Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Taught Civility With Incivility

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was an extremely simple, humble and a civilised human being. Everyone had immense reverence for him. There is an incident of the time when Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a teacher in a Sanskrit college. Once he went to the President College to meet the English Professor Mr. Caire. When Vidyasagar entered in Professor Caire's cabin then instead of welcoming Vidyasagar, Caire kept sitting on his chair with his legs on the table. Vidyasagar found it extremely repulsive, but he brooked that insult and returned after the requisite discussion.

A few days later Caire came to Vidyasagar's college for some work. When Vidyasagar saw Caire he put his feet with slippers on the table and kept sitting on the chair. He didn't even ask Caire to sit down. Caire gave a written complaint to the secretary of education council Dr Muat about Vidyasagar's behavior. Both Dr Muat and Caire went to Vidyasagar to question him about his misbehavior. Vidyasagar replied, "We Indians learn the European manners from the British. When I went to meet Professor Caire he was sitting in this manner, I assumed it as a European etiquette and followed it. I did not intend to offend him." Hearing this Caire felt ashamed and he apologized to Vidyasagar.

Moral: Many a times in order to teach civility to the uncultured we have to follow the path of "Tit for tat" which is as beneficial as bitter medicine.

Dr Rajendra Prasad's Gentle Behaviour Embarrassed A Young Man

India's first President Dr Rajendra Prasad was an extremely intelligent, quiet and a composed man. He always kept himself away from unnecessary anger and excitement. Whenever his associates would do anything wrong he would correct them affectionately. Once upon a time Dr Rajendra Prasad was going from Patna to his village. At that time, the only way of reaching the village was through crossing the river by boat or steamer as buses and trains were not easily accessible. Rajendra Prasad sat down with other passengers in the steamer in its ease. After a while, a young man got up and walked inside the cabin and began to smoke.

Since, Dr. Rajendra Prasad kept away from all these addictions; therefore he began having trouble with the smoke of the cigarette. He began to cough loudly. He tolerated the smoke for a while, but when he started choking he went to the young man and asked quietly, "Young man, is this your cigarette?" The young man puffed loudly and with his nose in the air said, "Do you think it is yours?" Then Dr Prasad said, "If the cigarette is yours then its smoke is also yours then why are you throwing it on others?" Listening to this, the young man felt embarrassed and throwing away his cigarette he apologized to him.

Moral: Wooly-minded cannot be shown the right direction through pressure rather they should be dealt with affectionate reasoning and logic.

A Boy Was Taught The Meaning Of Generosity

Pundit Madan Mohan Malviya was a pioneer in public welfare activities and would certainly take on the paths which lead to the wellbeing of the common man. Pundit ji used to travel day and night when he was collecting donations for the Kashi University. He went to large institutions and to well-heeled men and politely kept his demands in front of them, and humbly accepted the contribution they offered. Malviya ji never asked for excessive contribution and when returned empty handed he never complained. One day he went to a wealthy merchant's house in Kolkata to ask for a donation. The merchant welcomed him warmly. When they were drinking tea, the merchant's son also came and sat there. When Malviya ji was about to tell the merchant about the purpose of his arrival, the merchant's son sitting near by took out a matchstick and burnt it uselessly. The merchant slapped his son in anger.

Seeing that Malviya ji felt sorry, and he got up and walked away silently. The merchant came behind Malviya ji and asked him the reason of his visit. When Malviya ji told him the purpose of his coming the merchant took him inside with all due respect and giving him the check of 50 thousand rupees the merchant said, "Generosity befits only if it is contextual." He further continued, "If today my son will not understand the value of one matchstick then how he will value his wealth and possessions in future."

Moral: Whatever physical property we have should be consumed by considering its appropriate importance. Misuse of property is the path leading to its deprivation, and its proper use is a medium of its elevation and gives us inner satisfaction.