Empathetic mindset is so important for the growth of ourselves and society

There was a poor family in the village. In the family, there were two brothers and their parents. The elder brother’s name was Nijam and the younger brother’s name was Nayan. Both the brothers were married and the elder brother had two children and the younger brother had one child. However, they were living together as one family. No doubt financial constraints were an issue for them otherwise they were happy. Moreover, the elder brother had two school-going children; but he was somehow able to manage the educational expenses of the kids. In today’s expensive market; we can easily understand the trouble of running a family without having a permanent job in the house. So both of them were driving auto-rickshaw in their local town. So far so good; it was going well. However, life is not bad for roses. Suddenly one day the elder brother (Nijam) felt sick; he was immediately taken to the hospital. After diagnosis for a couple of hours, Dr found that he had a major kidney problem. He was given treatment for a couple of days but had no luck. After around two weeks of his admission, Nijam passed away. His sudden demise not only shocked the entire family but the entire village. No doubt, Nijam was not an educated boy, however, he was a kind and empathetic person and used to mingle with everyone in society. The untimely death of Nijam brought a lot of misery to their family. It was a painful moment; the young lady became a widow and two minor children became orphans. But then look like it was destiny. The family tried their best to save Nijam but their effort was futile. As the days passes, members of the family accepted the divine truth and started their normal life.

But now the problem is — one major earning person was no more, and the younger brother was the only source of earning in the house. Though the young widow lady explored some job opportunities in their local town; it was not clicked as she was not equipped with the modern skills required to get the job. Hence she became dependent on her brother-in-law’s (Nayan) income. But then this arrangement was not went well. Neither Nayan(younger brother) nor his wife like this. They started misbehaving with their sister-in-law for a silly reason. As the day passes, the relationship between these two families became worst. In fact; it went to the level where Nayan started scolding her(sister-in-law) and asked her to leave the house. Initially, the widow lady maintained calmness, probably not by choice but due to her weakness. She became helpless because of her two school-going children and financial constraint. But despite her calmness, Nayan continued quarreling with her, and every time he will ask her to leave the house. In such an awkward situation; she had no clue what to do. When Nijam was alive everything was good, both the families were living happily. But now the same individuals are behaving opposite. Since the Nayan did not stop scolding, one particular day, she approached to Head Man of the village and explained everything that had happened so far. The Head man listened to the complaint empathetically and promised her to do some action from his side. A few days later; the headman and other senior people of the village came to their house to discuss the matter thoroughly. After listening to stories from both sides, the village people were furious about the behavior and action of the younger brother (Nayan). All the village people were very angry and they wanted to know — on what basis Nayan can say to go out his sister-in-law. The senior people of the village categorically said if somebody has to leave the house means, it should be Nayan not that widow who is helpless lady now. Furthermore, the village people warned Nayan that in the near future if he does any kind of misbehaving with his sister-in-law, he will have to face dire consequences. The headman advised both the families to make separate kitchens going forward. After this strong judgment from the headman and senior people of the village, Nayan dint dared to do the same thing for a second time and they started living together within the same boundary. There were not fighting anymore and today after so many years they are living happily as one big family.

Now my dear friends here is the catch .. if the headman would have ignored the application of the widow lady, the problem would not have been sorted out. Or, if all the village members would not turn up to discuss this matter, the lady would have continued to be tortured by his own brother-in-law. Don’t you think that the common village people resolved the case of gross injustices without taking a single penny from the victim? Don’t you think, it is a great example of social justice and harmony? Undoubtedly it is a great example of empathy and kindness that each of the village members demonstrated. This story proves that an empathetic mindset is so important for the growth of ourselves and society. Our small sacrifice can work as a great boon to others. Don’t you agree?