________________
384
THE WAY OF LIFE
Ahmedabad. In that family, there was a young boy of three or four years. If his mother gave him a couple of slaps, he would never get sleep until he had pushed her back a couple of times. What was there in the mind of the boy? "Why did my mother beat me ?" Is this not pride?
A similar story took place in another family. The boy in that family was aged about ten or eleven years. He said to his father: "Daddy, give me two rupees. My class teacher has asked me to pay him the amount". The father asked him, "Why?" The boy said, "All the boys of our class are going to see a movie". The father said, "You should not see a movie thus. I won't give you money". The boy became angry and said in excitement, "Daddy, I do not want your money. You need not give me money. I will go to the Railway station and work as a labourer. I will earn some money and then I will go to the movie".
THE CRAZE FOR CONVENT SCHOOLS
The father and the mother kept staring at their son, nonplussed. The boy who was studying in a convent school had become the very embodiment of arrogance. Their craze for convent schools melted away on hearing his words. Now-adays, it has become a fashion among people in cities to send their children to convent schools where English is the medium of instruction. This is one way they adopt to show off that they are people of affluent families. Do you grasp this idea? Have you pondered over this problem or not? If you do not think about this problem and if you do not decide to get out of this situation, in the near future, you will find yourselves in serious worries and agitations. There will be a total ruin. An arrogant person loves your flattery.
Anger arises from pride. When the pride of a haughty man meets with a collision, anger arises. This happened in the case of Bharavi also. He did not like his father's true words of advice! How could he like them? A haughty man never likes the truth. He of course, enjoys self-praise. He loves only flattery. He likes only those who say, "Yes sir", Bharavi would
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org