HE WHO DESIRES MORE, THAT IS POOR

 

“It’s not the man who has little,

but he who desires more, that is poor.”

Seneca the Younger

 

I have blogged about this elderly woman many times before. I call her Maaji. She lives in her small room in a chawl, which is situated between my residence and workplace. She lives all  alone, gets up very early every morning, does her morning puja and does every household chore by herself. What’s endearing to see is, that this elderly woman has always some women to talk to her. I rarely see her ‘lonely’, and I have never seen her complaining about anything...

Every morning and evening, I walk past Maaji’s humble room. And, every now and then, she asks me to wait. And, I know she has packed some fresh Maharashtrian delicacy for me. Invariably, it’s something simple, but prepared with exceptional love... and, more than anything else, keeping someone like me – who walks by her room every day – in her heart.

“Wait, wait,” Maaji  literally called me back, when I had already walked past. I smiled and walked back to her door. “I have packed two, soft chawal ke bhakris ani moong ki sabji for you... Please have it hot.”

Well, I had carried something in my bag for my breakfast. Still, I gladly and gratefully accepted what Maaji had so lovingly packed for me. But, as I had carried my breakfast, I remembered my wife... She, too, loved Maaji’s delicacies. The rice bhakris were velvety-soft, and I knew, that my wife would relish them. Thus, on reaching my work place, I arranged to send home Maaji’s freshly prepared delicacies for my wife.

Big deal?

No Sir, to me, it’s a ‘big deed’...

This old story comes to my mind. I had come across this in Ramakrishna Paramhansa’s enchanting book – ‘Tales and Parables of Ramakrishna’.

 

THE SEVENTH JAR OF GOLD

Once, there lived a poor barber, some miles away from King’s palace. The barber was skilled, sincere and content, and he served the King with total dedication. Every day, he would walk to the palace to work, and in the evening, he would return to his hut.

One evening, as the barber was passing by a haunted tree, he heard a strange voice: “Man, do you wish to have the seven jars of gold?”

The barber looked around in confusion and disbelief. “Who are you?” he asked.

“I am Yaksha,” the voice said, “Tell me, do you wish to have the seven jars of gold?”

“Of course, I do,” the barber replied.

“Rush home to find them,” the voice ended.

The barber was breathless by the time he opened the house door... His eyes couldn’t believe – there were those seven jars of gold!

But, the very next moment, his heart sank... While the six jars were full with gold, the seventh jar was only half-full. He wanted to see it full, too. He went inside, collected whatever little gold he had at home, and he dropped it in the seventh jar. But, it was hardly enough. He wanted the seventh jar filled with gold, very badly. From that day onwards, he worked two shifts at the palace, and with his extra earnings, he bought more gold and tried to fill the seventh jar. But, it was hardly enough, too. Then, he asked for a raise, and, being a dedicated and hardworking servant, King happily obliged. With the additional income, the barber bought more gold, hoping to see the seventh jar full. But, the seventh jar was far from being full. The barber was sad and desperate... He started begging on the streets, and hoped to buy more gold to fill the seventh jar... No, it refused to be full...

Then, one day, shocked to see the wretched sight of the barber in the palace, the King asked him, “What’s wrong with you? I had always seen you so cheerful even when you earned from me little... Why are you so destressed, now?”

Then, as an afterthought, the King asked the barber, “By any chance, have you found the seven jars of gold?”

The barber got frightening and broke down before the King.

“Many years ago, Yasha had asked me the same question and I had rejected the seven jars of gold,” the King said. Then, he said to the barber, “Go home immediately, carry those seven jars of gold and throw them near the haunted tree.”

The barber did what King had asked him to do. That day onwards, he lived, once again, with the simple joy and contentment, with which he had lived his life before the seven jars of gold appeared in his life...

“Do you wish to have  two  soft, chawal ke bakris  ani  moong ki sabji?”  On my way to work, Maaji had asked me this...

“Yes, I  do,” I had accepted the offer...

But, then, my seventh jar is overflowing with gratitude and happiness. Seneca the Younger was right:

“It’s not the man who has little,

but he who desires more, that is poor.”

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic’s: Pixabay 1. vinsky2002  2. drfuenteshernandez

Video: Gaur Gopal Das