Importance Of Documentation

Here is an anecdote shared by someone in a group of friends. Don’t know if it is true, but very thought provoking indeed …
Trains are one of the most commonly used means of transport by the public. Aaron was travelling by train to a nearby town. As he opened his laptop to catch up on his work, he loosened his neck tie to ease his tired neck. Oh! Office attire could sometimes be so uncomfortable in the heat.

A very beautiful girl sat on the seat opposite Aaron. She was quite well dressed. They exchanged a few admiring glances. The girl smiled at him. He smiled back. A few smiles later, the girl got up and sat on the seat next to Aaron. A few minutes of awkward silence followed. But the undercurrents were potent.

Then the girl smiled sweetly and whispered, “Give me all your money, credit cards and mobile phone. Do it quietly for if you raise your voice, I will scream and tell everyone that you misbehaved with me.”
The boy looked blank. After a moment of contemplation he smiled back at her and took out a pen and paper from his pocket. He wrote, “Hi! I am deaf and dumb. I cannot hear what you said. But I can tell that you would like us to be friends. So, if you write down whatever you would like to say, we can chat!”
The girl took the pen from his hand and wrote down just what she had said a few minutes back.

The boy took the paper and carefully placed his laptop aside. He stood up and cleared his throat. He spoke loud enough for all to hear, “Hello everyone! May I have your attention please? Allow me to read out this message from this lovely young lady here.”
Surely you can tell what the position of the girl would be now. The presence of mind of the boy saved him not only his money, credit cards and phone but also saved him from character assassination.

Well!!! That is the importance of documentation, common sense and presence of mind! Common sense they say is seldom common … Do think about it!

Reflecting on this, I am saddened by the state of our society today. How easy it is for an innocent person to get into trouble if he is not on guard at all times? How gullible and prone to predacious elements the innocent are? But why has this happened? Why are so many children walking the wrong path? The reason for the depletion of values is that the children are not receiving the right mentoring at home and at school.

Swami says that the end of education is Character. Today, we are educating our children in the best of schools and colleges. Their IQ and EQ may be tops, but what about their values, character, common sense, sense of responsibility towards parents as well as towards the society and the Nation?

Just holding a fancy degree from a great University is not all it takes to be a good human being … there is so much more to it!