Lessons on empathy

We seldom think about the many of the things that we do to others, words we use to speak or things we wish for others. One of the common themes among all religions is that do not do to others what you do not want to be done to you. Again I think it is in human nature to ignore things until they stand at the door.
Once my mother left for my grandparents house and my father,brother and myself were left alone in house. My father used to buy peace at home by stacking kitchen shelves with sweets. There was a species of ants that leaves a definite odour on the foods they crawl, I particulaly disliked. They would always find the packet of sweets from their hideout under the door. Lining up like a military supply chain they carry away peices of sweets from the packet. That did not bother me as much as the smell they left behind. As a kid who did some of the most horrible things anyone could imagine, I decided to teach them a 'lesson'. Taking a lighted candle, I burned the entire line of ants. The soot from the candle left a dark line on the wall. My mother after coming back came to know about this and all she said was,"it is such a sin". After a few days she was making something in the kitchen and I was messing with dishes on the stove. A drop of hot oil fell on my hand and I cried in pain. She looked at me and understood what happened. She pointed to the black line on the wall and said now think of those ants. No earth shattering change took over me at that moment. I did not renounce violence nor did I become a saint. But that incident made me think and overtime completely changed me.
Further strengthening my belief was a quote:
"Only weak are cruel. Gentleness can be expected only from the strong."
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MS...

As I listen to MS during the scarce spare time I have these days, I remember her life. It was that of a simple housewife, a trailblazer who stormed into the male bastion of carnatic music(I think Pattammal was the first), popularised carnatic music in world. Whose voice Gandhiji loved so much that he wanted her to speak his favorite bhajan than some one else sing. And the nigthingale sang her song for father of the nation.
When she she recieved her bharata ratna, she said,"In Bharata our ancient homeland, everyone is a ratna. So there is not one ratna here and there but everyone is a ratna" Such humility...
Somehow, her looks attracted me...perhaps it was the bhakti that seemed to be reflected in her and her music or may be it was her uncanny similarity to my maternal grandmother. In the reports I read, she comes across as a strong woman who did what she believed was right..think of this, she married a widower from another caste some 60 years ago in chennai! She donated most of the proceeds from her concerts to charities, and to cap it all she said somewhere in an interview when asked what was the greatest achievement of her life (This was after bharat ratna etc); MS's words still ring in my ears whenever Iam hurt by others or I feel Iam taking undue pride in my work.She said,

"God has given us abilities some of them special to serve the world. It is nothing great if we use the talents that god has given us and achieve wealth and fame. But in my life I have never knowingly hurt anyone or thought of hurting anyone. That I think is my life's greatest achievement"
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