Thursday, January 19, 2023

Let’s Give Back to Society!

People say nothing gives more joy in life than giving back to society. You decide to serve humanity and start zeroing in on what you will give back to society.

You believe that children are the future of society, and you start teaching. You play with the kids to build a bond with them, but soon you realize that the games they play are boring, and neither the kids nor their parents are happy. The kids think you're bad at games, and their parents are not sure if you're a good influence. You decide to teach, but the children's books have information that is hard to explain. One plus one has been two since the beginning, and you become agitated when the kids question it. They say that not only are you bad at games, but you don't know mathematics. Even your own children opt out of your voluntary contribution to society.
You then decide to bring poetry to people, believing that it will redeem a society that has lost touch with love and beauty. You invite guests to a party, and once they become spirited, you start reciting poetry from Ghalib and Makhdoom Mohiuddin. You explain to them about love, separation, and unrequited love, but they're not prepared to take it in. They're either flabbergasted or start laughing. No one is in the middle ground, and you sense imminent furore with people breaking out in angry singing. Poetry has become a chore, and you are tolerating them more than they're tolerating you.
You then decide to motivate people, and an NGO for the homeless agrees to let you give lectures to the inmates. They ask you what they should do with their lives, and you reply, "whatever you like." They remind you that they've already been doing whatever they liked and it landed them in this home listening to your lectures, which is not exactly their idea of success in life. Some depressed people ask you what the point of this life is, and you get into deep thinking. This NGO isn't now so sure that you're the kind of motivation they want to instil in these people.
You feel society is not accepting what you offer because you need to teach them something that you are best at and no one else can beat you. You realise that would be wasting time and not many may waste time to learn about it.
It's difficult to find something that society is willing to accept from you. You make YouTube videos about your mundane life, but everyone is bored with their lives and refuses to waste more time in their life. You try to write stories, but you end up spending time in your own company. Only your wife has read your work, and now often asks you to give back those minutes of her life that she spent reading. She also tells you that by sparing the world the pleasure of your company, you are giving it back to society. You know she's joking, but you keep doubting.
This ping-pong continues for some days, but then you decide it's a loss to society. You then try to give back humour to society; you're still not sure if they will accept it!

No comments: