Just outside of my office building I was basking in the sun, smoking. Just from nowhere this snake charmer, or whatever they are called, comes and asks for some money. I’d usually not give anything to such people but then I had a coin which I gave him. This guy uttered some bullshit, all in the name of God, and asked me to give another 10 rupees that he offered to give back to me with blessings from the ‘Snake Lord’. I don’t know why but I obliged and the guy kept his promise of giving the ten-er back to me along with some ‘holy offerings’. I was not too keen to take it, but didn’t want to be rude — and this is where the guy sniffed yet another opportunity. He asked me for Rs 200 that he offered to ‘bless’ enough for me so I could keep them in my vault and expect a surge in my wealth. The idiot that I was/am, I took that money out and gave it to him.
That money is of course gone with the guy just refusing to part with it… I could have done several things to save that money, probably the most effective one being calling one of the guards. But I chose not to. Suddenly these two hundred bucks that I lost, made me realize this — If I allow myself to be deceived, I will be deceived.
Come to think of it, I, like many others in the world, keep deceiving myself. For instance at this point of time, I may know that looking out for another job may make the most sense for my career (at least on the money aspect which is quite important), but I will keep deceiving myself by thinking of stability, convenience etc etc.
My only hope now is to act basis this learning; wisdom is no good without action. And I don’t mind spending another two hundred bucks for this…
on Jan 15th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Sam, hats off to you…you are crazy..but you know what, I loved this post of yours..knowingly or unknowingly, I understood something that I had long been asking myself - “You will be deceived, if you allow yourself to be deceived.”