Avoiding arguments

This incident happened when I was in studying in standard 9^th. I was returning home from school after giving an exam. Time was around 11:30 am. The weather was pleasant but I was exhausted after writing my exam. My school was in Santacruz West & I lived in Santacruz East so I used to cross a Western Railway bridge. That day on the bridge I saw an ex student of St. Teresa's convent girls high school scolding an ex student of Sacred Hearts Boys High school. (There often used to be ego issues between the girls of St. Teresa's convent girls high school & Sacred Hearts Boys High school) As I was wearing my school uniform she realised that this boy is also from Sacred Hearts Boys High school. She yelled looking at me “look another boy from Sacred Hearts” & used some words......... that I don’t feel like mentioning here. I preferred to remain serene & silent. Although she kept staring at me & even expected my contribution......... to her words but I preferred to remain silent. I bent my head down & moved on.

Reflections: -

I don’t know if that girl was right or wrong. I don’t have any grudges against her & don’t even remember her face but I think that ignoring her words was right. Maybe I was able to ignore her words as I was exhausted after my exam. Well whatever it was I never got angry & didn't say anything bad to her & even felt bad about her even for a moment. For a lot of people revenge is the best medicine. Many won’t hesitate to respond when they are told something they don’t deserve to hear but many times it can be avoided. One should be what she/he is & not copy like monkeys. We all may know the story of a cap seller & a monkey where a cap seller’s all caps are taken away by & worn by monkeys when he’s at sleep & when he wakes up......... he throws his cap that he has worn & seeing that all the monkeys throw the cap that they took away & wore it. Thus 1 should know his/her strength & who he/she is rather than copying others. When we see others scolding or yelling at us we also begin to do the same but many times it can be avoided as when a person is angry he/she doesn’t have proper control on her/his senses & may yell anything. If we’ll also do the same then there won’t be any difference between them & us. It'll affect the relationship & in severe case we may lose that person hence such petty arguments should be avoided & ignored. Also how others treat us is their karma & how we reach to it or respond to it is ours. We cannot always control others but we can control ourselves.

This incident also reminds me of Sir Winston Churchill's quote “You’ll never reach your destination if you stop & throw stones at every dog that barks.”