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To Give and Forgive

Recently, while having chai, in a social circle, I accidentally spilt some on a gentleman’s laptop. And it went kaput. I immediately apologised and offered to pay for the damages. The gentleman seemed very pissed. Two days after the incident, he called me and said that his Mac was beyond repair as motherboard was damaged. I went to meet him and offered him to take my Mac of the same make which was bought two years ago as opposed to his 6 year old Mac. 

The gentleman insisted on having a new laptop. It irritated me but I still gave in because I realised the mistake was mine and I didn’t want to create a scene. So, we opened Amazon and there was a Mac Air for INR 65,000. But the gentlemen insisted that he wanted to buy one higher memory that was priced at over INR 100,000. 

So, I argued that I am already buying you a new one, so please take the lesser model and it will serve your purpose. My argument was: “Your 6 year old laptop is damaged and you are getting a new one, with 128 GB as opposed to 256 that you are demanding.” 

What he said in return shocked me “ You have to compensate for the lost data.” I was livid. I still told him that it was an accident. I could have chosen to offer you a 6 year old model at half the price, but dude I am giving you new one. It’s more than a fair deal. But he insisted that I also need to compensate him for the lost data. I was livid beyond words. I bought him the higher model and also told him that he was taking advantage of my generous nature. The gentleman walked away. 

In hindsight, I think what I did was not wrong. My friends told me that I was fooled, that I was silly, and some joked to spill coffee on their laptops. Still, I think what I did was NOT  wrong. I may have gotten a setback in money, but my karma currency stayed intact or perhaps increased. I did not express anger which I would have in my younger years. I gave and forgave. I practiced forgiving him for a day, and blessed him, ensuring I don’t become bitter. But yes, not having chai with him again. 

Unfortunately, incidents like this make a good person skeptical and we start losing trust in society. If you believe in karma, you know that it is all a cycle. I am glad that I still trust people and do not look at any relationship transactional in nature, or affected by difference in opinion. Yes, I have practiced this. 

Let me know what you feel of the incident. 

4 Comments

  1. Author Sherry
    Author Sherry March 14, 2020

    Poor guy! Lost a good friendship with a great human being. –

    Wow! This really connects me.

    The first perspective relates to the data (unmaterialistic thing) which costs higher than a mac – (materialistic thing) and this clearly articulates to what is happening with meaningful relationships at times.

    Second – One should be mean not at the cost of demean and one should not be losing any relationship just because of a mac.

    Third – This guy was a great teacher to you sir . He taught you a lesson which turned out to be a blog and a learning for someone like me too sir..

    Beautifully expressed. Thanks for sharing your experience.

    Love and respect,
    Author Sherry

  2. Harsh
    Harsh March 14, 2020

    Thanks for the comment Paaji. Yes, we do learn from such incidents.

  3. Priyanka Sikri
    Priyanka Sikri March 15, 2020

    I don’t know if I would be as generous as you were. Of course, I would have apologized profusely and replaced the mac at the same cost at the most… On the other hand, if I were at the receving end, I know I couldn’t have pushed that much as I have also started valuing people and relationships over materialistic things..

    • admin
      admin March 15, 2020

      I agree with you Priyanka.

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