Perception of Life.. Story of a Stone!

“ Most people do not recognize the true value of Life, a Human life is the biggest gift that one can get on this earth” said Guru Nanak to his disciple Mardana.
Mardana was perplexed and replied that “ Surely every one can see the value of life, what is so big about it.”
Baba Nanak explained that each man places own value on things according to what he thinks or perceives. To highlight his point he gave Mardana a stone and told him to go to the nearest market and try selling it to different people.
Mardana goes to the local market and tries selling it to a petty shopkeeper, who tells him not to waste his time, as the stone is of no use to him. Then he approaches a farmer to sell this stone. Farmer is disinterested and just to  ward him off offers one onion for the price of the stone and also tells him that may be he can use the stone as a weighing instrument to weigh his produce.
Mardana then travels further down the road and shows this stone to a jeweler/ gem dealer who takes deep interest and closely looks at the stone. The stone as per him is an unpolished diamond. The jeweler explains that value of this stone is in thousands of Rupees. Much that he would like to possess it he does not have the cash to buy and given a reasonable time frame would surely buy it. He even offers Rupees one hundred as a token amount for the deal. Mardana understands Guru’s statement and returns.’
Indeed this precious gift of Life is perceived differently by different people. Some consider it a useless stone, others have limited utility and only a few appreciate and treat it like a Gem.

Guchi