Mahatma Gandhi once said that the best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others. Today when I look around I am often overwhelmed at the extreme inequality that is evident in our world. While hundreds of millions of people live in poverty, we have more billionaires that ever before. The love of materialism and consumerism has resulted in an economy oriented around particular sections of society, while making the world’s poorest even poorer.
The growing gap between the rich and poor is no accident, it is a result of some very fundamental assumptions around which our society is organized. If we made an effort to give back to the world even an iota of what we took out of it, the narrative would have been different today. For one thing, we wouldn’t have had a broken economy where women and girls suffer the most. Where children are trapped in poverty, and going to school or having access to basic healthcare is dependent on what circumstances they happened to have been born into.
The human factor
I have always believed that giving is what makes us human. It’s one of the best feelings in the world and the positive energy that comes from it transforms our lives. When I say ‘giving’, I’m not talking about donating money alone. Cooking a meal for a family that needs some support, teaching a child in need a few days a week, or volunteering at a hospice, are all acts that fulfill and enrich us, for virtually no out of pocket expense. I sincerely believe that we need to reclaim giving as the way to rediscover a personal sense of belonging and fulfillment and the basis of our relationship with the world.
As an individual, I believe that the culture of giving must come from a sincere place in our hearts, and as an entrepreneur I believe the wellbeing of the community that nurtures us is a shared responsibility that requires our initiative and active involvement. To me, successful entrepreneurship is not just about reaping the profits. In fact, I strongly believe that a business should not operate in isolation from the community it serves. Whether it is the education and personal development of our employees, engaging customers with more empathy, or a deeper engagement with government authorities, public institutions and private organizations – making giving back a primary concern enriches the broader social fabric and gives our lives a more positive purpose.
The act of giving elevates us as people
Giving teaches us responsibility – it makes us realize that we don’t need a lot to be happy. It cultivates self-worth and makes us realize the power we all have, to make a difference – large or small. Kindness is us reiterating the fact that the world can be better in a tangible way, simply by us becoming a better person ourselves. It reacquaints us with a simple personal ability to make life just a little more beautiful. Having received the kindness and compassion of others, we are all aware that even the smallest act of kindness can make a big difference in someone’s life. I honestly believe that acting on this instinctive awareness allows us to instantly set ourselves on the right path. Every caring, giving and kind act we do is an opportunity for us to redeem ourselves completely and begin afresh, revitalized as the finest version of ourselves. Give your time, give your friendship, give a listening ear, a shoulder to lean on and, of course, you can give materially as well.
I believe that even the smallest acts of giving that can bring about true change, fostering stronger friendships and lasting communities. In the world we live in, not everyone is as fortunate as their neighbour. If you’re able, give to others. You don’t just contribute to making the world a nicer place, you brighten your soul as well.
The culture of giving, in the UAE
There is a common saying that you lead by example. In 2017 the UAE, where I live and work today, celebrated the Year of Giving. Through several charitable and humanitarian initiatives launched throughout the year across the country, the country’s leadership highlighted the values of hospitality and generosity, which are ingrained in the Arab and Islamic identity. The acts of giving fostered a nation-wide culture of volunteering and promoted the value of serving the nation. As a company operating in the UAE, we embraced giving as part of our culture, through CSR initiatives.
Once we embraced the attitude, there were so many ways for us to act on this resolve. We saw workers in the labour camps in Dubai who could do with a little help from us. Supporting their education, typing out their documents, or even distributing Iftar meals – all simple but deeply satisfying acts – became part of our everyday lives. When we heard of the terror attacks on the CRPF paramilitary forces in India, we realized we had to be there for the families of the martyred soldiers, to help rehabilitate their parents or support the young children who had been dependent on them. Believe me when I tell you that these simple choices to act and intervene, to whatever extent possible, drew all of us who participated in these initiatives closer together, and the satisfaction of having acted on our compassion still resonates within us all.
Playing our part
When I hear of initiatives such as a group of people reaching out to lonely strangers, writing letters of love to them, or a group of friends getting together to visit homes singing Christmas carols and raising money for the treatment of ailing kids, or coworkers buying gifts to surprise an unsuspecting colleague, my heart fills with joy at the ordinary everyday compassion of these acts. It takes each one of us to make sharing what we can, in whatever simple way we can, part of a larger social change that redefines our world one kind act at a time. Giving something to another, selflessly and expecting no reward but the satisfaction that comes from having done so, is not just an act. It is a declaration that we choose a gentler, fairer and more compassionate world, for all our fellow beings and for ourselves as well.
