Dating : Parable by Shon Mehta

Once there lived a great scholar. In the course of his travels, he chanced to visit a distant kingdom. Seeing the respect the scholar commanded, the king was impressed. He thought that if the scholar stays in his kingdom, it will increase its prestige in the lands.

So he invited the scholar to his palace, and asked whether he would like to stay.

“I only stay at places where freedom is valued,” the scholar replied.

“Of course,” said the king. “Come with me for a tour of the capital, and see for yourself how much we value freedom.”

As they left the palace, they came across a group of people. On seeing their king, they started dancing vigorously.

“See,” the king exclaimed, “See how happy the people are in my kingdom! They are celebrating their freedom by dancing.”

“What tune are they dancing to?” the scholar asked. “I can’t hear any music.”

“Oh, I don’t like music.” the king informed. “As long as you don’t play music, you will have your freedom.”

As they went ahead, they noticed a peculiar sight. A monkey was sitting by the roadside, snarling and throwing stones at people passing by.

“The monkey is so badly behaved,” said the scholar. “How come nobody is restraining it?”

“Nobody should dare,” the king laughed. “He is my favorite monkey. As long as you don’t try to restrain him, you will have your freedom.”

The scholar nodded.

As they walked further, they saw a man with a baton in one hand and gold coins in another. A few people were lined up before him. And one by one, he was either hitting them by baton, or giving them a coin.

“ Who is this man?” asked the scholar. “Why is he punishing some people, and rewarding others?”

“He is my law officer,” the king winked. “He is rewarding whoever praises my rule, and punishing whoever criticizes it. As long as you don’t criticize my rule, you will have your freedom.”

As they kept walking, the king kept talking about a number of things — as long as the scholar doesn’t do any of those, he would have his freedom.

“So what have you decided?” the king asked the scholar, as they finished their tour. “Will you stay?”

“As long as you don’t understand the meaning of freedom, you can’t have me stay in your kingdom.” Saying this, the scholar rushed out, never to return.

© 2020 Sheetal Mehata.

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