Lessons for a father - Wisdom Or Wealth?

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There used to, in the south of India, live a kid called Ramalingam. One day he was given the boon to choose between wealth and wisdom. He had to drink from one of the 2 bowls (each signifying either wealth or wisdom). He mixed the contents and drank them and thus became wise and wealthy and became famous by the name of Tenali Raman. There are a lot of stories about him that we, in India, read and listen to while growing up.

While watching the series with my son now, I realized that the question and what Tenali Raman did were very pertinent. Given a choice, what would most of us choose? Wisdom or wealth? According to the story one was incomplete without the other. But are they?

Wealth would signify abundance. If we think strictly in terms of material things like money and clothes, a lot of us, although we might never admit it, would be able to be without wealth. If, however, we start treating things like generosity, human strength, diversity, learning and faith as wealth, we MUST all get wealthy.
 
Wisdom, according to someone, is a habit or disposition to perform the action with the highest degree of adequacy under any given circumstance. It is also, sometimes, interchangeably used with self-awareness. If we are self aware we see things a lot differently. The world is a very strange place and a lot of times what we think should happen never happens. Wisdom would allow us to know and understand that.

Tenali was correct. Wealth and wisdom are related indeed. Whether it is the material or something a little deeper, the wise go after true wealth.

In the days ahead then, I hope that we all enjoy the wealth of wisdom that allows us to achieve greatness. And always remember what the great Einstein once said:

“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.”