Clutching at Straws

Clutching at Straws

1988 12 December 19 Clutching at Straws (407) Some build a roof of wealth over themselves; others depend upon their persuasiveness; yet others think that it is enough to have friends. Great religious personalities are considered among the greatest of props. But all of these props are false. When Doomsday finally reveals the flimsiness of these ‘structures’, the various roofs that people have been building to protect themselves will come tumbling about their ears. There will not be so much as a straw at which to clutch.

Once in a shop in Azamgarh, I greeted an old acquaintance of mine. There was no response. I greeted him once more, but still he gave no sign of recognition. Although he was looking straight at me, he did not utter a word. “Can it be someone else?” I thought. But my eyes gave the lie to my doubts. He was the very same person whom I had known for the last fifteen years, and I did not think he could possibly have forgotten me.

The owner of the shop, noticing my astonishment, explained that a tragic happening had caused him to lose his senses. It seems that when he was having a new house constructed, the newly built roof had caved in when the scaffolding had been removed. This incident had so affected his mind that he had gone half mad. He neither worked, ate nor spoked just sat about in old places, looking like a statue, –which is how he appeared at that moment.

On further inquiry, I discovered that he had been the victim of certain unscrupulous elements who had been selling spurious cement. The so-called cement was little better than grey dust, so it is not surprising that his roof met the fate that it did.

Although this incident took place some twenty years ago, it has always provided me with a good analogy when it comes to discussing what people regard as props in their lives – what, in fact, they feel themselves dependent upon. Some build a roof of wealth over themselves; others depend upon their persuasiveness; yet others think that it is enough to have friends. Great religious personalities are considered among the greatest of props. But all of these props are false. When Doomsday finally reveals the flimsiness of these ‘structures’, the various roofs that people have been building to protect themselves will come tumbling about their ears. There will not be so much as a straw at which to clutch.