Guiding Light: The Prettiest Hands In The World

A little boy sat with his parents in their cosy home.

He said to his mother, “Mama, you have the kindest, prettiest face in the world! I wish I could look at it forever!”

As he uttered these words, his glance fell on her hands. They were twisted out of shape, badly deformed.

“Why mama!” he exclaimed. “Yours must be the ugliest hands in the world! I can’t bear to look at them!”

The father took the little boy on his knees.

“Let me tell you a story,” he said gently. “Once upon a time, there was a little baby who was sleeping peacefully in his cradle when the cradle caught fire.”

“What happened to the baby?” asked the boy.

“The nurse who was supposed to take care of the baby, ran away in alarm,” the father continued. “But the mother saw the fire and rushed to save the baby. She found that it was impossible to lift the baby through the surrounding flames, without hurting him. So she beat the fire out with her own hands.

“Her hands were badly burnt. It took months before they could heal. Even then, they were left badly scarred.”

“What a brave mother!” the little boy exclaimed.

“Do you know who she was?” the father asked. “She was your mother! Her disfigured, scarred hands were the ones that saved your life!”

The little boy turned to his mother with tear-touched eyes and kissed her hands, again and again.

“Mummy, these are the prettiest hands in the world!” he said, through his tears. Indeed, there is nothing more beautiful than a mother’s love!

Dada J P Vaswani is a humanitarian, philosopher, educator, acclaimed writer, powerful orator, messiah of ahimsa, and non-sectarian spiritual leader

Published on: Tuesday, May 14, 2024, 06:00 AM IST