THE EIGHTEENTH CAMEL

Pic.: Sheela Krishnamony

“The world needs more number of peace-makers,” I was telling the young-students during the PD session, this morning, “We need more men and women who can resolve conflicts, reduce tension and help reconcile and  solve problems.”

In fact, that has been one of my personal desires all along the years. As I kept helping and empowering the young-ones, along with so many of my associates in THE DAWN CLUB, I have, always, tried to ignite in the young-minds the desire to be peace-makers and problem-solvers of the world around them. “There are too many people out there  adding to the problems of our world; we just need more people to help resolve the problems,” I keep reminding them, “We need more people to be the part of the solution rather than the part of the problem.”

One of my dear-old students, Amit, had shared a beautiful story, last night. I had read this story first when our former President, Abdul Kalamji, had shared it to inspire all of us. Amit had brought the story back to me, last night. And, today, I recounted it, with my own touch, in the PD session… Here it is…

Once, in the Arab land, there lived a man who had three sons. He owned seventeen camels which he wanted his three sons to inherit after his death. So, he made Will before he died.

After the death of their father, the sons opened the Will. The father wanted one-half of the total number of camels to the first son, one-third to the second and one-ninth to the third. This left the three sons confused and fighting… There was no way to divide the seventeen camels the way their father willed… It unleashed a prolonged, bitter conflict among the three sons…

Finally, they took the matter to a wise-man, who, after mulling over their problem, came out with a solution. “I will give one of my camels to you guys,” the wise man said to them, “Now, you will be able to fulfill your father’s wish and stop fighting.”

It, indeed, resolved the conflict. When the young-men added the extra camel given by the wise man, the total became eighteen… They could, now, divide. One-half was 9… It went to the first son; one-third was six… It went the middle son; and, one-ninth was two… It went to the last son.

“Are you all happy, now?” the wise man asked.

“Yes, we are.”

The three sons had shared their father’s seventeen camels exactly as per his Will. There was one still left – the eighteenth camel… It hadn’t come from their father, they knew it well; so, they could not fight over it…

“Let me take back my camel,” the wise man said to the young-men, “I will take it as the fee for my services… So, I, too, am happy!”

We will receive the moral of the story, too, as we ‘will’ it to be… Yes, where there is a will, there ‘is’ a way. If we want solutions, there ‘are’ solutions… If we want ‘conflicts’ we will only find them…

Many a time, we are not willing to budge… we are not willing to seek help or think ‘out of the box’… We are not ready to accept the truth, that all can win, all can benefit, if we are willing to think a little ‘differently’… if we are a little open for some wise suggestion…

Yes, a huge conflict can, often, be resolved by touching upon the ‘common ground’… by adding that magic something called – ‘the eighteenth Camel’!

“The world needs more of these wise-men,” I had told my own young-ones, in the class, this morning, “There is a dire need for the ‘eighteenth camel!”

GERALD D’CUNHA