Yesterday, as I was listening to General Bakshi on Republic TV, he shared a story that stayed with me long after the program ended — a story so simple, yet so profound, it redefined patriotism in my eyes.
An Indian monk once visited Japan. It was late by the time he reached his hotel, and when he asked for dinner, he was politely told dinner hours were over. Japan, after all, is a country known for its discipline and punctuality.
The next morning, eager to avoid missing breakfast, he went early — only to be told he was an hour too early. Still patient, though growing uneasy, he decided to take a ferry ride.
By lunchtime, everyone aboard was being served food. The monk waited expectantly, but no plate came his way.
Starving and frustrated, he asked a server why he wasn't served.
“You didn’t buy a lunch ticket, sir,” came the polite reply.
Anger took over.
“There was no board! No one told me! How was I supposed to know?”
He shouted in frustration:
“Japan is a very funny country!”
Just then, a young Japanese boy walked up to him silently, tapped his arm, and handed over his own hot plate of noodles.
The monk refused, but the boy insisted firmly.
“You're hungry. Please eat.”
Touched and weakened by hunger, he accepted.
After eating, he asked the boy, “Why did you offer me your food?”
The boy replied softly:
“You were angry and said bad things about my country only because you were hungry. I thought… if your hunger goes away, maybe your anger will too.”
The monk was silenced — not by logic, but by love.
That boy didn’t wear his patriotism on his sleeve.
He carried it in his heart,
and served it warm — in the form of a meal
to a man who insulted his country out of helplessness.
Because sometimes, changing someone’s view of your nation isn’t about winning an argument…
It’s about winning their heart.
Here the boy is brought up with great morals and that makes the incident a patriotic..
ReplyDeleteThese days most of us don't have any values towards morals....