The village meeting

A meeting was held in a village to reform society. Many villagers came, because they all wanted to have a better society. But everybody was talking and nobody was listening to anybody else. It was absolutely like a village market. Everybody was shouting and screaming about how to reform the village, and nobody could hear anything.

Finally one man said, “My dear brothers, I have been trying to tell you something nice, good and inspiring. But since you are not paying any attention to me, from now on I will call you my brothers-in-laws.”

Everybody started screaming, “What! Brothers-in-laws?” Then they laughed and laughed.

The man said, “What is wrong? Brothers-in-laws are all rascals, so I am saying that you people are all rascals.”

Another person stood up and said, “Yes, we may be rascals, but you are an idiot.”

“What!” said the man. “I am an idiot?”

The second man continued, “Rascals can thrash idiots but idiots cannot thrash rascals.”

The man said, “What do you mean?”

The second man said, “We are all rascals, so we can thrash you. But you cannot thrash us because you are an idiot. Where did you learn to say ‘laws?’ It is not brothers-in-laws, but brothers-in-law. What kind of English are you speaking? You are a real idiot!”

From:Sri Chinmoy,Is your mind ready to cry? Is your heart ready to smile? part 8, Agni Press, 1981
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/mrc_8