436. Physician, Heal Thyself!

"What is this? You have got into the habit of munching chewing gum!" asked Abhirami.

"It is not a habit, mom! I chew it only occasionally" said her son Suren.

"When you return from the college, you are chewing the gum. When you go out somewhere and return home, I see chewing gum in your mouth. And you say this is not a habit!"

"No, mom. When I buy something from a shop, if the shopkeeper is short of change, he gives me a couple of chewing gums, instead. I keep munching it, when I am coming home."

"Does it mean that you are visiting the shops so often? What are you buying in the shops?" asked Abhirami. Then, somewhat relenting, she said, "Okay. I am only concerned that this shouldn't become a habit with you!"

Abhirami told her husband Somu, "I suspect that Suren might have picked up the habit of smoking."

"How do you say that? Did you notice the smell of cigarette coming from him?" asked Somu.

"Not exactly. But whenever he comes home, he has a chewing gum in his mouth. I think that he munches chewing gum, only to cover up the smell of the cigarette smoke."

"Why do you have this doubt? Have you done such a thing yourself?" asked Somu, in a lighter vein.

"When I am talking to you out of a concern that our son shouldn't get into the smoking habit, you are joking about this. I have seen my younger brother doing this, when he was a boy. By the time my parents came to know of his smoking habit, it was too late. Till today, he remains a chain smoker. I don't want our son to become an addict like my brother. You need to find out whether Suren has a habit of smoking and if he does, you should talk to him and help him get freed from this habit" said Abhirami, in an angry tone.

After a couple of days, when Abhirami asked Somu whether he had spoken to Suren, he told her "Your apprehension is not misplaced. Suren does have the smoking habit. I will talk to him about this."

But, after that, when Abhirami asked her husband several times whether he spoke to Suren, he kept saying, "Not yet. I will speak to him."

After two weeks, Somu told Abhirami, "I had a frank talk with our son. I have counselled him on the need to give up smoking and also given him suggestions of how to come out of the habit. I am confident that he will come out of the habit soon."

"It has been more than two weeks since I told you about this problem. But, it has taken so many days for you to speak to him!" said Abhirami.

Somu was quiet for a moment and then said, "Abhirami! I also had a bad habit. I had been playing cards with my friends on Sundays. We were playing for money, but to ensure that no one should be financially affected by losing money, we were playing only for small stakes like ten rupees or twenty rupees. Still, it was a gamble and I was addicted to it. I had been trying to come out of this habit for the past several months, but I was not successful. I couldn't resist the urge to go to my friend's place every Sunday. I had been telling you that I went to my friend's place to have a chat with my friends. When I had to take up the task of correcting our son, I decided that I should correct my fault first. For the last two Sundays, I have restrained myself from going to my friend's place. So, only after confirming that I could give up the habit of gambling, I spoke to Suren." 

Somu looked at his wife's face, with a feeling of embarrassment.

Thirukkural

Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 44
Condemnation of Faults

Verse 436 (in Tamil):

than kuRRam NIkkip piRar kuRRam kANkiRpin
en kuRRam Agum iRaikku.

Meaning:

What flaw could fall upon a leader, who rectifies his faults,

before observing and assailing others’ faults?

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'maganE kEL' by the same author.)

Verse 437
Verse 435