Sankar’s Teacher

Sankar was a handsome young boy. He was intelligent, too. He was of good character. But, he was very lazy. He woke up only at eight from his bed. Due to laziness he did not attend to his own works. He even expected someone else to carry his schoolbooks. It seemed as if he even desired someone to feed the food into his mouth! He, however, scored good marks in his examinations as he was quite intelligent in spite of his laziness and thus got promoted to the next class. Yet, he was disappointed that he failed to stand first in the class! He nurtured the desire to score high marks and pursue medical profession.
One day a Sadhu visited his school. While addressing the students, the Sadhu said, “There is nothing in this world that cannot be attained with Guru’s blessings. All our desires will certainly be fulfilled if only we enjoyed Guru’s Grace.” The joy of Sankar knew no bounds on hearing these words of the Sadhu. He thought, “If I attain a Guru somehow, I will be able to excel in my studies and become a doctor.”
Well! How to attain a Guru? There was a Sri Krishna Temple near his home. He began to visit this temple regularly and prayed to Sri Krishna to bless him with a good Guru. In answer to his prayers Sri Krishna appeared in his dream and said, “I heard your prayers. I have now come to show you a good Guru.”
At once Sankar asked Sri Krishna, “Who is that Guru?”
Sri Krishna said, “That Guru is none other than Sarasu who works in your house.”
Saying this, Sri Krishna disappeared. Sankar was surprised to hear this. His idea of a Guru had been different. But, what is this that Sri Krishna has shown! Yet, he thought, ‘if such are the words of God then it should bear some deep meaning in it.’ He then began to watch Sarasu.
Sarasu would wake up at 5 a.m. She would sweep, wipe and draw kolam at Sankar’s and few other houses nearby. She would then clean the vessels in these houses and then wash the clothes. She would eat the breakfast offered in their house and leave to catch a bus to her place of work. She was a construction worker. At the place of her work she would carry cement, sand, etc. all through the day and return home late in the evening. She would attend to her household works and return to Sankar’s and the other few houses where she would clean the vessels. It would be around 10.30 p.m. when she laid her head down. And where did she sleep? She slept on the ground without any bed just beside the parked car. The place was stuffy without any breeze. She would sleep deeply amidst mosquito bites!
Sankar who watched all these was surprised. For one who laboured from morn to night there was none to offer healthy food. There was none to even speak kindly to her. People only bossed over her and demanded her to do this or that job and none spoke any kind word to her. Under such circumstances she was always smiling and wore a bright face. All these brought about a great change in the life of Sankar. Nowadays Sankar wakes up at 5 a.m. He takes care of his work. He studies well. All his relatives were wonder struck at this transformation in him. They were unable to pin down the reason behind this. But, only Sri Krishna and we know the reason behind this!