HELLO... WHO IS THIS?

There are a million kinds of people in this world. Still, the story in this Post starts this way:

“There are two kinds of people in this world. Those, who send us ‘missed-calls’… and, those, who don’t like them!”

Now, to which kind do I belong?

Last evening, I was talking to a friend of mine. Suddenly, his cell-phone buzzed. But, before he could pick it up, the buzz stopped. When my friend checked on the screen, his face wore a look of disgust. “Shameless character,” he burst out. 

“Why? What happened?” I asked.

“This fellow is a big doctor; a rich fellow… but, look at the mentality; disgusting!” my friend did not hide his feelings.

Just a few minutes before that, I had gone through exactly the same feelings. In my case, the ‘missed-call’ had come from a parent of one of my students. This parent was an advocate, lived in a posh locality and projected quite a sophisticated lifestyle. However, every time he had called me regarding an issue related to his son, invariably, the call had been a ‘missed-call’! 

And, let me tell you honestly: I had felt in my heart the same disgust: “Shameless character!”

Well, it may seem a bit blunt. But, that’s how it feels! 

This Post is, therefore, not about to which side of the line do I belong: that is, whether I too send ‘missed-calls’ or not. Instead, this Post is about whether I wear around my heart the same mentality.

Teachers and professors like me, doctors, advocates, chartered accountants, architects and consultants… mangers, CEOs and businessmen… and yes, even priests and Yoga gurus… any of them may belong to the first kind.  This means, any of us may wear such a mentality around our hearts!

Yes, we do.

I have failed to understand this phenomenon.

The kids and the young ones, whose parents are very strict about their mobile bills, often are provided with a fixed budget through prepaid schemes. So, if some of these kids and young ones give me missed-calls, now and then, I can understand their plight… and, so, I simply smile. But, even these financially dependent lot hate to give ‘missed-calls’. Many of them consider the trait as a ‘cheap mentality’… ‘Below dignity’!

I often wonder, if the one who sends ‘missed-calls’ knows how the other person feels!

Does he know that the other person hates it?

“How much do they save by going about like this?” last evening, my friend had asked, disgusted. “Most of them are the proverbial ‘penny-wise-and-pound-foolish’ idiots.”

I fully agreed with my friend.

It has nothing to do with the call rates… It is the mind-set!

It also has a lot to do with 

the kind of influence 

you yearn to leave on others… 

the kind of trust and confidence 

you would like to inspire in them.

A ‘giving mind-set’ stands on the other side of the line. One who wears this mind-set around his heart, can be expected to expand the circle of his influence… He can hope to inspire trust and confidence in people around him. Yes, we like such men and women… who do not measure and calculate too much… who gladly give...

Who just pick up their cells and say ‘hello’ to the one on the other side…

And, for that, they receive in abundance…

There are two kinds of people in this world. And, yes, there are two seas in Palestine! 

I have recounted this story – ‘the story of the two seas in Palestine' - many times before…

To which kind do I belong?


To which sea?

GERALD D’CUNHA  

Pics.: Vivek D'Cunha