Being Inclusive

At a time when we are all swiping right and left, and asking for “exclusiveness” in a relationship, you might be wondering why am I talking, rather writing about being inclusive. Actually, I realised of late that being inclusive is one of the rarest qualities that an individual possesses and once you do have that you’d see that your heart has expanded by manifolds. 

Believe just a while back I too was absolutely appalled by this concept of being inclusive. I was like what the heck is this? In this age where even the corporate colleagues refuse sharing their lunch with someone from a different project or a different department, especially now when we are bound by judgements and passing remarks at others often, is being inclusive even a thing?

Is it a different concept altogether? Well what if I told you that this is an innate quality? Sounds shocking? Sure, I was astonished as well, but gradually my perception changed when I recalled how our grandparents behaved towards others. Even though I was a child, I vividly remember that those days no matter what time of the day a guest would come to our house he wouldn’t leave without resting and having a meal. And, this was just not your snacks that’s offered to guests, it had to be either lunch or dinner. 

We all thought that this was a natural practice until I grew up to realise that shallowness had long possessed this earth. Our grandparents and even parents would never differentiate between their own child and anyone else’s child - all were taken care of equally. It’ll be pertinent to mention about the concept of “Vasudeva Kutumbakam” - a concept that’s quite well known in India as the whole world is one and my own family. 

What profound thinking! Just a while back I was reading an anecdote of a disciple of an austere saint and he was complaining that he was paid less and that all his friends were being paid handsomely. Hearing this the Swami smiled and said that he should be happy with the fact that his friends were earning more as those were his wealth too. The materialist and the practical part of me dismissed his thoughts and said that the friend is not going to turn up and pay my rent. 

But with the passage of time I realised that our cravings do not seem to end. One week it’s money, next month house, car and so on. Perhaps we’ll have to make peace with the fact that there will always be people that’ll earn more no matter how hard you work, there will be people that never work in their lifetime but will get a handsome appraisal. Dishonest people too will get a large share for themselves. 

But where does that leave us? People that have been toiling hard day long with honesty, why are we always left behind in the race? Perhaps we have to realise that we are the ones that can sleep peacefully, and of course they say that even if you win the rat race, you are still a rat, then what’s the point of running the race?

I move on and pace higher only with this thought in mind and heart that “I am progressing, I am happy, and I am smiling.” Maybe I am not there yet, I often stumble maintaining consistency, but I try to hold on and this time be as inclusive as possible. After all they say “Practice makes a man perfect.”

Image courtesy: Pixabay