I joined a company in 2001. We were all new and all waiting for first month salary. One of our friends didn't get enough money from home and he was waiting for the salary to come. He ran out of money and asked me for some. I gave him promptly Rs 4,000 and he returned immediately the moment we got the salary.

Recently also I gave my friend around Rs 30K. He told he will return it in three monthly installments and he promptly gave it back.

Not all people are good like the ones above. Now, let me talk about the negative aspect.

I gave my uncle Rs 1 lakh. He was under great financial difficulty and he needed much more than that. My father, brother and myself together pooled up the amount and gave it to him. This was the best we could do from our side. He is indeed a very nice person and was never in this much trouble. He helped us a lot, not financially but in other ways and was always very nice to us since childhood.

He said he will give it in a year and we agreed; now it's almost 2 years and there is no sign of him even talking about it. Since he is a relative even we are not able to do much. I asked my dad what to do and he said please wait, as my uncle's financial situation is still very bad. I had no option but to keep quiet.

Indeed I do feel sometimes it's bad. The whole picture changes if we put ourselves in their shoes and then think. What if I come to a situation like this? God forbid! We will rely on friends and relatives only.

We shouldn't give our hard earned money just like that, just because we have it. I feel we should help only those with whom we are comfortable and even if they don't return the money it is fine and it shouldn't pinch us a lot. In other way consider it as charity to someone you know rather than doing it for someone unknown. Otherwise you should be sure about ways and means of getting it back.

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