"I haven't seen you for a long time," said the friend. "I heard a rumour that you resigned your commission in the army."
"Yes," said Harilal . "I have given it up for good."
The friend asked him what he was doing now.
"Nothing," said Harilal. "I am looking for some sort of job."
"Well, sit down," the friend said. He generously offered him some milk and let him off the hook for paying, saying, "Since you are not employed at the moment, you don't need to pay."
Harilal sat down and began to glance through a newspaper that happened to be lying on a table. Freshly reminded of his unemployed state, he turned to the job listings.
One vacancy seemed to be tailor-made for Harilal: 'Ex-army officer required in Madras.'
He sent in his application, along with a photograph, and got the job right away. On top of that, the contractor gave Harilal the money to get to Madras and told him he did not need to report for duty for a month.
Thus, he had the means to get to the Maharshi, and the opportunity to spend time with him before reporting to work.
1 comment:
mmmm.
i can ommst smell the overbrewed tea. same leaves used over and over for many rounds...
... the stale soggy rusks stuffed in a big plastic contanier....
... the creaky chays and benches ... with tea stains on them from the person who drank before you ...
and best of all ...
the tea stall owner brings you your glass of tea, and his dirty finger with long grimy nails is sticking half way into the glass...
you put that all behind you, and take a sip. too much sugar ... sickly sweet ...
I just hope the tea stall Harilal landed up at was better in those days. surely Bhagavan would have sent him to a better tea stall!
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