Be thankful, say thank you

Aadi Vaidya

I WAS born and raised in mid-Himalayas with hills around me,  ranging between 1,000-3,000 metres. Weather was generally good except for a couple of weeks in summer when afternoons became too hot, making it hard to walk home from school. Nights were pleasant throughout the year. Winters were harsh, but cherished and accepted as part of mountain life. It was a moment of celebration when it snowed as my town was in a valley and wasn’t fortunate to receive snow every year. But we had our advantages. Being next to a river meant water was abundant, and not being too high in the hills ensured accessibility, trade, healthcare and education. We thanked God for that.

Census records us, people from where I was born, as Hindus, but I would take the liberty to describe the hill people as part of a religion/culture that is based on gratitude. 

When I later moved to Mumbai to study and saw how Hinduism was being made to work — with elaborate festivals, extravagant spending and a clear agenda of proving whose religion is more superior — my sense of being a different type of Hindu was further strengthened. 

Since childhood, every festival we celebrated at home was to thank the gods, trees, animals, our neighbours, elders and even the dead. We thanked them for the tangible resources they provided, their guidance and the good luck they were supposed to bring. We thanked when it snowed and also when it didn’t, we even thanked when the river flooded. It was natural to do so since floods brought fertile soil along. We also thanked when there was a landslide; it ensured the night was spent at the closest relative’s home on our side of the slide. We always thanked and we were always happy.

This happiness seems more elusive now. As I move from one big city to the other, the sense of gratitude, it seems, goes down one level with every move. People don’t thank anymore. We don’t thank the taxi guy, cashier at the supermarket, our co-workers, or even our partners and parents. There is a feeling of entitlement. This is a strange phenomenon, especially for someone like me who thanks even landslides and floods. I felt like I was immune to this thankless culture, but I am scared today, and hence I am writing to remind myself, my friends and everyone else who has had the patience to read this article that expressing gratitude helps. It is a basic human trait and we should make a conscious effort to preserve it. It has given me peace since childhood and continues to do so. 

Gratitude spreads positive energy, goodwill and trust. This is what makes us human.