A Lesson from the Boatman

A Pundit engaged a boat to take him across the flooded Godavari. When the journey over the river started, he began a lively conversation with the boatman. He asked him whether he had any schooling and, when the reply came that the boatman had none, he said sadly, ‘Alas! A quarter of your life has gone to waste. It is as if you have drowned those years in the Godavari.’ He asked the boatman whether he could tell him the time from his watch: the boatman confessed he did not have a watch nor cared to have one. The Pundit deplored this and said, ‘Half your life has gone into the Godavari.’ His next question was about newspapers; did the boatman read any, and what was his favorite paper? The boatman replied that he did not read any nor did he care to know the news. He had enough to worry about already. The Pundit declared forthright that three-quarters of the boatman’s life had been liquidated. Just then, the sky darkened with storm clouds and there was an imminent threat of rain. The boatman turned to the Pundit: it was his turn to pose a question. He asked, ‘Can you swim?’ and when the frightened passenger confessed that he could not, the boatman said, ‘In that case, your entire life is now going to merge in the Godavari.’ This is the predicament of the educated in India today. They do not have the training that will help them in distress, or in dire need, to win back their mental poise.

~Sathya Sai Baba