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!