A Lesson in Morality

As a kid, one day I brought back home a 2 rupees coin I found on my way back from school. When I showed it to my mother, she promptly told me, that we should never pick up money lying around the road (in case the person to whom it belongs to comes back looking for it). “So, should I put it back where I found it?”, I asked my mother, and she said,”No, we shall donate it in the temple”.

Years later, while entering inside the examination hall for my end semester exams, I found a Rs.50 note lying on the floor outside the hall in the mechanical department. By instinct, I left it lying there, though there was a temptation to at least put it somewhere it doesn't get under people’s shoes.

After the exam was over, while getting out of the hall, I found the Rs.50 note lying there as it is. I do not know what took over me, but within seconds, the Rs.50 note was in my hand. I stood there looking stupid. Since, I was the last one out of the exam hall, there was no one in the corridor.

Leaving the money lying there didn't seem like a good idea. Three hours was a long enough time, if the owner were aware of this, he should have come looking for it much earlier. To add to that, there were chances that someone else would take it and unlike me, use it for themselves.

I could of course submit it in the department office. But how could I be sure of what the clerk would do with that money? Also, going to office to submit a 50 rupees note for “lost and found” seemed a bit cheesy.

So, my mother’s teaching came to mind. The temple, of course. I put the note in my pocket, and came out of the department. But on reaching the temple, I couldn't get myself to put it in the donation box. How could I be sure that the money would be used for a good purpose by the temple trust? After all, there is no dearth of corruption in India, and even if the temple authorities were not corrupt, I didn't want this money getting spent on buying new clothes for a stone statue.

I didn't give it to a beggar when I reached the bus stop, as I thought that the person, to whom I give this money, though needy, will become complacent and this act will serve as a further inspiration to continue with his/her current profession of begging.

That day, when I went to sleep at night, I was dogged with self-doubt. Had I become so selfish that I couldn't find one single way to use this money, for the welfare of anyone in need? If I had given it to any of the children begging on the roads (even though I knew that they probably were under the clutches of some mafia forcing them to beg), I would have ensured at least 3-4 kids wouldn't sleep on an empty stomach. No doubt I had a troubled sleep that night.

By the next day, when I woke up, I had worked out the best solution to the problem at hand. I would give this money to someone, perhaps a daily labourer working in one of the many constructions going on in the institute. So, I decided that I would slip the money near some construction site after the exam was over.

After the exam, as I came out of the department, I saw a group of labourers cementing bricks. Just then, another thought came to mind. What if the person who ends up with this money turns out an alcoholic or uses this to buy cigarettes and such. No, that would be completely wrong. I shall not be responsible for encouraging a person into wasting money in these habits.

Just then, I saw a group of female labourers at a distance, with small kids and a few babies all around, and I knew, then, where this money belonged. I realised that anyone in the world, including myself could use such stray money in a host of immoral or wasteful ways, but a mother will always look for the well-being of her kids before any personal comfort. As I passed the group, I discreetly put the 50 rupees note in one of the cribs carrying a baby.

I was finally at peace.

Random Musing: I wonder about the state of mind of the people who draft the budget, or deal with the taxpayer's money...Don't they get overwhelmed by the enormity of responsibility bestowed on them by the millions of taxpayers, or do they cackle in secret basking in their fortunes...If even a single person working in the UPA cabinet had a tenth of the conscience that an ordinary man on the street has, the country would have been saved from such agony...