The saying “An elephant has different teeth for chewing and for show” comes to mind in this context.
This saying reminds me of a recent example: a young man who passed the GPSC exam and became a Class 3 government servant. One of his family members stated that he cleared the Class 1 exam at the collector level. This young man even posted on Facebook with the status “SERVING THE NATION,” accompanied by photos from the Gujarat Legislative Assembly.
However, in reality, “SERVING THE NATION” gets overshadowed by “SERVING THE SELF.” Before serving the nation, one must understand how to serve society. By “society,” I mean the neighborhood. If someone can’t serve their neighbor, how can they serve the nation? If one doesn’t know how to be a good neighbor, how can they serve the nation?
He resigned or was removed from his job because his personal motives were not satisfied. I am really happy about this incident because he doesn’t deserve to be there as a social servant.
One day, I parked my new electric bike between the wall of my house and my neighbor’s house. Since my bike doesn’t have a central stand, it was slightly tilted. His house is about 18 feet long, and there’s only enough space for one bike to park there, as my side has too many bikes. Considering him a good neighbor, I thought his family wouldn’t mind, especially since my bike was new and the charging point is on the common wall. The very next day, he complained about it and started demanding some common space. I was surprised, as I thought 18 feet would be enough for him; he wanted to park his vehicle right next to mine. Understanding his concerns, I began parking my bike only in my area. However, he still fought with me, and then I decided on a tit-for-tat approach.
When his father passed away, it was us who stood by his family, offering support without worrying about our own meals or time. Yet, he didn’t seem to value that kindness. I see him as somewhat immature for not appreciating our help.
Another time, he called to complain about tiles breaking after renovating his house. He blamed it on the vibrations from my sewing machine running on the floor. However, I believe the issue was actually due to improper installation of the tiles. In our society, there are many sewing machines, but I’ve never heard complaints like his before. Despite moving my sewing machine away from the common wall after he complained, he continued to argue. Eventually, we felt compelled to respond in kind and started behaving similarly toward him.
People like that often never seem happy with their neighbors; they just look for reasons to fight. It’s clear that both of his other neighbors are also unhappy with him.
“If you repay kindness with conflict, you will never be truly happy.”