Useful and useless

March 31, 2015 05:13 am | Updated 05:13 am IST

There is nothing that is absolutely useless. Wood is cut into planks. The sawdust is not wasted, but is put to use too. It is used in villages to light a fire, over which food is cooked. Thus sawdust serves as fuel. Vegetable and fruit wastes should not be thrown away, but can be turned to compost to enrich the soil.

But the Tamil work Viveka Chintamani says that there are some things that are useless. Tiruvalluvar says that there is no greater wealth a man can aspire to than listening to the sweet voices of his children. He says even sweet music is nothing to a man beside the pleasing lisp of his children.

Parents make many sacrifices for their children and while they may expect nothing in return children must recall with gratitude the sacrifices their parents have made. And yet, children often do not care for their parents. Neglect often becomes the lot of old people. Children who neglect their elders are put in the category of the ‘useless’ by the author of the Viveka Chintamani , said Malayaman, in a discourse.

Hunger and thirst can be troubling if we do not find food and water when we need them. A man in a desert would be most pleased if he were given water to drink. When he is thirsty, even the offer of unimaginable wealth will not appeal to him. Water would be more valuable to him than all the wealth in the world. But if he is offered water, after he has quenched his thirst, water no longer appeals to him.

So Viveka Chintamani says that water or food that comes after a person’s hunger or thirst have been taken care of is not of much use to him.

This is not to say that food or water is ever going to be useless. The moral we must take from this is that we must not delay offering help to those who need it.

Of what use is help that is not timely? Help that comes after the need for it has passed is useless.

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