The greatest Truths of life are the simplest!!

The greatest truths of life are the simplest and often practiced by the simplest of people. I get up daily with the realization that our world is slowly giving in to the termite of corruption, gnawing it’s way through the very core of our society. And as I traverse through the day I go to bed with my realization substantiated.
The newspaper, the idiot box, the radio, the ‘rickshaw walla’ and the discussion with my colleagues…..all hover around the menace kid……”CORRUPTION”…so much so that its reminds me of “DENNIS(CORRUPTION) THE MENACE”.
The issue has long been the precursor of many a debates and discussions…..but the question still remains what is HONESTY, the answer to corruption? Every one has his/her own views……scholars, preachers, saints and religion provide enough material on the topic to make a reading of a life time. And most of us in fact read it too but still find it difficult to emulate and inculcate.
One fine morning I again woke up with the same cloudy state of mind, little knowing that as the day would fall the clouds would wither away……I was about to learn the greatest lessons of life and that too from a very unusual teacher.
Being Tuesday, I decided to pay a visit a hanumaan temple, a schedule I used to follow rigorously. The temple was the usual sight…..people queuing up for an appointment with the almighty. Everyone trying to please him with plethora of things so that their long list of demands may be fulfilled and so was i.
Then there were those who were there to have their share…..the mighty beggars (everyone knows God’s not going to have all that ‘prasad’!), most of whom were small kids (oh poor kids!!).
So as per my ritual, after offering my prayers to the lord, I decide to do some charity. I got out and started distributing the ‘prasad’ among the brigade of young children outside.
The first one was a small girl (hardly 7 to 8 years old). I somehow remembered her, as she had this proud and contended look on her face. After meticulously going through the line, trying to hold the principles of equality by distributing equal amount of ‘prasad’ to everyone, I realized that I had been too meager.
I was still left with some ‘prasad’. Getting a bit late for my further schedule, I just decided to give it to the nearest beggar. I took the ‘prasad’ in my hand and extended it, not realizing what I was going to get in return.
Nobody took that Prasad, instead I heard a sweet voice saying, “I have already got my share of it, kindly give it to the boy sitting in that corner, you missed him”.
I was shocked!! I looked to see who it was. It was the same beggar girl smiling at me.
In that one sentence she explained to me what so many years, so many people and so many books had not been able to do. This was honesty exemplified!!
The world seemed to go round in my head. I was speechless. Here was a beggar with a heart bigger than a king. My mind was racing down the memory lane as scene after scene; I remembered how I had, trying to be a king, landed up being a beggar. All those times when I pushed my way ahead to get into a train, a school, a college, a job.
I remembered all those times when I had got more than what I deserved and hid it taking it as a privilege. But this moment of truth changed it all.
Life has it’s own ways of teaching us lessons. All my life I had despised the beggars but today a beggar had shown me meaning of being a king. So now when I see a beggar, I don’t despise him and turn my nose around….because I now know that it’s not money that differentiates a beggar from a king but the realization of the truths of life…something which we all tend to forget and we move up higher in life.