(KP-16) What Makes Your Loved one HAPPY Need not be the BEST Thing for Them
A Doctor running Re. 1 clinic | Deep Questions with Cal Newport | Mark Twain on popular opinion
Life Lesson
Two incidents happened in my life recently that made me realize that there can be a difference between what makes someone happy and what is the best thing for them.
First Incident
Recently, my mother came to visit me in Dharamshala. She lives in Panipat with the rest of the family i.e father and a younger brother.
She is quite fond of tea. She has told me umpteen times that getting tea after waking up first thing in the morning sitting in a balcony on the top floor is a heavenly experience for her. It makes her extremely happy.
So, I served her bed tea twice. So far so good. But on the third day, she had acid reflux. Due to this, she could not leave the house.
Second Incident
My wife loves Gol-Gappe (water balls) very much (Well, whose wife doesn’t!). She had it in a function. She was very happy that day.
The next day, she was down with fever and body pain. It’s been a week now and she has not completely recovered.
So, the life lesson is:
“What makes you happy need not be the best thing for you.”
Positive Feel-Good Story
Dr. Shankar Ramchandani has seen his father, the main earner of their 32-member family, struggle to make ends meet while running a tiny stationery business as a child.
When his grandpa and uncle died of cancer, his father was distraught since he couldn't afford their treatment.
"There was no close medical care facility, so they had to go long distances to obtain treatment. And, even though the therapy was free, my family couldn't afford the transportation costs," Dr. Ramchandani recalls.
Following that, his father was resolved to educate his children and train them to be physicians who could aid the underprivileged, he claims. "I aimed to be a doctor not only to realize my father's ambition but also to do my best to serve the poor and needy," he adds. "However, the road to my dream was not simple."
"There were five sons and four daughters in our family and I was the fifth son. My eldest brother had to shoulder all of the obligations after our father died in 2001. I couldn't even purchase textbooks and had to rely on hand-me-downs from my seniors," says Dr. Ramchandani, who placed second in Odisha state during his medical admission exam.
Dr. Ramchandani's personal life served as a lesson to others, ensuring that others did not have to suffer as he and his family did. He established a 'One Rupee Clinic' in Burla, Odisha's Sambalpur district, in February 2021 to give treatment and medicine to the needy and impoverished.
He claims to have treated 7,000 individuals in the previous year or so.
Book/Podcast/Video Suggestion
This week I am going to share with you a podcast that I have found very relevant to these current times. If you have a brain-full of questions like me, you are surely going to enjoy this podcast called Deep Questions with Cal Newport.
In this podcast, Cal tries to answer questions from his readers about work, technology, and deep life.
Cal Newport is famously known for his bestseller book Deep Work. You can know more about him here.
Quote/Poem
This quote from Mark Twain, the great American author, and humorist, has given new clothes to the body of thought I already had in me. To me, it’s so relatable and to some, so debatable. But nonetheless, it is one of my favorite quotes:
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to reform (or pause and reflect).
― Mark Twain
Dr Ramchandani's story is so so inspiring