living stories

Book Review by: zaki

Original Author: khaja zakiuddin

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THE WEIGHT OF KNOWLEDGE
     Once an educated person intended to go boating for pleasure. The open sky and the vast sea attracted his attention. He enjoyed the blue sky as much as the ebb and flow of the sea. He observed with interest the rise and fall in the level of the sea. The tidal waves and the strong winds invited him to listen to their music. So he decided to hire a boat to set sail. As he boarded the boat, he felt he was the luckiest man in the world. While sailing, he held talks with the boatman to know more about sea life and its pleasures. He asked the boatman several questions about his personal life, educational background and his experiences with the sea.
     The boatman was illiterate. He never read any book. He did not know how to write. He did not go to any school or university. He felt ashamed on being asked questions about his educational background. He did not know how to answer questions pertaining to his education. The educated person boasted of his knowledge and university career. He felt proud of his degrees and knowledge. Though he shared his hobby with the boatman, yet he looked down upon him for being unsophisticasted and uncultured. Life without education was impossible for him to think. He laughed at the boatman for wasting his life.
     As for the boatman, he lived in water and worked in water. He knew how to swim and how to survive on the sea. Although he did not have culture and manners, he possessed enormous common sense. He was a practical man. He did not receive any formal education in the university, yet he was fairly wise. He had no bookish knowledge but he had the knowledge of the world. He knew the ways of the world and the rule of the survival of the fittest.
     As they werer engaged in talking, it began to rain. It rained cats and dogs. Nothing was visible. It soon developed into a rainstorm. The educated plerson grew nervous. It appeared as though the whole world became dark to him. It was too risky to continue the journey. He was too worried to go back. How could he go back ? There was no escape from the encircling storm. His heart was jumping wildly as the boat on the surface of the sea. Bewildered, he requested the boatman to control the boat. But the boatman said it was impossible to sail in the rainstrom. There was no stopping of the storm. It was next to impossible to control the boat. It was the pleasure-boat the endangered their life. The only way to get out of danger was to get out of the pleasure-boat. He asked the educated person to plunge into water immediately. Unfortunately, the educated person did not know how to swim. He sought the help of the boatman. The boatman said " I cannot help help you. I can help only myself". He advised the educated person to use his knowledge to save his life. But the educated person had different kind of knowledge. His knowledge did not and could not help him. He was foolish enough to go boating without the knowledge of swimming. He, therefore, sank to the bottom of the sea with the weight of knowledge he possessed. As for the boatman, he swam back safely to the shore.

Published: May 21, 2007

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