393. The Spiritual Speaker

"Sir, Post!"

The Postman dropped the letter outside the door of Venkatachalam's house and hurried back in his bicycle.

Venkatachalam, who was inside the house, opened the door and picked up the letter. It was an inland letter. It was probably from his son.

'The postman knew that I would ask him to read out the letter. 'If it was a postcard, he could read it out fast and resume his beat, but reading an inland letter would take time. That's why he had dropped the letter and left the place quickly, before Venkatachalam could come out!

'Now I have to stand outside my house, look for someone passing by and request him to read out the letter for me!

'If only I had not dropped out of the school and studied at least up to the fifth standard, I would have been literate.'

When Venkatachalam was studying in the first standard, his teacher beat him up for not answering a question right. Venkatachalam's father took offense to this and withdrew Venkatachalam from the school. Venkatachalam's education got terminated by that decision of his father to pull him out of the school. 

Venkatachalam's father justified his decision by telling him, "Why do you need to go to the school and study? We have properties which will support us for the next ten generations to come, even if we don't earn any income. You don't have to attend school and get beaten up by some teacher, for some petty reason." 

At that age, Venkatachalam didn't understand his father's reasoning. He didn't understand it even after he grew up!

'Didn't one need education, if one was wealthy?' was a question that often arose in his mind.

Venkatachalam didn't make any effort to resume his studies even after he grew up. However, during the occasions he had to depend on others to read anything, he would regret that he didn't have education.

If Venkatachalam had married an educated girl, it would have been helpful to him. But as per the custom followed in the society he was a part of, the wife shouldn't be more educated than the husband! So, he married an illiterate woman.

When their son grew up and began attending school, Venkatachalam had some relief, since he didn't need to depend on outsiders to help him read things. But after the son went to the U.S. for higher studies, got a job there and settled down there, once again, Venkatacham had to depend on someone even to read the letters received from his son!  

Venkatachalam went to a temple to listen to a spiritual discourse. 

The speaker delivered the discourse fluently without any reference material on his hand. He quoted a number of hymns, spiritual texts etc. from his memory.

Though the discourse was highly impressive, Venkatachalam felt that there was something intriguing about the speaker. He realized what it was, only when he listened to the organizer felicitate the speaker.

The speaker was visually handicapped. That was why he was wearing a dark glass even during the night!

The speaker was born with visual disability. He started learning at home from his father and continued his learning by studying under several scholars.

As Venkatachalam heard the organizer narrate the challenges faced by the speaker and how he overcame his disability through learning, he was overwhelmed by emotions.

'Oh, God! A person with a visual handicap has become a learned person. But in spite of having been born with vision in both my eyes, I have chosen to be blind, without getting educated!'

Tears began to roll from his eyes.

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 40
Education

Verse 393 (in Tamil):

kaNNudaiyar enbavar kaRROr mugaththiraNdu
puNNudaiyar kallAdhavar.

Meaning:

The learned alone have eyes on their faces; the ignorant have only two sores for eyes.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'kOvilil kEtta kadhai' by the same author.)

Verse 394
Verse 392