests should come first.
Kargil!We even failed to get pakistan pay for its misdeeds ,now america is happily supplying weapons to pak well knowing that they will used against India.Now define non interference."Did we question and protest the americans strong enough to heard as an warning.No we just played the same puppy boy at the cost of our national securtiy.
Our Ideals mean nothing to our neighbors.The only way to deal with them is by building a strong economy ,military(these two should happen simultaneously) these in turn would open the diplomatic and bureaucratic channels and should develop a strong strategic bureaucratic culture.
"STRENGTH RESPECTS STRENGHT"