THE SEVENTH JAR OF GOLD

 

“There is no fire like passion; there is no shark like hatred;

there is no snare like folly; there is no torrent like greed.”

Siddharta Gautama

 

These days, there is no need to go to a barber; the barber comes home, you see. 

A person like me, who grew up in a village, has been the one who, always, went to a local barber. My brothers and I went to a barber named Keshava… We lived not in a remote village, though. But, I remember the barber at my maternal uncle’s remote village… The house was isolated and miles away from the road… The barber had to come home. The name of uncle Lawrie’s barber was Isara. Uncle would sit in the shade of a nearby tree, and Isara would go about doing a complete job, including uncle’s armpits! It was a sight to behold for excited kids like us. One thing common with the Isara-kind of barbers and the Keshava-kind was this: they had the latest and the most exhaustive update about the village… People, always, went back updated about the village news… Newspapers, Radio and TV – leave alone Social media – were either non-existent, or not required.

The news – call it gossip, if you like – came with the barber’s package!

Once I migrated to this big city, Bombay, I would only go to a nearby salon (No one called it a ‘Studio’, then). There were at least six barbers (No one called them ‘Hair Stylists’, either). But, almost all customers, especially the young ones, wanted the barber by the name Parushuram to do the honours… That included me, too.

Parushuram was not only a skilled barber and great source of local news, he was, also, a skilled storyteller… He graphically presented the news, aka, gossip! Every Tuesday, the salon used to be closed. On this day, Parushuram visited the homes of some of his select customers to offer personal service. Of course, he charged them a big amount… I remember only dreaming of such a privilege!

And, this privilege was bestowed upon the mankind by the benevolent COVID and its Lockdown… Through an App, a young hairstylist by the name Saba started visiting our home to attend to my son, father-in-law and me. I have never visited a salon, ever since… One direct phone call to Saba, and the complete job gets done at home…

Saba is a busy man… He doesn’t have the time to deliver any news or gossip. Still, there are many stories about his village, his family here in Govandi, his experience of working with big salons and Apps… Above all, his insecurities about English speaking and his earnings. At 25, he is married and has a small kid… He lives in a rented house in a slum… He has to send some money to his parents who live in his village… So, the need to earn more money drives him. Being very skilled at his job and courteous in his dealings, his clients like him… He earns quite a lot working for his App company and working directly for his customers. I thought, that he was doing very well and quite content…

Yesterday, as he was giving me a haircut, Saba showed me a UK-based investment App. I learnt, that it was investment into some virtual agro-products. He was convinced, that people, who had invested in those products worldwide, made tons of money, and made it fast. He himself had invested a small amount of Rs. 2,500, which, he showed me, had quickly grown up four times… He was planning to reinvest the whole of it and make even more… and faster.

“How’s it, Sir? Saba asked me, quite sincerely…

I, with equal sincerity, told him this old story… of another barber:

 

THE SEVENTH JAR OF GOLD

Long ago, there was a barber who worked for the King at his palace. The barber was very skilled and sincere, and the King liked him. After his daily work, he, always, would walk back to his hut, which was not very far from the palace…

One late evening, on his way home, the barber heard a voice, “O Man, do you wish to have the seven jars of gold?”

The barber was astonished and looked around to see where the voice had come from…

“I am Yaksha, the Spirit,” came the voice from the nearby tree…

“Oh yes, I wish to have them,” the barber replied mustering his courage…

“Then, rush home quickly… You will find them,” the voice said.

The barber hurried, and, on reaching his home, he threw open the door… He couldn’t believe his eyes… Before him were lined up the seven jars of gold!

Thrilled, the barber went closer to the jars and began to touch gold in each one of them. However, when he came to the seventh jar, his face suddenly fell… The seventh jar was only half-full...

Now, the barber was consumed with the desire to see it full, too… He went inside to collect whatever little gold his wife had, and he put it in the seventh jar… But, it was hardly enough…

Then onwards, the barber worked for more customers (besides the King), and from the extra money, he bought gold to fill the seventh jar… But, it was hardly enough…

The barber had never ever asked for a raise at the palace… Now, he was compelled to ask the King to increase his remuneration. The King gladly doubled the remuneration… The gold bought from this extra earnings was not enough, too…

The despondent barber, now, began to borrow money to buy more gold hoping to fill the seventh jar… No, the seventh jar refused to be full…

Finally, the barber began to beg for money, desperately to see the seventh jar full…

No way…

One day, the King saw the barber in a miserable state and asked him… “You have been working in this palace for so many years with a meager salary... You were always happy. Now, I have doubled your salary; but, you appear to be a wretched soul… Anything wrong?”

Before the barber could say anything, the King asked him, “By any chance, did Yaksha ask you anything?”

The barber began to tremble and narrated what had happened…

The King shouted, “You poor soul, many years ago, Yaksha had tempted me with same question; but, I had refused to say ‘Yes’ to him. Now, carry back all the jars of gold and throw them at him.”

Relived, the barber did what the noble King had asked him to do…

The next day onwards, the barber started working at the palace the way he always did – with love, dedication and gratitude… and, at the end of the day, he continued to have a sound sleep…

I am not a King, and I don’t know, what my barber - Saba – is going to do… I have only told him the story - of ‘The Seventh Jar of Gold’…

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic’s:  Pixabay/RDNE Stock Project 

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