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392. Good Will vs. Ill Will

People are self-centred. Some have extraordinary Good Will. Those who act on good will witness what they do expand in the lives of the recipient. Mother says every will in Man is ill will. Good will is rare. A man with a 5th class general qualification had become a Tamil Pandit. His management took a kindly interest in him. He was very poor, as in those days of prewar his salary was Rs. 25/-. How could he afford to pay the exam fee of Rs. 15/-, buy the text books and pay for his tuition?  After several years of psychological endeavour of the higher type, he brought himself to memorise a few essays which luckily appeared as questions. He passed the exam. It pressed him to pass the intermediate exam. He who helped him to pass SSLC refused to help further. The Pandit persisted. It was pulling teeth. He memorised a few essays. They didn't appear as questions. In one of his several attempts, luck favoured and he barely scraped through. Now the idea of B.A. possessed him as a devil.

He was ashamed of asking for help. When he did, peals of laughter came as the answer. He forgot his wild dream. Then he met someone who was a linguistic expert. He taught him to write correct English. That made him take the degree in three attempts. Here begins the impulse of Good will. Those were days when the Tamil Pandit's name would be entered in the attendance register at the end before the name of the peon. Good will is of the Spirit. It does not stop at its goal. It has the capacity to grow, self-multiply. This man who, after passing B.A., could not even write a leave letter, now passed B.T. and M.A. in Tamil and became a headmaster. The one who had helped him on the strength of his innate good will gave up teaching and came by a sizable property. As the rule is unfailing, the Pandit who received help turned against the benefactor and tried to ruin him utterly, of course, in vain.

A servant girl was good at heart.  Hers was pure goodness. Her mother and brothers turned against her, teased her, punished her, tyrannised her, wanted to ruin her. The atmosphere of Grace where she worked effectively protected her against the ordeal of tyranny. Grace gave her a great marriage and wealth. Now the family woos her. One of her well wishers advised her to help her family rise as a gesture of good will, little realising that ill will served by Good will would ruin her completely. Not only that, the family would enjoy trampling her under their feet when she fell. Family affection in the presence of active ill will is a sure self-poisoning.  It is a dangerous experiment. Society lauds it. Spiritual experience warns against it.

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Para 1 - Line 3 - Pandit -

Para 1 - Line 3 - Pandit - Pundit
Para 1 - Line 8 - Pandit - Pundit
Para 2 - Line 4 - Pandit's - Pundit's
Para 2 - Line 8 - Pandit - Pundit

K. Venkatesh



story | by Dr. Radut