GIVING AND TAKING... THE MULLA AND THE MERCHANT

Pic.: Umang Pahwa

Mulla, once again, made me smile, today!

Once, seeing a large crowd gathered around a deep pond, Mulla Nasudin rushed to the site to check what had happened. A rich merchant, with a long beard and a large turban, had fallen into the pond and was struggling to come out.

Many onlookers offered their help to the drowning man, saying, “Give me your hand, sir.”

But, the merchant would not respond to their calls. Instead, he kept struggling in the pond, trying to keep his head barely above the water, in the meantime.

This continued for a while, as everyone near the pond began to worry, and, as it became evident that the merchant’s strange behavior would take him down, any moment...

Finally, our Mulla decided to take charge of the situation. “All of you go aside,” he announced loudly, “Let me handle it, my way.”

So saying, Mulla extended his hand to the drowning merchant and said, gently, “Take my hand, sir.”

It worked! Immediately, the merchant grabbed Nasrudin’s hand, and within a few minutes, he was out from the pond!

The crowd was amazed to witness the magic! “How did you do it, Nasrudin?” they asked him, “Tell us the secret.”

“What secret,” the Mulla played it down, “I knew this miser so well. Even when he was drowning to death, he would be unwilling to ‘give’ even his hand... but would happily ‘take’ someone’s!”

Both ‘giving’ and ‘taking’ are our attitudes – call them ‘values’ if you like. And, they are so deeply ingrained in our minds, that ‘give’ we will not even it means ‘take’... Then some wisecrack, like our Mulla Nasrudin, should come forward with his own magic and logic to teach us: “Hey brother, don’t worry... ‘Take’ my hand, and be saved!”

And, for whose sake, brother?

I am still smiling!!!

GERALD D’CUNHP