I attended the wedding of my relative, on behalf of my family.Though the bride's family was not related to us closely, my father was particular that someone from my family should attend the wedding and he sent me, as his representative.
Guests coming from other places were provided accommodation in the rooms in the wedding hall.
Among the guests attending the wedding, only my uncle was well acquainted with me. He was staying in a room with his wife.
Five young men, including me, were accommodated in one room. Since we were not accompanied by any other person, we were grouped together.
All the five of us were all related to the bride, but we were not acquainted with each other. We introduced ourselves to each other and began to converse.
The marriage ceremony was scheduled for the next morning.
After having our dinner, we five came to our room and began to chat. Though we had got acquainted with each other just a few hours back, we were conversing profusely on sundry topics, ranging from politics to films, including interesting gossip shared in the social media about film stars and other celebrities.
Among us, Mukundan kept aloof, without participating in the conversation. He was listening passively. I was not even sure whether he was listening to the conversation or he was thinking of something.
After a few minutes, he told us, "Excuse me. I will be sitting out for a while. It is stuffy inside the room" and went away.
I observed that in addition to his mobile phone, he was also carrying a pocket notebook and a pen, with him.
After chatting for sometime, we went to bed. I didn't notice when Mukundan came back to the room.
The next day, after the wedding ceremony had got over, the four of us sat in the room and chatted.
Mukundan smiled at us, sat in a corner of the room and kept himself busy, listening to his mobile phone.
My uncle came to our room to see me. After talking with me for a few minutes, he pointed Mukundan to me and asked me, "Why is he sitting alone?"
"I don't know. Maybe, the topics we chat on do not interest him!" I said, smiling.
My uncle went to where Mukundan was sitting, sat near him, spoke to him for sometime and left.
A music concert was arranged during the reception in the evening. We came to know that the singer had cancelled the concert, since he was indisposed.
After the reception ceremony had commenced, my uncle went to the stage and said on the mike, "Since we couldn't have the music concert, we have arranged a speech program. Mr. Mukundan will speak on 'The wonders of marriage.'"
After a pause, he added, "It is to be mentioned that Mr. Mukundan is unmarried."
The guests laughed at his joke, gently.
Just as I was wondering whether the speaker Mukundan was the person staying in my room or it was another person with the same name, my roommate Mukundan went on the stage.
For the next one hour, Mukundan captivated the guests with his spell-binding speech. I was astonished that a person could speak so interestingly on a mundane topic like marriage life. The feast presented by him with a variety of dishes, comprising psychological factors, real life examples, stories and jokes was relished by all.
After Mukundan had completed his speech, there was a big ovation. Anyone listening to the ovation would know that it was an expression of genuine appreciation, not a ceremonial exercise.
I went on to the stage and congratulated Mukundan on his excellent speech.
Later, when my uncle was alone, I asked him, "Uncle! How did you discover that this stranger had such a talent?"
"You saw me talking to him, when he was sitting alone in his room. I asked him why he was sitting aloof, without joining you people in the chat. He just smiled, without saying anything. I looked at his pocket notebook and found that he had noted down a lot of things in it. I found that his jottings were on a variety of topics like spirituality, literature, social issues, humour etc. When I asked him about those jottings, he said that he followed the practice of noting down interesting and useful things he read and heard, in a pocket notebook. He also told me that he was not interested in idle conversation and that when he was alone, if he thought of something, he would record his thoughts in his mobile and would transcribe them in a notebook, after going home. Even by the afternoon, When I learnt that the music program was going to be cancelled, I asked Mukundan whether he could speak on a topic. Initially, he hesitated. Subsequently, he accepted my proposal. I think he delivered an excellent speech. What do you think?" said my uncle
"His speech was great. Mukubdan is great. And you, who discovered the talent in a stranger and motivated him to display it, are great too!" I said, with genuine admiration.
Section 1
The Path of Virtue
Chapter 20
Avoiding Vain Speech
Verse 199 (In Tamil)
poruL thIrndha pochchAndhum sollAr
maruL thIrndha mAsaRu kAtchiyavar.
Meaning:
Those who are flawlessly wise, and have overcome all delusion,
will desist from speaking worthless words, even unconsciously.
(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'nalla Asiriyar' by the same author)
No comments:
Post a Comment