Arindam And A Maid Servant

Arindam was enjoying his morning nap when he heard a poor girl singing a beautiful song in clear and melodious tones .The subject matter of the song was a red coloured Sari, how beautiful it was, how finely embroidered, how nice were its ends and borders etc. He liked the song very much and he came out, and saw that it was being sung by a young girl, the sister of Namya, who was a servant of Kakasaheb(the friend in whose house Arindam was staying in his visit to the city).

The girl was cleaning vessels and had only a torn rag on herself. On seeing her impoverished condition, and her jovial temperament, Arindam felt pity for her and decided to gift her a red sari.

Arindam bought a nice Chirdi (small Sari) and presented it to her. Like a hungry person getting good dishes to eat, her joy knew no bounds!

Next day she wore the new Sari, and out of great joy and merriment, played, danced around and played `Fugadi' with other girls and excelled them all too!. 

The next day, she kept the new Sari in her box at home and came with the old and torn rags which she was wearing beforehand. But she looked as happy as she did the previous day. 

On seeing this, Arindam's pity was transferred into admiration! He thought that the girl being poor had to wear a torn rag, but now she had a new Sari which she kept in reserve and today she wore the same old rag and strutted herself.She showed no trace of sorrow or dejection. 

Thus he realized that all our feelings of pain and pleasure depend upon the attitude of our mind!

On thinking deeply over this incident, he realized that a man should enjoy whatever God has given him in the firm conviction that He besets every thing, from behind and before, and on every side and that whatever is bestowed on him by God must be for his good.

 In this particular case, the poor condition of the poor girl, her torn rags and the new Sari, the donor, the dance and the acceptance were all parts of the Lord and pervaded by Him. Hence, Arindam got a practical demonstration of the lesson of the Upanishad - the lesson of contentment with one's own lot in the firm belief that whatever happens, is ordained by God, and is good for us.