The wazir in all of us...

Of all things that I will cherish in my life forever, one will be stories from my dad. They are not particularly bed time stories but they came anytime, anywhere. I don’t know about my brothers but I listened and remembered them like a drought hit person would collect fresh rain water. It goes like this:

Once there was a king of a very prosperous kingdom. We can use some adjectives that are used for ideal situations. Of all the houses in his kingdom, his palace was the most magnificent. He used to stroll with his wazir in evenings to keep an eye on his subjects. He was good and kind to all.

There was one merchant who very soon became rich by selling wood. He built himself one grand palace. And then he began thinking of storing some sandalwood in hope that someday his king would die and the only place where they would get sandalwood for his funeral will be his shop. Then he would ask for much more than the woods will be worth of. Thus his mind was filled with ingratitude and shrewdness.

One evening while on his regular walks with his wazir, the king saw the merchant’s palace and asked wazir about who he was. After knowing all, the king demanded that his palace was to be destroyed as no other palace could stand high as the king’s. The wazir was made responsible for execution of the order.

This wazir was a very wise man. He understood and thought of some other idea to restore peace in both of their hearts. He went to the merchant and bought all the sandalwood on king’s behalf saying the king was impressed with his work and he wanted all sweet fragrant wood for his palace. The merchant now felt guilty to his core. He was ashamed about what he earlier thought about the king. The king was a generous man and he now began praying for his long life so that he would keep gaining his trust and his business could keep growing.

And when the king again visited the merchant’s place he looked at his palace as if he was seeing it for first time. He then turned to the wazir, smiled and patted his shoulders. He said, “It’s wise of you that you didn’t demolish this beautiful palace. Such palaces will make my kingdom more beautiful and make me more proud. I was so blind. People can come and see that such prosperity exist in my kingdom!”

See? Change in one person’s heart can change others too. The merchant thought ill for his king, the king ordered his palace to be removed. The merchant started wishing good for his king, the king’s heart changed; he too realized he was thinking wrong. This may sound absurd to many but what’s the harm in trying? Dad believe, if you think harm for another, it will come back to you. You just need to think good, others are suffering the same way as you are, in their own way. Also I think the problem started as soon as the merchant felt ungrateful for his king. As soon as he forgot that he is doing good in business because of his king’s liberal policies and just laws, his thoughts began to darken. We face problems in any relationship when we show ingratitude to the other person, to God. When we don’t thank for what we have things begin getting difficult.

And yes, there is a wazir in all of us, isn’t it? The wazir could have made situation worse but he thought! He thought without fear of king, fear of losing his image or whatever. People, who think they have got responsibility, also think they have got power. And power can easily blind them. Only a balanced mind and a wise heart can handle such situations. If in place of wazir, what would have been our action?