The right experts?

The funny thing about advice is that you really respect only that advice which vibes with what you yourself want to do especially when the results of following the advice are either long term or indeterminate. You know, like you have the choice of becoming either an engineer or a doctor...choosing one negates the possibility of the other and you can never be certain that choosing the other would have led to a better outcome. So he who tells you to do what you want to do is the better adviser as far as you are concerned. (As opposed to your wanting to become a musician instead of an engineer when you are tone deaf...now THERE it is tough to convince yourself that you would have starved equally as much if you had chosen to become an engineer.)

When it comes to determinate and relatively short-term issues, though, you tend to think that the better adviser is the guy who helps you to successfully fight fires. In other words, he who sorts out a current problem is that best adviser for you. Tiru sort of agrees but...

UtraNoi neekkki uraa amai murkaakkum petriyaarp penikkolal - Tirukkural

Cherish those who help sort out current problems and protect against their recurrence - Loose Translation

Now, yup, Tiru does feel that it is important to have advisers who will help you to sort out your existing problem. But he sets a higher bar for cherishing them. They not only have to sort out current ills but also help you to put in place systems to avoid recurrence of the same problem.

You know, that's a huge ask. It is easy enough for you to see how someone has helped you put out a fire. It is much tougher to see how he is helping you when he has you install fire extinguishers here and sprinklers there. All you can see is that he is increasing your costs, taking advantage of the fact that you have had a fire. You probably have a sneaking suspicion that he is taking a cut from the chaps selling you all those devices.

Even if you do avoid all those dark suspicions, it is difficult to look on with respect at a person, who is busily running hither and yon, doing things that are not relevant to any current problem. The chap who is helping you put out the next fire is the guy who has your respect currently. The chaps who are with you helping you put out fire after fire...now THOSE are the ones worthy of respect; worthy of cherishing.

I mean, like, the firefighter is a hero! Whoever gave medals to the guy who put up the firefighting systems?

Charity

Charity, for most of us, begins AND ends at home. Which is a pity, really, because the world is increasingly becoming a place where wealth concentrates and disparity widens between the haves and the have-nots. Wealth redistribution by diktat generally tends to have more negative consequences than positive - after all, if I cannot hold on to my wealth for myself and my progeny, I might as well not bother to earn it, no? The only other means of redistribution is of the voluntary kind. Which is where charity kicks in.

Tiru, though, is very particular about what he accepts as charity.

Variyaarkku ondru eevadhe eegai matrellaam kuriyedhirppai neera thudaitthu - Tirukkural

To give to the poor is the only charity; all else is given expecting recompense - Loose Translation

Well, for one, we all expect that 80G thingy (IF it is still there under the new dispensation) where your donation gets you a tax exemption. THAT actually makes it more attractive to give your charity to an 80G registered NGO than the local beggar; the latter, after all, cannot give you an 80G certificate!

The point is that Tiru is into what goes on in your mind. The determinant of your character is your motive in giving the 'charity'. When you give it to the truly poor, who can give you no recompense at all except their gratitude, you can only be guided by a charitable impulse without any admixture of any other selfish emotion (UNLESS, of course, your spouse is clicking you giving the charity so that you can post it on Instagram, which is an option that Tiru could not have thought of in his day). You give to NGOs with multiple motives, including perhaps getting into the good books of the chap seeking you to donate.

Be that as it may, we cannot turn snooty and refuse anything except 'true charity'. I mean, even if you do manage to get the rich to donate merely in order to preen about it, it is all good. The money can still come in handy to feed the poor, no?

So, there! It is all well to WANT people to be truly charitable. BUT it is good enough for Society to ensure that people want to masquerade, at least, as being truly charitable!