The Book of Life

wrapped some light material around it, it would become very hot and start to burn. So he took an old, worn-out piece of cloth and did just that. Within five minutes the cloth had ignited. Mr. Kamal immediately lit his cigarette and began smoking. This is called ‘mental labour,’ as opposed to physical labour with which people are better acquainted. Of the two kinds of labour, the superior kind is mental labour. All the great achievements in this world have been brought about through mental labour. Physical labour involves only the wielding of the mattock and the hammer. But it is mental labour which runs offices, factories and modern scientific establishments. If the former can bring us one rupee, the latter can bring us a million. THE LESSON OF HISTORY I n the early 17th century, Sir Thomas Roe (1581–1644) traveled from London to India and stayed for three years (1615–1618). He built relationships with the Mughal emperor Jahangir. One of his skills was knowing Turkish, which allowed him to speak directly with Jahangir. When Roe arrived, Jahangir was in Ajmer. Roe stayed there for three years, sometimes invited to the royal court for conversations. Soon, Roe realized that Jahangir was very interested in painting. One day, he gave a painting to the emperor, who admired it greatly.