கடிதங்கள்
Kadithangal (mail)
Content note: injury
Two women were walking together along an unpaved road. One woman cried out and fell, grabbing her foot in pain. A large thorn had pierced her sandal and entered her foot. She couldn't even move it. The other woman shouted over her shoulder, "You fool, we'll be late if you don't run!" The first woman said, "Pain has pinned me here; I can't move an inch until this thorn is removed." The second retorted, "Stop fussing over a mere thorn and get up, or I will leave you," and went on a few feet, then trod on a thorn herself. Howling in pain, she too collapsed. Neither woman was able to remove the thorns herself, as even touching the thorn created shockwaves of pain. Separated by a lack of compassion and patience, they were now unable to help each other and stayed that way until a third traveler came along and removed the thorns from their feet. This person chided them, "They jest at scars that never felt a wound. If you had helped your friend when she was injured, then she would have walked with you, and helped you when you were injured in turn. Only thus would you have arrived at your destination on time, not by ignoring each other's pain."
Similarly, hard-hearted doctors and academics heap additional abuses upon those who suffer pain and penury, but the nature of life is that one day they will suffer pain and penury as well. Beyond the reach of help, the hard-hearted suffer. Instead, open your heart to the display of another's pain, and use the opportunity to learn one another's affective codes and needs (Sivananda, 1998, p. 35).