Write about two deeds you have done; one of which gave you immense joy and satisfaction, while the other was a cause of deep regret.

According to the holy book of Hindu’s, Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna has mentioned specifically that a human being should do only karmas and he or she should not demand the fruit of his karma, because fruit or reward is decided only by Lord Krishna. I am also a true believer in Gita. So I keep on doing my karmas and don’t demand any reward in return. God is there to decide a reward or punishment according to my karmas.

The deed which brings me immense joy and satisfaction is only looking at my nanny’s son Suraj who has become a well-known doctor of our town. From the day I was born, I was looked after by my nanny, Yashoda Devi. Yashoda Maa (that is what I call her), was a widow. She was very poor and had only one son Suraj who was doing his twelfth in their village. We forced Yashoda Maa to bring Suraj to town and my parents took the responsibility for sending him to college. His dream was to become a doctor. No wonder; he was a brilliant student, and he cleared his CPMT test. They were from an SC background; he also got admission to one of the best colleges in Delhi. But for fees, my parents denied to give him full support. Even though I was small, I was very sensible. I told my parents to cut down on my luxuries and support Suraj Bhaiya.

My parents had to mortgage my mother’s jewellery for a few years to educate Suraj Bhaiya. And I was the one to insist again and again. Since Suraj Bhaiya was a genius, he stood first at the University, so the college gave him a scholarship of 40%. This lightened the burden of his studies from my parents’ shoulders. But Yashoda Maa went on blessing our family and she really took good care of our family. At last, a day came when Suraj Bhaiya had become an M.B.B.S. doctor in a Government Hospital. He was well-off, married and settled but Yashoda Maa was still living with our family serving us faithfully. She had become an elderly member of our house. So she says “Baba, if you had never insisted, my Suraj would have never been a doctor. It’s all because of you,”. This deed brings immense joy and satisfaction to me and my family.

But along with something good, I also have done one bad deed of ignorance which I want to share with you all. It so happened, one day in the month of June, I was going for my cricket practice in the afternoon. On the way, I met one old man begging for some water. He seemed tired and exhausted. There was no water available and I was carrying a water bottle for my practice. That person came and asked me to give him some water; but since I was getting late for the practice, I ignored him and drove my bicycle away. But when I returned after two hours from my practice, I saw a big crowd at the same spot, surrounding something. There was little space from where I could peep in. I saw the dead body of a person, with his eyes opened and some vomit coming out of his mouth. It was the same old man who had fainted and lay dead because of dehydration and excessive heat. Something really pinched at my heart that moment. If I would have delayed practice for few minutes, at least that person would have survived. This very incident haunts me and makes to regret it. Again, as I said earlier, is it the fault of destiny or our karmas?