Humans help one another. Even animals also do it.

Help comes in response to a specific need or a crisis situation. While humans do it out of compassion, animals go for it out of instinct. Perhaps it does not matter to the recipient whether the act of helping is triggered by either compassion or plain instinct. The recipient is just pleased with the response.  

Try to think more about the human who volunteers to help another human. The volunteer does it out of compassion. Or else he or she has learned it from his or her parents or from others in society. Perhaps he or she has got it from his or her religious books or preachers. Or it could be out of the belief that helping others would get them a shower of blessings from the Supreme One. 

There is nothing wrong with this approach, especially when both the doer and the recipient are happy with the outcome. The doer is happy that he or she has an opportunity to be of help to another human. The doer becomes doubly happy if he or she is singled out for praise and admiration in return.

As we are in the midst of a world-wide crisis situation caused by the pandemic, it is good to study the role of helping the needy. One of the primary purposes of being part of society is to create a safety net to protect the less fortunate.  There are always some people who have not developed to take care of themselves. There are also some others who are not capable of developing the skills that are currently needed.

It is here the fortunate ones are called upon to step out to take care of them. Do not take the charity route. Instead, it should be our responsibility to take care of them. Helping the less fortunate as a responsibility makes it an elevating experience for the giver as well as the receiver.

Dr George Karimalil