Pour not water into the milk pot

AS a primary schoolteacher, I find life to be a learning lesson every day. A recent outbreak of chicken pox in my school opened my eyes, giving me an insight into the  collective mindset of people. 

Advertisement

Chicken pox is a disease recognised by almost all strata of society. In various regions of our country, it is known by different local names. Specific traditional rituals, like strict dietary restrictions, abundant use of neem leaves (a proven antibacterial) and other religious customs are followed. But a closer look of these traditions reveals that they all lead to the same principle of quarantine and hygiene. So, we can assume that most people are clued in about the contagious nature of this disease. Despite everyone knowing it, to my horror, the sick children kept rejoining school just after a few days. Though they were sent back home with the advice to wait for full recovery, it let the Varicella virus find many more innocent victims. This cycle kept repeating itself. What could have been a stray case of one or two kids getting down with it, due to the selfish act of their parents, reached massive proportion. 

When I tried to reason with the parents of students who had not yet completely recovered, their logic was that their child’s studies were getting hampered. ‘Iski padhai ka nuksan ho raha hai.’ So what if their falling scabs end up contracting many others. Collective responsibility is the first thing we tend to toss out of the window. 

This reminded me of a story heard long back. The daughter of a poor villager was about to be married. So, his community decided to help him. Each house would give him a ‘lota’ of milk, which would be used to welcome the guests. The day of the wedding arrived. Villagers took turns and poured their share of milk in a huge vessel. When the poor villager looked in the container after collection, to his astonishment, it was filled with water. Each villager thought that if he poured water instead of milk, no one would come to know as the vessel would already be filled with milk. But they didn’t realise that each of them was thinking in the same selfish manner. 

We all tend to do so. Be it passing a Rs 100 note to the traffic police, fudging accounts to negotiate tax, throwing garbage in the back alley or spitting at the corner, we think it is just us. But the truth is that all of us contribute to the lawlessness on roads, rampant corruption and the stink emanating from the streets. All of us will have to pour milk in the pot if we wish to be welcomed with a glass of milk.