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Before our health collapses…
Master and disciple walked slowly to that conference hall. That was
packed with crowd, so lounging at least in the backbench was something
they could not afford. Professor had already started his lecture.
“Think I have seen him somewhere.” Disciple whispered, leaning
against the wall.
“You must have. He is a well known professor. Talking about Leo
Tolstoy today.”
“Interesting.”
Bespectacled professor was dealing with Tolstoy’s life vision – how
the celebrated Russian philosopher mingled literature with life. All of
a sudden he stopped his lecture.
“Do you think we know enough of Leo Tolstoy now?”
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Leo Tolstoy |
“No sir, I don’t think so.” Disciple gave a shout from the back.
With frowned brows, master looked at him quizzically as if asking
have you gone crazy.
Professor laughed and responded: “Okay see for yourself then.”
Saying so, he moved aside. Two people from the audience, a man and a
woman, made their way to the stage briskly.
(The woman starts to speak – in fact she has to shout because the
audience suddenly starts talking to each other. It all turns out to be a
whirring noise. The small talks cease with the woman’s call for
attention, but not completely.)
Woman: This man (pointing to the man who had accompanied her to the
stage), gave me bad food. He is a wretched seller who doesn’t give you
quality food. He robs you. He cheats you.
(The man comes forward to the lectern with an innocent smile.)
Man: I don’t know what this lady talks of. I have never robbed you.
Nor have I cheated you.
Woman: He is lying, my dear fellow people. When I checked the weight
of this bread (raises her hand and shows a loaf of bread to the
audience) I realized it’s not the weight he said it is. It was far
below.
Man: Ladies and gentleman don’t believe this lady. She is exploiting
my innocence.
Woman: Not only bread. He cheats everything. He gets a lot of money
and gives you only a little. And that, too, is not genuine.
Man: I’m concerned about quality more than anything. Customer is my
god, so I care for them.
(The woman looks closely into his face. The man gets a little
scared.)
Woman: I’m tired of you wretched man. Don’t deny your cheating.
Man: Okay let’s say I’m not. So where are you going to have better
bread. Don’t think other merchants are better. All merchants are same.
Ladies and gentlemen, don’t listen to this lady. If you listen to her,
you will starve to death.
(The woman smiles - fond, but fleeting. It vanishes soon as she
starts speaking.)
Woman: Come on when will we ever be close to the healthy food? No you
won’t starve to death. Come forward and protest against the exploitation
this man does for you. Protest against the injustice this man does to
you.
Man: This woman has gone mad. She keeps on saying the same thing.
Don’t listen to her. That would be no surprise. Ladies and gentlemen,
let me be frank. It’s so impossible to make perfectly healthy food. We
have to think about time. Time is profit. After all we too have to
survive.
Woman: See, I told you. This man is cunning. He persuades you to be
cheated.
Then a voice from the audience came.
“We are helpless ma’am. Besides we need something.”
(Smiling to that word, the man comes forward.)
Man: There you are my dear ladies and gentlemen. Look at this woman.
Look at her poor clothing. She is poor. She is jealous of rich and
aristocratic people like you and me. She wants to see us starve.
(The woman listens in an expressionless face, and abruptly comes to
the lectern.)
“Our food needs to be healthy. We should have our dignity. We have
right to healthy food. That is all I wish for. You will realize the
consequences of neglecting your right to fight for healthy food. Our
future generation will suffer the consequences.”
(Suddenly the audience becomes stone-silent. Even the merchant looks
at her speechlessly. In a little while the actor and the actress bow to
the audience who returns it with a warm applause.)
A smiling professor came back to the lectern.
“I made that out of a story Tolstoy had written. He used a big deal
of symbolism here. That’s just like reading a Jataka tale. Every
character and activity symbolizes something. What did the merchant
symbolize? He symbolized the people who produce bad artworks. People get
used to that, and they don’t know how bad the artworks are. Sometimes
they don’t have an option. That’s why they are silent even a when a call
for protest arises.”
Professor was silent for a while.
“I think Tolstoy talks about today’s society. He could foresee that
we will have the company of many bad artworks. There is something we
should remember before celebrating his century.”
Professor went silent another time. He looked at the audience before
letting his remark linger: “That we should stand against bad quality
artworks before our health collapses.”
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