The Invention of Apology

In the ancient times, the world was not as organized and cultured as we see it today. There was no code of conduct that humans would follow. It was sheer chaos. Riots, violence and non-compliance were everywhere. The people were not happy with this state of chaos and wanted to get rid of it but it was of no use. No matter how deeply and intensely two people loved each other they would finally end up fighting and getting separated. They would get this urge, this zeal to finish the quarrel but it would never happen. They were genetically built up this way. Two people would fall in love and then fight and separate due to disagreements. Things were really bad, as the population was increasing and the quarrels were changing to battles and humanity was suffering as a whole.

When all this was happening, far away in the Indus valley a group of saints were trying to find a cure for this disease of intolerance and defiance. Decades passed but they were not able to find the cure. Humanity on the other hand was on the verge of extinction. The saints knew that whatever they had to do, they had to do it fast. They were running short of time. The High-saint smelled the risk of extinction and decided to travel to the Himalayas with two of his disciples, Kshama and Daata. Kshama was a naughty young boy but was intellectually very smart whereas Daata was a healthy boy with a solid built but was very short tempered. Kshama could master difficult looking tasks with his brains whereas Daata would break huge objects with his bare hands. The only reason the high-saint took them as accomplices was because of their unique abilities, Kshama for his intellect and Daata for his strength.

While they were half the way to the top of the Himalayas, the three of them decided to take rest. While Daata was sleeping Kshama was disturbing him. He would just poke him and run and would laugh when Daata would ask him not to do so. The high-saint was observing this very closely. He was sure that eventually Daata would lose his cool and wanted to see that how would Kshama handle the situation. It was not long when Daata really got furious on Kshama. He slapped Kshama so hard that he almost fainted, but Daata would not stop. He was again going to hit Kshama who was already down when Kshama joined his hands and in a very deep voice said the words, “Kshama... Kshama… Kshama…”  The high-saint was surprised to see that Daata has stopped his hand in the air, he was not hitting Kshama but he helped Kshama get up. The high-saint was just amazed to see the power of the feeling, the sheer utter of the word ‘Kshama’ saved Kshama from the wrath of Daata. This is when the high-saint realized that the world can be won and turned into a better place with this compassionate feeling. Kshama and Daata were friends but they started fighting as per their genetic engineering, but the feelings put by Kshama in his own name empowered the single word so much that it cleared the anger and reinstated the friendship between Daata and Kshama. The high-saint and his two accomplices then went to the top of the Himalayas to master this feeling. Upon their return they taught the usage of this compassion to the world and it resulted in the restoration of love and harmony in the world.

Today also many times we have quarrels with our loved ones. Many times we think, OK now this is it! I am not gonna see his face for the rest of my life. But the urge of togetherness pushes us to apologize and we end up making things right just by saying 3 words – ‘I am SORRY!’. Apologizing to someone and accepting someone’s apology is the greatest sense that man has ever mastered. It brings people closer and makes you feel light.

So guys, don’t be afraid to apologize to someone, it makes you bigger in their heart. And don’t be a miser in accepting apologies as it makes you bigger in your own heart!

by Ambuj