Dr Saheb Sahu

Once in the mythical city of Bagdad, a thief was brought in front of the caliph to be judged. The usual punishment was  to have his hands cut off, but that day the caliph was in a good mood and he offered the bandit a way out. “Tell me what women want and you will be free,” he said. The man thought for a while, and after invoking Allah and His Prophet, he gave the caliph an astute answer. “Oh, sublime caliph, women want to be heard. Ask them what they want and they will tell you.”

 This is what women want: to be educated, to have their own resources, to be safe, to have control over their bodies and lives, and above all, to be treated as equal. (Allende)

I will confine my discussion to women in India.

A – To Be Educated

Though it is sharply increasing, the female literacy rate in India is less than the male literacy rate. Far fewer girls than boys are enrolled in school, and many girls drop out. In urban India, girls are nearly on a par with boys in terms of education. However, in rural India, girls continue to be less educated than boys.

According to National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2019-21, the average literacy rate in India was 77.7%, 84.7% for male and 70.3% for female. The highest literacy rate was in Kerala. The average was 96.2%, and for male 97.4% and for female 95.2% .In Odisha the average was 77.3%, and for male 84.0% and for female 70.3%.

 According to experts no country has attained developed status without educating most of its population. Quality public education is core strategy in fighting poverty everywhere. Not only education is important in fighting poverty, it is also key to wealth creation. Without creating wealth poverty cannot be eradicated.

 All developmental experts agree that the potential benefits of girls’ education are even greater than that of boys’ education. The benefits of educating girls are many: decrease pregnancy rate, reduction of under- 5 mortality rates, increase productivity and income, gender equality in family decision making and many more. Women who are educated are more likely to work outside the home. Women who have independent income have higher social standing and more likely to run for political office.

B – To Have Resources of Their Own

How does one get resources of one’s own? One gets an education and gets a job or inherits some wealth. If you do not have a decent education, your chance of getting a job in India is very slim. Without an education a woman will be a laborer or domestic servant. In India women have equal rights under law to own property and receive equal share of their inheritance like their brothers, but in practice, it is not happening.

Women constitute almost half of Indian population (48%), but their participation in the work force amounts only to one-fourth of the total working people. The gender pay gap in India is estimated to be around 20 % (2019), e.g. women make 80 cents while make a rupee for similar work.

 Women perform around 10 times more unpaid works (house hold work, caring for children and parents) than men do. Sixty percent of working women in India work in agriculture sectors, where the pay is low. Research suggests that when countries are able to raise the female labor participation rate, this stands to benefit the entire economy.

 Only about four percent CEOs of Indian major companies are women. In Indian Lok Sabha out of 543 members only 78 are women (14%).

C- To Be Safe

 Violence against women has been common in most societies for millennia. It is worse in India. A young woman thinks twice before doing something as routine as walking past a group of men. Safety of women in India is threatened by various acts like- feticide (aborting female fetuses), child marriage, domestic violence, rape, forced prostitution, honor killing, bride burning for dowry, sexual harassment at work place and many more. About third of Indian women have suffered from domestic violence.

 Nearly a decade since the gang rape and murder of a student on a bus in Delhi that shocked the country, state and central spending to combat violence against women is “grossly inadequate”, according to Oxfam India.

 How to solve this unacceptable situation? All the state governments should vigorously enforce the existing laws against all forms of violence against girls and women. Child labor should be completely banned. All girls until the age of 16 should attend schools. Some of the reasons for drooping out of schools are under-age marriage, pregnancy and child labor. Sanitary pads, birth control pills, morning after pills, immunizations,  iron and vitamin tablets should be available to all high-school and college- going  girls at low cost  or be free.

Families, educational institutions, and societies should teach boys and men to respect women. Only strict laws on the books will not solve the problem of women safety in India. Implementation of existing laws in a time bound manner will help. However, unless men change their mindset towards women, laws alone will not solve the problem. Unfortunately politicians are satisfied with passing the laws but are not serious enough to implement them in a timely manner.

D- To Be Treated As Equal

Although the constitution of India grants men and women equal rights, gender disparities remain in all aspects of Indian lives.  While Indian laws on domestic violence, rape, and dowry related killing, and adultery have women’s safety at heart, these unacceptable crimes are still rampant in India.

 Women have equal inheritance rights under the law, but in real practice, they are not inheriting equal shares of their parental properties as their brothers. Less than 25% of women own any agricultural land in their names.

 India is one of the largest and fastest growing economies in the world. Yet, when it comes to gender equality, India ranks poorly on global indicators (UNICEF). Across India gender inequality results in unequal opportunities for girls and women, almost in all spheres of their lives.

 The root cause of gender inequality in Indian society lies in its patriarchy system going back to thousands of years. Patriarchy is defined as a system of social structure and practices, in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women. Exploitation of women is a cultural phenomenon of Indian society. The system of patriarchy finds its validity and sanctions in India’s religious beliefs, whether it is Hindu, Muslim or any other religion.

 For instance, as per Ancient Hindu law giver Manu,” Women are supposed to be in the custody of their fathers when they are children, must be under the custody of their husbands when married and under the custody of their son in old age or as widows.”

 Most girls and women in India do not fully enjoy many of their rights due to deeply entrenched patriarchal views, norms, traditions and social structure.  The patriarchal system is changing but not fast enough. India will not be a developed country unless both girls and boys are equally supported to reach their full potential.

Conclusion

The UN Commission on the Status of Women adopted agreed conclusions on “Women’s full and effective participation and decision-making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls” on 26 March 2021.

Women all over the world want to be educated, have their own resources, to be safe and like to be treated equal to men. Unfortunately, in most countries these aspirations are not being met. India is no exception. According to UNICEF, when it comes to gender equality, India ranks poorly on various indicators. India’s constitution guarantees equal rights to women with men but in real life, every day, in every part of India; women are treated as second class citizens. Things are changing but in a snail pace. The age-old patriarchy system persists. Unless women get an education, are employed in large number outside their homes, have their own money and resources, and get political power, things are not going to change that much. In 2014, 11.42% members of Lok Sabha were women. It increased to 14.36% in 2019. What a slow progress! Unless Indian women are elected to all political offices (from panchayat to parliament) in much larger percentage than at present, things will not change fast.

Sources

1- Isabella Allende. The Soul of A Woman. Ballantine Books: New York, 2020

2-UN Women.org

Culture

Definition of Culture

Culture is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior and norms found in human societies, as well the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups. Humans acquire culture through learning process of enculturation (the process by which an individual learns the traditional content of a culture and assimilates its practices and values.) and socialization, which is shown by the diversity of culture across societies. These include expressive forms like art, music, dance, ritual, religion, and technologies like tool usage, cooking, shelter, and clothing.

 Most people tend to believe that they are the center of the world, and their culture is the anchor of the human history. Chinese nationalists believe that history really began with the Yellow Emperor and Xia and Shang dynasties, and that whatever Westerners, Muslims, or Indians achieved is but a pale copy of original Chinese ideas and inventions.

 Indian nativists dismiss these Chinese boasts and argued that even airplanes and nuclear bombs were invented by ancient Indian sages. They believe that Maharishi Bhardwaj invented rockets and airplanes, Viswamitra not only invented but also used missiles and Acharya Kanad was the father of atomic theory.

 Many Greeks believe that history began with Homer, Sophocles, and Plato and that all important ideas and inventions were born in Athens, Sparta, Alexandria, or Constantinople.

 Pious Muslims regard all history prior to Prophet Muhammad as largely irrelevant, and they consider all history after the revelation of Quran to revolve around the Muslim umma. The main exceptions are the Turkish, Iranian, and Egyptian nationalists, who argue that even prior to Muhammad their particular nation was the fountainhead of all that was good about humanity.

 Needless to say, the British, French, Germans, Italians, Russians, Japanese, Americans, and countless other groups are similarly convinced that their cultures, their political systems and religious practices were essential to the very laws of physics.

All these claims are false. They combine a wishful ignorance of history with more than a hint of racism. None of the nations or religions of today existed when humans colonized the world, domesticated plants and animals, built the first cities, or invented writing and money. Morality, art, spirituality and creativity are universal human abilities embedded in our DNA. Their beginning (based on our present knowledge) was in Stone Age Africa. It is therefore crass egotism to ascribe to them a more recent place and time, be it China, India, Greece or Arabia in the age of Muhammad. (Harari)

Religion

Definition of Religion

The definition of religion is a controversial and complicated subject in religious studies, with scholars failing to agree on any one definition. Oxford Dictionaries defines religion as the belief in and/or worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.

 According to many scholars religion is a modern Western concept. Parallel concepts are not found in many current and past cultures. There is no equivalent term for religion in many languages. An increasing number of scholars have expressed reservation about ever defining the essence of religion. (Wikipedia)

There are over 4,000 religions in the world, but three –quarters of the world’s population practice one of the five major religions: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Shinto.

Westerners often use the term “the three great religions”: Christianity (2.3billion adherents), Islam (1.9 billion), and Judaism (15 million). Hinduism, with its 1.2 billion believers, and Buddhism, with its 500 million followers- not to mention the Shinto religion (87 million) and the Sikh (26 million) do not make the cut. Followers of the ‘three great religions” believe that all major religious traditions emerged out of the womb of Judaism, which was the first religion to preach universal ethical rules like the Ten Commandments. But this is a baseless and insolvent idea, which ignores the world’s most important ethical traditions.

 Stone Age hunter-gather tribes had moral codes tens of thousands years before Judaism. When the first European settlers reached Australia in the late eighteenth century, they encountered Aboriginal tribes that had a well-developed ethical worldview despite being totally ignorant of Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad.

 Scientists nowadays point out that morality in fact has deep evolutionary roots. All social mammals, such as wolves, dolphins and monkeys, have ethical codes, adapted by evolution to promote group cooperation. For example, when wolf pups play with one another, they have “fair game” rules. If a pup bites too hard or continues to bite an opponent, the other pup will stop playing with him.  In chimpanzee bands dominant members are expected to respect the property rights of weaker members. If a junior female chimpanzee finds a banana, even the alpha male will usually avoid stealing it for himself.

 The so called biblical prophecies of “Thou shalt not kill” and “Thou shalt not steal” were well known in the legal and ethical codes of Sumerian city-states, pharaonic Egypt and the Babylonian Empire.

 The Bible is far from being the exclusive source of human morality. Confucius, Laozi, Buddha, and Mahavira established universal ethical codes long before Jesus. And at a time when Judaism still mandated the sacrifice of animals, Mahavira and Buddha were already instructing their followers to avoid harming not only all human beings but any living being whatsoever, even including insects. It therefore makes no sense to credit Judaism, Christianity and Islam for creation of human morality.

The Birth of Bigotry

Bigotry is defined as obstinate or intolerant devotion to one’s own opinions and prejudices. Followers of monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) believe in a single God. The first concept of a single God goes back to Pharaoh Akhenaten of Egypt, around 1350 BCE, long before the God of the Old Testament, Yahweh. Followers of monotheistic religions believe that there are no other Gods except their own, called Yahweh, Jesus or Allah. Polytheists like the Hindus find it perfectly acceptable that different people worship different gods. They rarely if ever fought, persecuted, or killed people just because of their religious beliefs. The big exception was the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan. Monotheists, in contrast, believed that their God was the only god, and that he demanded universal obedience. Consequently, as Christianity and Islam spread around the world, so did the incidence of crusades, jihads, inquisitions, and religious discrimination. Even the Jews, the fellow monotheists were not spared. The Jews have been persecuted by the Christians from the 4^th century onward culminating in the death of round 6 million Jews by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust (1941-1945).

By insisting that “there is no god but our God,” monotheistic idea tends to encourage bigotry according to Yuval Harari, lecturer at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He says, “Do you really think Muslims or Christians or Jews are more ethical than Hindus just because they believe in many gods?”

Science

Science is the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence.

Scientific methodology includes the following:

• Objective observation: Measurement and data (possibly although not necessarily using mathematics as a tool)
• Evidence
• Experiment and/or observation as benchmarks for testing hypotheses
• Induction: reasoning to establish general rules or conclusions drawn from facts or examples
• Repetition
• Critical analysis
• Verification and testing: critical exposure to scrutiny, peer review and assessment

Modern science is typically divided into three major branches^[ that consist of the natural sciences (e.g., biology, chemistry, and physics), which study nature in the broadest sense; the social sciences (e.g., economics, psychology, and sociology), which study individuals and societies. Disciplines that use existing scientific knowledge for practical purposes, such as engineering and medicine, are described as applied sciences.

What is the difference between science and religion?

• Science tends to concern itself with the natural or physical world – that which can be observed and measured. If it cannot be observed or measured empirically, then it is not scientific.
• Scientific knowledge is gained primarily through the experimental method: a hypothesis is formulated and then experiments designed to test the hypothesis. Experiments use standardized procedures of data collection, so that other scientists can repeat the exact same experiment in the same way and verify the data and test the findings for them.
• In contrast religion tends to concern itself with the spiritual world, many aspects of which cannot necessarily be observed and measured in a scientific extent. For example, knowledge in many religions comes ultimately from God, and belief in the existence of God cannot be verified empirically. Belief in God is a matter of faith.
• Any knowledge claims made by religions which are not verifiable by empirical observations cannot be regarded as ‘scientific’.

Conclusion

Culture is much   older than religion and religion is older than science. Humans acquire culture through learning process of enculturation and socialization, which is shown by the diversity of culture across societies. These include art, music, dance, food, shelter and clothing. Each society has its own culture which it has acquired over long time. The idea that Western culture is better than other culture is product of ignorance and racial bias by the Westerners.

 It is certainly true that belief in god was vital to various social orders, and that it sometimes had positive consequences. Indeed, the very same religions that inspire hate and bigotry in some followers inspire love and compassion in others. Yet even though belief in gods can inspire us to act compassionately, religious faith is not necessary condition for moral behavior. Morality of some kind is natural. All social animals from chimpanzees to rats have ethical codes that limit behavior like theft and murder. Among humans, morality is present in all societies, even though not all of them believe in the same god, or in any god. We don’t need to invoke God’s name in order to live a moral life. Secularism can provide us with all the values we need.

What then is the secular idea? The most important secular commitment is to the truth, which is based on observation and evidence rather than on mere faith. Secularists strive not to confuse truth with belief. In addition, secularists do not sanctify any group, person, or book as if it and it alone has sole custody of the truth. This commitment to the truth underlies modern science, which has enabled humankind to crack the atom, track the evolution of life from one cell organism to a highly evolved human being, cured many diseases and sent men to the moon.

I will conclude this essay with a quote from late Stephen Hawking, Professor of Physics and Cosmology at Cambridge University.

“There is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority, and science which is based on observation and reason. Science will win because it works”.

Sources

1. Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21^st Century. New York: Spiegel& Grau, 2018
2.  Wikipedia.org, Feb, 15, 22.

 Dr Saheb Sahu

1- The Golden Rule

The Golden Rule is the principle of treating others as one wants to be treated. It is a maxim that is found in most religions and cultures. ^. It can be considered an ethic of reciprocity in some religions, although different religions treat it differently.

The maxim may appear as a positive or negative injunction governing conduct:

• Treat others as you would like others to treat you (positive or directive form)
• Do not treat others in ways that you would not like to be treated (negative or prohibitive form)
• What you wish upon others, you wish upon yourself (empathetic or responsive form)

The idea dates at least to the early Confucian times (551–479 BCE). The concept appears prominently in Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

2- In-group/Out-group (Us vs them)

An in-group is a group of people who identify with each other based on a variety of factors including gender, race, religion, or geography. Our tendency to distinguish between in-group and out-group members has moral implications.

People may harm those whom they perceive to be in an out-group in ways that they would not harm in-group members. For example, one study showed that when soccer fans viewed fans of their own team being harmed, they felt empathy. But when they viewed fans of a rival team being similarly harmed, they felt pleasure.

Likewise, people tend to make different moral judgments based on in-group and out-group distinctions. When someone in our in-group misbehaves, the natural reaction is often to dismiss the behavior as no big deal. But when someone in our out-group does the same thing, we will tend to judge the behavior much more harshly.

Indeed, when automatic in-group and out-group distinctions replace conscious and thoughtful reflection, we are more likely to harm one another and behave unethically.

3-Cognitive Biases

A cognitive bias is a systematic pattern of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment. A continually evolving list of cognitive biases has been identified over the last six decades of research on human judgment and decision-making in cognitive science, social psychology, and behavioral economics. Daniel Kahneman and Tversky (1996) argue that cognitive biases have efficient practical implications for areas including clinical judgment, entrepreneurship, finance, and management.

Here is a list of commonly debated biases in judgment and decision-making:

• Selective search for evidence (also known as confirmation bias): People tend to be willing to gather facts that support certain conclusions but disregard other facts that support different conclusions.
• Cognitive inertia is the unwillingness to change existing thought patterns in the face of new circumstances.
• Wishful thinking is a tendency to want to see things in a certain – usually positive – light, which can distort perception and thinking.
• Recency: People tend to place more attention on more recent information and either ignore or forget more distant information.
• Repetition bias is a willingness to believe what one has been told most often and by the greatest number of different sources.
• Anchoring and adjustment: Decisions are unduly influenced by initial information that shapes our view of subsequent information.
• Group think is peer pressure to conform to the opinions held by the group.

People tend to attribute their own success to internal factors, including abilities and talents, but explain their failures in terms of external factors such as bad luck. The reverse bias is shown when people explain others’ success or failure.

And underestimating uncertainty the illusion of control: People tend to underestimate future uncertainty because of a tendency to believe they have more control over events than they really do.

Prospect theory involves the idea that when faced with a decision-making event, an individual is more likely to take on a risk when evaluating potential losses, and are more likely to avoid risks when evaluating potential gains.

Optimism bias is a tendency to overestimate the likelihood of positive events occurring in the future and underestimate the likelihood of negative life events. An optimism bias can alter risk perception and decision-making in many domains, ranging from finance to health.

4-There Aren’t No Such Thing as a Free Lunch (TANSTAAFL)

“There aren’t any such things as a free lunch” (TANSTAAFL), also known as “there is no such thing as a free lunch” (TINSTAAFL), is an expression that describes the cost of decision-making and consumption. The expression conveys the idea that things appearing free always have some cost paid by somebody, or that nothing in life is truly free.

A free lunch refers to a situation where there is no cost incurred by the individual receiving the goods or services being provided, but economists point out that even if something were truly free there is an opportunity cost in what is not taken.

How TANSTAAFL Works

The TANSTAAFL concept is important to consider when making various types of decisions, whether they be financial or lifestyle. The concept can help consumers make wiser decisions by considering all indirect and direct costs and externalities.

 Decision-making requires trade-offs and assumes that there are no real free offerings in society. For example, products and services gifted (free) to individuals are not truly free; a company, government, or individual ultimately pays the cost.

Investors must remain particularly wary of a seemingly free lunch when dealing with investments that promise a stream of fairly high, fixed payments over a period of multiple years with supposedly low risk. Many of these investments remain laden with hidden fees, some of which may not be fully understood by investors. In general, any investment that promises a guaranteed return is not a free lunch because there is some implicit cost somewhere, including the opportunity cost of not investing elsewhere.

5- Pareto Principle or 80-20 Rule

The Pareto principle states that for many outcomes, roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes (the “vital few”). Other names for this principle are the 80/20 rule, the law of the vital few.

Management consultant Joseph M. Juan developed the concept in the context of quality control, and improvement, naming it after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who noted the 80/20 connection in 1896. In his first work, Cours d’économie politique, Pareto showed that approximately 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population.

So Why Is This Useful?

The Pareto Principle is not a mathematical formula but it helps you realize that the majority of results come from a minority of inputs. Knowing this, if…

.20% of workers contribute 80% of results: Focus on rewarding these employees.

.20% of customers contribute 80% of revenue: Focus on satisfying these customers.

The examples go on. Prioritize your daily activities. Try to finish the 20 percent of the important tasks of the day.

6- Good Judgment vs Bad Judgment

Good judgement comes from experience. Experience often comes from bad judgement. – Mulla Nasrudin

To succeed in life you need many qualities, but underlying them all is good judgment. Those with ambition but no judgment run out of money. Those with passion but no judgment hurl themselves down the wrong paths. Those with drive but no judgment get up very early to do the wrong things. Sheer luck and factors beyond your control may determine your eventual success, but good judgment will stack the cards in your favor.

 Some elements to arrive at good judgments are:

• Learning: Listen Attentively, Read Critically
• Seek diversity of opinion and not validation
• Detachment: Identify, and then challenge various biases
• Options: Question the set of solutions offered,
• Factor in the feasibility of execution
• .Success is Not a Reliable Proxy for Judgment

7- Black Swan theory

Black swans are native to Australia and European did not see a black swan until the 17^th century and believed that they do not exist.

The black swan theory or theory of black swan events is a metaphor that describes an event that comes as a surprise, has a major effect, and is often inappropriately rationalized after the fact with the benefit of hindsight… The term was popularized by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a finance professor, writer and former Wall Street trader,  

In his 2001 Book Fooled by Randomness, this concerned financial events. His 2007 book The Black Swan extended the metaphor to events outside of financial markets.Taleb regards almost all major scientific discoveries, historical events, and artistic accomplishments as “black swans”—undirected and unpredicted. He gives the rise of the Internet, the personal computer, World War I, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the September 11, 2001 attacks as examples of black swan events.

Taleb states that a black swan event depends on the observer. For example, what may be a black swan surprise for a turkey is not a black swan surprise to its butcher; hence the objective should be to “avoid being the turkey” by identifying areas of vulnerability in order to “turn the Black Swans white”.

8. Saving and Investing

The way to financial stability is simple. Live within your means by reducing your expenses well below your income. Maximize your employer’s retirement benefits. Save at least 10 percent of your income every month by auto deduction so that you don’t see the money.

The power of compounding

For example-if someone who starts investing $5,000 per year at age 25 winds up with $1.3 million by age 65, while someone who waits until age 35 to start investing $5,000 per year(until the age of 65),winds up with just $566,000 at age 65(assuming annual rate of return of 8%).

The Rule of 72

To use the rule is to divide any percentage return into 72 to find how long it takes to double your money. Example: At 8 percent return, how long does it take to double your money? Easy: nine years (72 divided by 8=9). If the return is 3 percent, it will take 24 years (72 divided by 3=24).

Invest in Index Funds

What is an index fund and how does it work?

An “index fund” is a type of mutual fund or exchange-traded fund that seeks to track the returns of a market index like Nifty Fifty Index. Index funds are very low cost and eliminate the anxiety and expense of trying to predict which individual stocks, bonds, or mutual funds will beat the market.

For Indian context you can invest in Nifty fifty Index funds or similar index funds traded in Mumbai stock exchange.  The annual return for Nifty fifty index funds in India has been between 17- 18 percent over the last five years.

ETF- You may also want to consider exchange –traded index funds or ETFS. These are index funds that trade on the major stock exchanges and can be bought and sold like stocks.

9- “Health Is Wealth”

“Health is Wealth” is a very old proverb.  It puts health before wealth. A healthy person can earn wealth anytime.  There can be no wealth without health.

Achieving and maintaining health is an ongoing process. It takes works to stay healthy.

Diet

A healthy eating plan: Emphasizes vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat dairy products .It includes lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts and limitssaturated and Trans fats (processed foods), sodium, and added sugars.

Exercise

Physical exercise enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It strengthens one’s bones and muscles and improves the cardiovascular and brain health. There are four types of exercise: endurance, strength, flexibility, and balance. The CDC states that physical exercise can reduce the risks of obesity, heart disease, some cancers, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, dementia, depression, and anxiety.  Participating in any exercise, whether it is housework, yardwork, walking or standing up when talking on the phone, is often thought to be better than none when it comes to health.Exercising in nature is even better.

Sleep

Sleep is an essential component to maintaining health. In children, sleep is also vital for growth and development. Ongoing sleep deprivation has been linked to an increased risk for some chronic health problems like-memory issue, mood changes, weakened immunity, weight gain, high blood pressure and stroke.

10- Tzedakah (Righteousness)

“You give a poor man a fish and you feed him for a day. You teach him to fish; you feed him for a life time.”

      – Lao Tzu, Chinese Philosopher (6^th century BCE)

Tzedakah or Ṣedaqah is a Hebrew word meaning “righteousness”, but commonly used to signify charity. This concept of “charity” differs from the modern Western understanding of “charity.”  Unlike voluntary giving, tzedakah is seen as a religious obligation that must be performed regardless of one’s financial standing, and so is mandatory even for those of limited financial means. 

In the middle Ages, Maimonides conceived of an eight-level hierarchy of tzedakah, where the highest form is to give a gift, loan, or partnership that will result in the recipient becoming self-sufficient instead of living upon others. In his view, the second highest form of tzedakah is to give donations anonymously to unknown recipients.

The Torah (The first five books of Hebrew Bible) requires that 10 percent of a Jew’s income be allotted to righteous deeds or causes, regardless if the receiving party is rich or poor.

In Christian theology, charity (Latin: caritas) is considered one of the seven virtues and is understood by Thomas Aquinas as “the friendship of man for God”, which “unites us to God”. He holds it as “the most excellent of the virtues”.

Dāna in Indian religions

The practice of charity is called Dana or Daana in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. It is the virtue of generosity or giving .The earliest known discussion of charity as a virtuous practice, isin the Rigveda (2nd millennium BCE). According to other ancient texts of Hinduism, Dana can take the form of feeding or giving to an individual in distress or need. It can also take the form of philanthropic public projects that empower and help many.

Zakat and Sadaqah in Islam]

In Islam, there are two methods of charity. One called Zakat, the called Sadaqah.

Zakat is one of the five pillars upon which the Muslim religion is based. It is compulsory for a Muslim to give 2.5% of one’s saving as Zakat, per Islamic calendar year. Sadaqah is voluntary charity or contribution. Sadaqah can be given using money, personal items, time or other resources. There is no minimum or maximum requirement for Sadaqah. Even smiling to other people is considered a Sadaqah.

Conclusion

To lead a reasonably good life, treat others as you like to be treated. It is a commandment advocated by all the major religions. Beware of “Us vs them” ideology. It is the main cause of conflicts and prejudices in all societies. We have all kinds of cognitive biases which lead to bad judgments. Always remember that, there is no such thing as a “free lunch”. Somebody is paying for it. If someone makes you an offer that is “too good to be true”, most likely it is a scam. Don’t fall for it. Know the 80-20 rule and concentrate your efforts on the top 20% of the things you have to do in life. Know that black swan effect like 2000 market crash, 9/11, 100 -year flood, can happen. They have happened before and will happen again. Be prepared, for unexpected events like major accident or even death. Buy appropriate insurance. Failure is not always a bad thing. Just learn from it and move on. The road to financial security is not easy, but can be done: live within your means, start saving early at least 10 percent of your paycheck, maximize your employer’s retirement plan and invest it in an Index fund. The most important of all, take care of your health: maintain an ideal body weight, eat a healthydiet (more towards vegetarian), stay active and get a good night sleep. If possible take a walk in nature.  Remember the meaning of the Hebrew word “Tzedakah”. It is more than charity. Help somebody to stand on his/her feet.

I will conclude this essay with a poem by the American poet Emily Dickinson.

“If I can stop one heart from breaking”

If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.

By: Emily Dickinson

(Source- Wikipedia.org )

The End