Today in our Literature Class!

17th March 1998

#memoriesfromdiaries

#inspirational ❤️

Dr. P. Natarajan, our beloved Head of the Department, was known for his lively anecdotes. In fact, he always began his classes with an interesting anecdote.

[An anecdote - by the way - is a short, interesting, or amusing story about a real person or event, said to create an impact on the audience].

Well on this particular day, 26 years ago, Prof. Natarajan narrated an anecdote from Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar’s life – an incident on his train journey - which taught us all, the value of being humble all the time.

He narrated the story thus -

A Young Officer, probably in his late twenties, was on a train, travelling to a town in Bengal, to listen to a lecture.

When the train reached its destination, the Young officer looked around, and shouted for a coolie to carry his luggage – to carry the little suitcase in his hand which was not at all heavy!

He bent down and joyfully carried the officer’s suitcase for him.

‘How much do you want?’ asked the young officer, mistaking Vidyasagar for a porter.

‘I don’t need any money. I’m so glad to be of help’, replied Vidyasagar, refusing to accept the money offered to him.

The young officer then proceeded to the venue of the lecture, and there he was stunned by what he saw in front of him.

The man whom he had mistaken for a ‘porter’, and who had carried his luggage in the railway station, was none other than the person whose lecture he had come to attend on that day!

The young officer felt very ashamed of himself, and with a deep sense of remorse, he fell at the feet of the ‘porter’, asking him for his forgiveness.

Vidyasagar cheerfully replied, ‘My dear son, there is no harm in doing one’s own job, I only wanted to show you that’.

Well, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, is one of the pillars and pioneers of the Bengali renaissance. A much venerated and celebrated author, thinker, activist, social reformer and a humanist, he was known for reaching out to the oppressed and downtrodden, standing up boldly for the rights of the women, conducting widow remarriages and espousing the cause of women’s education.

‘Humility is the solid foundation of all virtues’, said Confucius.

When we become aware of the importance of humility in our lives, we can say with Tagore –

‘This frail vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life’.

‘This little flute of a reed thou hast carried over hills and dales, and hast breathed through it melodies eternally new’.

Yes, the moment we realise that we are ‘frail’ and ‘little’, that’s when we are ‘filled’ to the fullest!

Valuable lessons for life, from our blessed teachers on the lives of such great legends!