anjali makaram 2011

What is important at one
stage of a person’s life may not
be important at another stage.
This change in attitude and
outlook as the person mentally
and spiritually matures is a
subject that deserves attention
and analysis from a philosophical
point of view. The
following story will elaborate
this point.
Once upon a time there
lived a father and his eight year
old son. As this was his only
son, the father wanted him to
have the best in this world.
However, sometimes it went
overboard. The father was
cognizant of this and at times
did not yield to son’s demands.
One day, the father and the
son were walking through the
street. There was a chain of
shops - jewelry, clothes,
grocery, food stalls, toys, and
many others. One Shop had
lots of balloons and marbles;
many colored marbles and
many colored balloons. The
boy asked his father to buy
some. The Father said “No”.
The boy repeated but father
said no again. This went on for
some time. Finally the father
got angry and shouted, I SAID
NO. The boy now got scared
and started crying. Not only the
boy did not get what he
wanted, but now he made his
father also angry.
While all this was occurring,
there was a stranger walking
behind them watching all these
events. The stranger looked at
the crying boy and asked the
father. “Why don’t you buy
some for him? After all how
much few marbles or few
balloons would cost?” The
father already in an angry
mood, yelled at the stranger.
“What do you know about my
son? It is not the cost” he
screamed. “You don’t know
how much marbles and
balloons he already got. Come
to my home. I will show you.
Now get out, and don’t
BALLOONS AND MARBLES -
VEDANTA THROUGH A STORY
VIJAY KUMAR
interfere in our matter.” The
stranger was taken aback and
was shocked to see the reaction
of the father. He did not argue.
He thought yes, it is right, it is
their issue, but looking at the
face of the boy he felt bad again,
but did not say a word. The boy
now stopped crying looking at
the father’s reaction to the
stranger. He looked at both his
father and the stranger. He felt
sorry for the stranger. The boy
thought, “Poor man, he came to
help me and he got screamed
at for nothing.” The boy looked
again at the stranger. The
stranger walked away. The
father and the son started
walking again, though not in a
quite happy mood. The boy
was now thinking ‘it is all
because I don’t have any
money. What grandpa said was
right. I should study hard and
get higher grades’. He was now
in a dream of his own.
‘Then I will go to college,
and there too I will study hard.
Then I will get my degree, and
then I will get a job. Then I will
get my first pay check! Wow,
that will be the greatest of
moments in my life! Will that
be not exciting? Yes, guess
what, with that pay check, my
first purchase will be lots of
marbles and balloons in
different colors and I will put
them in my room”.
“By then if I can find that
stranger, who tried to help me,
I will call him to my home and
show my balloons and marbles.
Then I will tell him, look at
these; remember many years
ago, you came to my rescue and
my Dad won the fight, and I
KHNA - 2011
Anjali January
39