|
|
|
The Fence |
| Written by Nilay Sundarkar | |
| Monday, 25 February 2008 | |
He was stubborn. In fact "Stubborn" was a less harsh word for him. He abused almost everyone he talked to. It was his eleventh birthday. His elder sister wished him "Many Happy Returns of the day". The reply was - "Mind your own ******* business." Reason - He was irritated about not getting the gift he desired from his father. Everybody in the village avoided him. At the age of fifteen he had no friends at all. He started feeling the loneliness creep into him day by day. He was well aware of his compulsive habit of abusing and being harsh while speaking. But he could not improve. In fact his condition was adding in to his problem. He decided to consult his father, the only person who would listen to him as a friend. "Dad, I want to improve. But I just cannot." His dad gave him a smile and told him "Son, Words hit harder than a sword". He then told his son that he would help him improve but he has to do whatever he told him to for the next one month. The boy agreed. They stayed in a village house which had a wooden fence around it. The fence was made up of thin wooden plates left over from his dad's carpentry shop. The father gave his son a pouch full of big nails, and a hammer. He then told his son to hammer a nail in the fence for every single time he abused someone. The boy gave his father a smirk. For the next one month the boy followed his father's advice religiously. At the end of the month the fence was full of nails. There were at least 150 odd nails in the fence. He came to his father disappointed. A smile crept over the father's face. "Now, apologize to every single person you abused in the last month. Every time you apologize, pluck out one nail from the fence. Come back to me when you have finished plucking out all the nails", said the father. "Will this make any difference", asked the annoyed son. His dad asked him to just trust him. So the boy did as his father told him to. The next one month he was busy apologizing to people he had hurt. At the end of the month he was somewhat happy. But his problem was not yet solved. One fine morning he again confronted his dad. Smiling as ever, his dad took him outside. "Look at the fence", said the father. "It is full of holes with sun rays peeping out from numerous places", said the irritated boy, controlling his anger. His dad said "There is an important lesson that the fence has to tell here son. Whenever you abuse someone you dig a nail in his heart. Even if you apologize for your words the hole still remains. Always think before you nail a fence next time son". The boy was speechless at this. He had received the lesson for his life. Copyright 2008 Nilay Sundarkar |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
via Email