The article that spoke about ‘wisdom’

It looks like my brain has emptied itself from ideas and vocabulary of late. Earlier I used to have a volley of thoughts that demanded me to write down but nowadays I give a simple, blank stare. Stare – yes, I mean it. Do not assume that it is out of wisdom, for I know very well that it cannot be earned or thrust overnight onto my little brain. The simple reason is, I’ve become more rusted, hopeless and mentally lazy.

To offset my mental indolence and rejuvenate my spirits, I turned the pages of Atul’s school text books. I was awed by an article written by Sudha Murthy, which is a part of English curriculum (CBSE syllabus) of 7th standard. It is about her visit to Orissa and in particular, a village named Kalahandi. The name Kalahandi brought me frames of ‘Gods must be crazy’ fame Kalahari. Anyway, this Kalahandi is habituated by tribal people who are equally ignorant about the happenings of the world, as per the article. Now, continue reading the article….


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I next met an old man. I say old, but again it was impossible to guess his age by his looks. During our conversation, he recalled certain events and occasions from which we concluded that he was about 104 years old!

I got into a lively conversation with this gentleman. I asked him, ‘Who is ruling our country?’

For him ‘country’ clearly meant Kalahandi. He looked at me and smiled at my ignorance.

‘Don’t you know?’ he said. ‘It is a company sarcar that is ruling our country.’ He meant of course the East India Company. The old man was not aware that India had become independent.

I showed him some Indian currency and the Ashoka Chakra emblem. He was not impressed. He said, ‘That is just a piece of paper. How can you look at it and tell who is ruling us? It is “Goriwali Rani” who is ruling us.’

I knew that the barter system was very important to the tribal people. So I asked about it. ‘Do you know this small piece of paper can buy firewood, lots of sarees, bags of salt and plenty of matchsticks?’ I remarked.

He looked at me sympathetically and said: ‘For this paper, people fight, go away from our ancestral land, leave our forest and go to the cities? Without that piece of paper, have we not led a complete life? Our ancestors did. We are children of God settled here happily without this paper. This is God’s land. Nobody owns this land. No river has been created by us. The wind does not listen to us. The rain does not ask our permission. These are gifts of God. How we can ‘sell’ or ‘buy’ land, I do not understand. When nothing is yours then how can you make such transactions? This little paper of yours can turn life upside down.’

I had no words by way of reply. Until that moment, I was convinced that I knew more than he did.

We know about currency movements, political parties, about the difference between Bill Gates and Bill Clinton. Here was a man who knew none of these, yet knew that nobody owned the land, the mountains or the wind.

Who is more civilized – this wizened old man in the Kalahandi forest or those of us with our fingers on the pulse of the Internet?

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The article is rightly titled ‘An Old Man’s Ageless Wisdom’.

My sincere thanks to the author and the education board authorities for taking this ageless wisdom to the young minds. Both parents and children need to learn that wisdom has nothing to do with one's education or literacy level or intellectual brilliance.