Tuesday, April 23, 2019

In giving only, we grow rich


     

                                  In giving only, we grow rich




           There was a big majestic tree with thick branches of leaves spreading out, with beautiful flowers and delicious fruits on the banks of a river on the outskirts of a small town and looked joyful in serving others by its cool shade, fragrant flowers and sweet fruits.

Once, a small family of four members came and rested under the tree for awhile. The parents were resting underthe tree. Their children,a boy of seven or eight years and his little sister of four or five years old were playing around the tree. The little girl called her brother by name John. After sometime, the family left the place

The little boy John started coming almost daily and played under the tree, plucking its flowers and putting them on his head. He enjoyed picking its delicious fruits and eat them.

The tree developed an affection for that little boy. The unique feature of this created world is love. Love is the universal language which every creature animate or inanimate understands,longs for and fosters.
The boy grew up and had other activities to concentrate upon. After a long time, when the grown up boy was passing by that side, the tree asked him, ‘ John, why you never come here.?’
The boy said, “ I am grown up. I need money to buy things. What do you have except leaves and fruits.’ The tree said tenderly, ‘ You can pick and sell my fruits, you can get money that way.’ John plucked the delicious fruits and went away. The boy did not even feel grateful or thanked the kind tree. Years rolled by. As an adult, he was passing by the side of the tree without even looking at it. The majestic tree lovingly posed the same question to him. The man said that he wanted to build a house and asked the tree, ‘ You keep on calling me. Can you give me a house?’ The tree smilingly replied, ‘ yes, you can cut my sturdy branches and build a beautiful house.’ Without any hesitation, the man cut down the branches and took them for his building. After sometime, when John was passing by that side, the tree enquired about his welfare. Instead of expressing thanks for its concern, he poured out his problem to the tree , telling that he wanted to go to distant lands to earn more money and settle down there comfortably. So, he needed a boat. The tree cheerfully offered its big, strong trunk. The selfish man made a boat out it and sailed away.

The tree became a stump. With rains and grace from above, the tree got regenerated into a vast encompassing majestic one, fully laden with delicious fruits, fragrant flowers,and green luscious leaves offering shade to the travellers. Any person passing through that side could never miss the positive vibration of the joy and richness of the services rendered by that majestic tree to the travellers.

The tree did not forget John who, as a boy would come and play and whose desires it could fulfill. It had developed an affection for the little boy and was eagerly waiting to hear good news about his setttlement in a foreign land and nothing else.

Love is a universal language. Without words, one can feel the depth of the tree’s unselfish, unconditional love, kindness.
Man is gifted with words to express his beautiful thoughts of love, kindness and gratitude. But in modern times, the freedom of expression and speech and birthright is exploited to one’s own selfish ends.
The motherland is also like the tree. And, a y land where people come to earn their livelihood is like this great tree. It is only ungrateful men destroy the lands, fellow countrymen to satisfy their insatiable greed. The height of this greed can be seen in today’s politics. Election is nothing but a reshuffling of the same crooked politicians. The party men fight the election to defeat the rival candidates. Their object is never to take care of the country. They forget that they are mere representatives of the people , elected to govern the country, protecting the rights and safeguarding the people by providing healthcare, education, livelihood , and protection from the enemies. They are mere caretakers for a stipulated period. But they behave as if the country is their own property and loot taxpayers money to fulfill their whims instead of spending on the welfare and development of the country.
The unbridled power,  corruption of the politicians, instigation of the youths by fanatics, unemployment,poverty, illiteracy all create migration issues. The world belongs to everyone. Nature is common. In a country, people belonging to different religions live. Practice of religion is a private affair. The country belongs to all. Dividing the country on the basis of religion, driving them out of their own country by the powerful ones is a stigma and a shame on the humanity as a whole. In every country, people should realize that by giving space, help and love to one another, they don’t lose anything, but gain only, get the bounty like the majestic tree.

2 comments:

Vandana said...

Such a touching story! Lesson is the beauty of selflessness.

Jaya said...

Nice article, Amma. If only, we could understand life better.