Maya comes in many disguises. I had always thought that we tend to carry the false notion and believe that we are superior to all others who have yet to become "religious" or "spiritual", adding weight to our already existing ego. My wife thought that we were becoming addicted to and "high" in serving the poor and unfortunate. Mahindren pointed out that we had, in fact, begun to pray that there were people, poor and hungry, on the streets, waiting to receive the groceries and cooked food we had bought and prepared for them, respectively. It is indeed sad that we have begun to wish for the continued existence of the poor and unfortunate, so that we can do our part in charity and serve them, thus earning some merits and good karma.
Days ago, I came across the sad state of matters with regard to the once honorable act of doing charity, which we saw, experienced, and realized, before Agathiyar ended it, shared in a local daily at https://www.thestar.com.my/metro/metro-news/2026/05/27/free-meals-creating-waste-problems. Excerpts from the article are as follows.
Free meals are creating waste problems.
According to "several homeless folk,"... "they were able to eat up to 12 times a day, thanks to meals distributed by generous individuals, charitable groups, and religious organisations at various locations around George Town in Penang. It has been observed that during weekends and major festivals, as many as seven or eight groups hand out food, around noon, with many homeless folk collecting multiple meal packs."
"However, the lack of coordination has led to food wastage and cleanliness issues,".... "Some recipients have been spotted discarding meals by the roadside after finding the food unappetizing or not to their taste.".... "In some cases, food waste is dumped on the ground instead of being disposed of properly."...... "Others take several portions but consume only their preferred dishes or meat, leaving rice and other items uneaten.".... "Their careless behaviour contributes to pollution while attracting crows, pigeons and rats."...."...the area was often left littered afterward."
This news report has captured exactly what we encountered and saw in the streets of Kuala Lumpur, too, as we from Thondu Seivom and Amudha Surabhi, the charity wing of AVM, started feeding the homeless many years back.
Then we saw food distributed by other groups go to waste too, during religious and festive events held on temple grounds.
These ugly sides to a virtuous deed defeat the very purpose of giving out free food and doing charity.
I guess Agathiyar had us carry it out to have us gain the experience, too, and later brought it to a halt and had us move on to doing other things.