Karma is a lot more complicated than that. It is the sum total of your experiences, the ones you remember and the ones you've forgotten. In that way, it is highly Freudean. Your reaction to strangers is determined not only by the guy who mugged you in the subway last month but also by the stranger who took you back home when you got lost as a child.
Of course, the reason the Sanskrit Karma is so often confused with the Turkish Kismet is because they both have something to do with destiny. The Karmic destiny is more humanistic. You are formed not only by your personal experience but by the collective experience of the people who lived before you. Hindu thought classifies the experiences of past generations, what we would call historical insight, as being similar to the childhood experiences you've forgotten. You've forgotten the events of your past lives, but they have served to shape you.
This is not to mean that I believe any of this stuff or that you should. All I'm saying is that you should use the right words -- karma leaves room for you to change the world while kismet is a dreary preordained burden.
