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OP-ED JANUARY 13, 2023 | The Indian Eye 12

LOVE IS LIFE

AND HATRED IS DEATH

DR. MATHEW JOYS
“Strength is Life;
Weakness is Death.
Expansion is Life;
Contraction is Death.
Love is Life;
Hatred is Death”.
Any idea who said these fa-
mous words in 1893?
If not, the following narration
of an incident will reveal the inspi-
ration that molded a legend in an
Indian village about 160 years ago;
and kindled Indian religious and
cultural concepts worldwide.
Imagine a classroom or may be
kids sitting around a teacher under
a banyan tree.
In that class, the teacher asked
the children.
“Children, what do you want to
be when you grow up?”
One bright boy said: Teacher
Another: Doctor
So big jobs were said, one by
one.
The teacher approached the
last child and sat on the other end.
“Who do you want to be, kid?”
Boy: “I want to be a horseman.”
Teacher: “What? Just a horse-
man? Aren’t you ashamed, kid. battlefield of Kurukshetra. Arjuna
Bad! Bad!” as a passenger is seated at the back.
All that day, the boy was teased
by all the children, and he was hu- The chariot is driven by a chario-
miliated. He came home in the eve- teer (driver), Lord Krishna. He is
holding the reins”.
ning, sadly. His mother said, “Unni, you
His mother was standing at the
door waiting for him as usual. should become a horse carriage
driver like this and lead the whole
Seeing her son’s face withered,
the mother asked, “What’s the mat- world; that is what mother wants.”
Mother’s words flowed through
ter with you, Unni?” the child’s body like a thousand
Child: Teacher scolded me...
All the children made fun of me... watts of electricity. The child’s
sadness and humiliation suddenly
Mother: Why? changed to extreme joy.¦.
Boy: “When the teacher asked
Who was that intelligent moth-
me who I wanted to be, I said I er who changed her son’s thinking
wanted to be a horse-drawn car- with a single word?
riage driver”. Goddess Bhuvaneshwari!
The mother laughed and
Who was that boy? Narendra!!
hugged her son and said, “Why my Yes, our very own great SWAMI
son should be a horse and carriage
driver... but what kind of horse and January 13 is remembered as the birthday of Swami Vivekananda, the Hindu Monk, philoso- VIVEKANANDA.
carriage driver should he be? pher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Sri Ramakrishna
Mother: Son come on, let me Dr. Mathew Joys is
show you something to remember.” a community leader and writer based
The mother took her son to the a large picture. She pointed to the “Look at the Geeta Upadesam in Las Vegas
pooja room and opened the door to image of the horse carriage. picture. There is a chariot on the

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