A Man of Culture ( ಸಂಸ್ಕಾರ)

It was a few years back when I was a volunteer supervising work for a trust this happened. We were checking to see if the patients (trust helped with) were getting the same treatment as other patients in a hospital. It was for surgeries related to heart and the hospital was Narayana Hrudayalaya. I met a few patients to find out their experience. They were all praise for the Hospital and were very grateful to the trust. That apart …

One of the patients (rather his father) I talked to was a poor labourer from Tamil Nadu and his son had undergone surgery. In my broken Tamil I asked him, amongst other things, if the financial assistance provided by the Trust was adequate and does he need anything else. He said in Tamil and I translate ‘Sir, whatever I got was sufficient for the surgery. I thank you and God for it. I do not want anything further. If I ask for more it will not be proper ’. I was moved.

I was reminded of an incident in Mahabharata. Draupadi gets three boons from King Dhrutarastra (partly out of his fear and partly out of guilt) after Kauravas win the game of dice. She asks as a first boon that her husbands Pandavas be released from slavery. For the second boon she asks for the arms to be returned to them. Both are granted. Dhrutarastra waits in anticipation.  Draupadi does not ask for the third one. When pressed to respond she says asking for the third one (when it was not needed) is greed and hence she refuses to seek it.