Care to stay anonymous?

A school management approached an industrialist with appeal to part-finance renovation of their dilapidated school building. After a few moments, the eminent industrialist said, ‘I shall bear entire expenses, but there is a condition. At the entrance of building and three other locations of my choice, my name shall be prominently engraved.’ While the aid seekers were still in a quandary, the man affirmed, ‘No name, no money! At religious and other places, on the stairway, each ladder has the donors’ or their parents’ names inscribed in acknowledgement.’ The condition was unacceptable to the management. The industrialist was indulging in sheer bargain, not charity.

Many corporates earmark a portion of their revenues for charity more as a tax-saving measure than as help for the less fortunate. Some stop contributing their best in the assigned job after discovering that no credit shall be provided, unmindful of Harry Truman’s precept, ‘It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.’

With the Indic tradition of placing the creative output subservient to who produced it, authorship of most scriptures remained conjectural. Carrying on this tradition, few among us anonymously shell out generous donations for charities and religious shrines. Soliciting accolades by posting a new photo on Facebook warrants resetting the priorities. Seeking praise or reward lands one in misery, Vivekanand said. Choose: focus on the job or seek credit. Both have divergent consequences.