There is much hatred, violence and persecution in the world. Power misused causes damage and destruction. And in a world where the most vulnerable are the hardest hit, there is a need for us to live with Compassion.

When the deep hurt and pain of someone evokes a feeling from the depth of our being to understand, reach out and help, compassion flows.

Compassion is not sentimentality. In fact people who are compassionate are very aware of their emotions and exercise judgement. They care deeply without losing their ability to take care. They feel deeply without their feelings clouding their thinking. They identify with the problem of the other without losing their own identity.

Compassion comes from Love. Not just love for few, but universal love. It is not blind love that condones everything. It is the love that understands the weakness, challenge or even faults of the other but doesn’t condemn. Compassion reaches out to help.

Compassion comes from strength. We fear that being accommodative and considerate will make us look weak and soft. And the world will take advantage of that. People may mistake our compassion for us being naïve. But when they understand their own situation better and reflect on our care, they will realise the power of compassion.

I am reminded of when we had started construction of our new factory building and the price with the contractor was settled. Eight months into the project, cement prices moved up sharply, well over what he had factored in. The contractor approached us for a discussion. We had a valid contract binding on him. But I knew that real human situations are always more important than a written document. The young contractor would make a substantial loss in our project. We realised it was a genuine situation of a magnitude that could not have been foreseen. Nor was he a big corporate with deep pockets to withstand the shock. We accepted a revision because when I put myself in his shoes, deep in my heart I knew what the right thing to do would be.

Compassion comes from listening and reflecting. When we take time to think about what we’ve heard and its true implication, we open not just our minds, but our heart to doing the best we can for others.

It comes from abundance. When we drop our limited, narrow thinking, we think and act in ways which may surprise others. Recently I received a call from our competitor asking us for raw material due to the problems of lockdown. I realised he too had workers and their family to take care of which was far more important at a time like this. We supplied raw material to a competitor to help keep his factory running.

We all work hard to build our capital. There is no dearth of intellectual and financial capital in the world. What we need to build is the Capital of Compassion.