9 April 2012
I thought I'd share one of my favourite parables that has a special place in my heart. The story originated in India from where different interpretations have sprung. The core idea the parable conveys is the need for communication and respect for different cultures.
It is a parable that is a part of many religious traditions, being a part of Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, Sufi and Hindu lore.
A group of blind men touch an elephant to learn what it is like. Each man touches a different part of the elephant, but only one part, such as the side of the elephant or its tusk. They compare notes to find that they are all in complete disagreement.
Here follows the Hindu tale (which I've focused on because I am Hindu).
A number of blind men came to an elephant. Somebody told them that it was an elephant. The blind men asked, "What is the elephant like?", and they began to touch its body. One of them said: "It is like a pillar." This blind man had only touched its leg. Another man said, "The elephant is like a husking basket." This person had only touched its ears. Similarly, he who touched its trunk or its belly talked of it differently. In the same way, he who has seen the Lord in a particular way limits the Lord to that alone and thinks that He is nothing else.
One one of the most famous versions of the parable is the poem by John Godfrey Saxe:
It was six men of Indostan To learning much inclined, Who went went to see the Elephant (Though all of them were blind), That each by observation Might satisfy his mind.
And so these men of Hindustan Disputed loud and long, Each in his own opinion Exceeding stiff and strong, Though each was partly in the right And all were in the wrong.
So oft in theological wars, The disputants, I ween, Rail on in utter ignorance Of what each other mean, And prate about an Elephant Not one of them has been or seen.
It is this gem of a parable I have incorporated into my debut Bollywod screenplay.
Blind Men And An Elephant • Opuss № I