The Worth of a Fabric

Summary 

Thiruvalluvar was a textile weaver who lived more than 2000 years ago. His book, Thirukkural, is greatly loved and respected. He wove beautiful saris and sold them in the market. He was a lovely person. He was known to never get angry and never use bad language. 

In the same town lived a very rich man. All he did was waste his time with his friends and make fun of people. So one day, he said that he would annoy the shopkeeper and try to make him angry. So he went to the shop and picked up a beautiful piece of cloth. He asked how much it would cost, and the shopkeeper said it was eight coins. The man tore the cloth into 2, and he asked how much it was for now. 

So then the shopkeeper, with remarkable patience, replied, saying 4 coins. Everyone around was taken aback, and everyone asked why the shopkeeper didn't get angry and yell at him. The man kept tearing it, and the shopkeeper kept on deducting the price by half. The man got annoyed at him, as he was not getting angry. By the end, the cloth was almost a rag, so the shopkeeper said he wouldn't charge him any more for the cloth because it was worthless.

So then the man was tired, but he was a proud man. He offered to pay him the entire eight coins, but the shopkeeper said, No, now the clot is of no use, and no one can wear it, and he went on to explain, “Do you know, the fabric was not made in a day? Many people have toiled to make it. The farmer who grew cotton in his field worked hard for months through sun and rain. He picked cotton from each boll and gave it to her for spinning. Then, someone else carded the cotton and spun it into long, uniform threads. The threads were dyed carefully so that they took on these lovely colours. My wife and I wove the threads together, putting in beautiful designs. He said that they put in all this hard work just so one day someone would like it and would wear it, but when he tore the cloth, all the hard work put into the fabric had been wasted.

Thiruvalluvar went on to say, “I can weave another fabric like this, but our lives are also like this fabric. If you tear it apart with hasty, thoughtless actions, it will be destroyed. And you will not get it back again.” The man's eyes opened up, and in a moment of profound realization, he gave up all his bad habits.