It is a pleasure to give.   

Any person who is competent and capable would find pleasure in working to achieve and for him achievement or no achievement is of no consequence.  We shall call these people ‘working men’.   The moment you concentrate on your work you will have no time for small pleasures.  You will have no time to live up to the expectations of the society consisting of your relatives, friends and so on.  You can’t remember their birthdays to wish and give presents.  Immediately you are called selfish.  They hold that you are not ready to give and hence you are selfish.

Working men find happiness in their work and contribution to the society.  They may be authors giving an extraordinarily good book for the mankind.  They may be scientists giving a great contribution to the world and society at large.

Merely because they can’t remember birthdays and   they would miss all small, trivial matters,  they can never be called selfish. 

For most people these trivial matters are the only matters of concern.  They constitute majority, they would call  the working men as selfish.

It can never be said that working men don’t give.  They are givers.  They find happiness in giving.

What is to be remembered is that the working men never ask anyone for anything.  He is not eager to ask for your time or ask for your concern.  He is busy in his attempt to contribute to the society and to the world and he concentrates to give and he is not in need of anything from you.  These working men are givers.  They are very happy people.  Their slogan is what Ayn Rand said namely

“I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them. I ask none to live for me, nor do I live for any others. I cover no man’s soul, nor is my soul theirs to cover.

I am neither foe nor friend to my brothers, but such as each of them shall deserve of me. And to earn my love, my brothers must do more than to have been born. I do not grant my love without reason, nor to any chance passer-by who may wish to claim it. I honor men with my love. But honor is a thing to be earned.

I shall choose my friends among men, but neither slaves nor masters. And I shall choose only such as please me, and them I shall love and respect, but neither command nor obey. And we shall join our hands when we wish, or walk alone when we so desire. For in the temple of his spirit, each man is alone. Let each man keep his temple untouched and undefiled. Then let him join hands with others if he wishes, but only beyond his holy threshold.

What is my joy if all hands, even the unclean, can reach into it? What is my wisdom, if even the fools can dictate to me? What is my freedom, if all creatures, even the botched and the impotent, are my masters? What is my life, if I am but to bow, to agree and to obey?

If you give up that clause of working men we are left with others who constitute majority.

As far as this clause of people is concerned, it is essential that they should give what little they can give.   They are governed by different rules compared to the working men.  They have to give their time, their resources to the friends and relatives for whom such time and resources are useful.

A visit to a friend when he is not well, a glass of water to your father, a word of solace to a troubled relative, a few rupees to your servant at the time of his daughter’s marriage, a kind word when your maid servant spills the milk, a days paid holiday when your staff is not well, a line of guidance to a dull boy of next house are things which you can give.

You will find pleasure in giving.