'Overdoing something good for others is a burden'

We'd asked you, dear readers to tell us what is the one life lesson you would want to share.
Prof Palanki Suryanarayana, 75, from Bengaluru shares a lesson he learnt.
You can share your life lesson too. Scroll down to find out how. 

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'Overdoing something good for others is a burden built upon yourself' -- Shabbir Shakir

I found this sentence arresting because the truth of the statement is a summary of my own life lesson.

I started my career as a lecturer in Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal in 1975.

A year later, I married a gynaecologist who happened to be the superintendent of the largest maternity hospital in the city.

I was known to be a man of helpful nature and my wife's status was a strong reason for my colleagues to be friendly towards me.

A colleague had to get his wife admitted to the hospital and my wife did the needful and arranged an air conditioned private room for the patient.

Next day, just when I was about to take my wife on the scooter to the hospital, my colleague's 21-year-old daughter came running to us.

We wrongly assumed that she was about to thank us.

Instead, the girl handed to us a large bag containing the things needed for the patient's stay.

Demoted from doctor to porter, my wife stopped seeing or helping the patients outside the hospital or during non-office hours.

My popularity nose dived, but I had a peaceful life for the next 35 years I served.

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