Really a Philanthropist?

"Strong people stand for themselves; the strongest stand for others."

1.       Recently, I have come across many ‘philanthropists’. The reason I put this word in quotes is because the meaning ideally is “someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes”. As a student of psychology during my UG, I remember studying about philanthropy and we were told that a philanthropist believes in helping others for nothing in return. They only feel happy when they are of any help to anybody.

The kind of people or rather philanthropists I have seen around these days are far from this definition. When we help someone, the focus is supposed to be the person in need. We help them so that it benefits them. However, the philanthropists today, do it in order to gain goodwill in the market. People make sure that they extend a helping hand to someone and the rest notice it and propagate it.

Moreover, one would never extend themselves in order to help others. Others are helped in the limits that the philanthropist exercises. The focus is always the philanthropist and not the person being helped. I’d help someone, only if it is convenient to me. I’d wipe someone’s tears, only when the camera focuses on me. Are we really being humans? All the religious teachings teach us to do charity such that when your right hand is involved, even your left hand doesn't know about it.

A few of us are blessed to have a lot while a few have lesser. Some of us have lots of money and power but crave for friends and love while others pass by us and wonder if they will ever be able to afford a pair of footwear like we do. Some of us crave for a family while other want to get rid of them.

No one has a perfect life. In such a situation, the least we can do is to soothe someone who is in pain around us. When we do so, we need to remember, we are doing it for them, not for ourselves, by which I mean, they are the focus, not we. We need to do what they need, not what we can. We need to do something for them, which makes them feel better, instead of finding a way to make ourselves feel better.