So Get said to Give
In order to live
Just take what you can
Be rich, dearest man.
Learn to grab and to claw
Always want more, more, more
And don’t stop to think
What your wanting is for.
Be rich man
Be cool
Send your kid to a school
Where he’ll grow up to be
A rich Get just like me
Then Give interrupted
Get stop! Get please stop!
All this talk of just making
It up to the top
Makes me giddy and dizzy
And fizzy and sick
You’re up to no good Get
I know all your tricks
You’re making these people
Think love can be bought
That happiness tickets
With money are brought
I know your type Get
I used to be you
Till I stumbled on giving
And what it can do
And that is the thing
I must share here with you
I used to feel good, Get
Just giving away
Some old clothes, the torn ones
The jeans that were frayed
Then one day, a child said
He dreamed he could play
With a new toy, a new toy
Not my give-away
So I went out and bought, Get
A shirt that was cool
Thinking about
What he’d wear after school
And a toy car, I bought him
Of shiny, bright blue
I thought of what six year old
Boys like to do
And the smile that he gave, Get
That smile it was real
So real that my heart
Didn’t know how to feel
And the next day, while walking
I saw a small child
She asked for some money
Her hair was quite wild
And when I said no
She pointed afar
To a coconut vendor
Behind all the cars
I followed her, zig-zag
‘Cross Mumbai’s loud street
We sat down with coconuts
On dusty, tar seats
Just me and the ‘lil girl
Sip-sipping away
A sliver of joy
Had slipped in my day
And as we were chatting
About things that she chose
A man not too far
Watched, then quietly rose
And then, came towards us
And – almost ashamed
Gave a bright, shiny apple
Then left as he came
And you see, Get
You see, Get
When you start to give
You pave roads for the Others
To change how they live
When you first start to look, Get
It maybe a haze
But many are giving
You will be amazed
The tree, how it gives
Of its fruit and its shade
The carpenter gives
Of the wood that he’s made
The teacher, she gives
Every student her right
The puppy he fills
Every heart with delight
The farmer he gives
Of his hard-earned new crop
The sun gives us light
Til the moon says to stop
The temple and mosque
Really say we are one
The swing takes us high
Up-and- down kind of fun
And music, she gives us
A world that is free
And dreams, how they teach us
Just what we can be
So I watched, Get, I watched
And I learned how to give
How to always have hope
How to love and forgive
To compare myself down
To feel thanks, to want less
Get, I learned to share more
Get, I learned to feel blessed
Shaheen Mistri
CEO, TFI
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