Break off that habit

Shri Nagari lived a simple life. He woke up early. Brought milk home on his usual morning walks and then set off to work with his pocket size tiffin. He was married for 30 years now and had a decent living yet people pitied him. Why you may wonder?

It was because he had borne a stain in his life. Varyu, his eldest son. 25 years of age and a complete drunk. He would seldom work and drink most of time. He changed jobs every six months and fell in love with a new lady every six months. His deteriorating language filled with swearing and cursing brought fistfights to the threshold of Shri Nagori.

Wrought with his son’s viscous ways, Shri Nagori wept every night. He had done everything he could to change the ways of his son. He got him a job, arranged his marriage, took him to the temple, but Varyu broke away from everything. Values meant very little to him, all he wanted to do was enjoy his life.

Sheetal, Nagori’s younger daughter feared her life when her brother entered the house. She would run to her mother in fear that Varyu would pull her hair and dog her around like a slave as he would force her to get cigarettes, regardless of the time.

Shri Nagori prayed fervently to God every morning on his usual morning walk. Looking at his tensed face, the temple sage asked him what worried him so inherently, that it even pulled his muscles even while praying. Tight lipped Nagori walked away, thinking his burdens were his own and could not be shared with anyone. Everyday Shri Nagori prayed and dodged the sage, so as not to answer him.

But one day when Varyu had to be carried home in a sloshed state by complete strangers, Nagori sobbed at the sage’s feet. What have I done asked Nagori to deserve a son like Varyu.

The gentle sage stretched out his hands and calmed Nagori. Do not let this break you, he said. Send your son to me tomorrow. I need to speak to him.

Surprisingly Varyu turned up sober. He asked the sage why he wanted to meet him. Let’s go for a walk, said the sage and took him to the woods. Nobody said anything for a while. Pull out that twig said the sage to Varyu and Varyu just broke it and handed it to the sage. Pull out that plant from the ground said the sage and Varyu followed suit.

After some forceful pulling the plant yielded in his hands. A few yards away, the sage asked Varyu to put out a small tree. Varyu smiled, thinking it would be a piece of cake like his earlier well accomplished feats. But to his dismay, the stubborn tree did not yield.

Varyu put in all his might, but in vain. Ultimately he gave up. The sage smiled and said that bad habits were just like that tree, once they are deeply rooted, it is almost impossible to give them up. In the beginning you rule your body, but when bad habits take over, they rule your body. So if you want to control your body, the time is now.

Touched by the wise teachings of the sage, Varyu returned home transformed for good.

Moral : Do not let bad habits command your body.