SOCIAL HARMONY

if he were able to improve his status, he would be better equipped to combat his opponent in a weapon-less battle. Then his rival would not venture to appropriate his rights. So, having restrained the impulse to retaliate automatically, he began to work harder than before on his fields. The strength which would have been wasted on destroying the enemy was now utilized in constructive activities. Such positive thinking inspired in him new hope and courage. Not only did he work harder in his fields, but he started a business as well. His newly awakened consciousness had inspired in him a new zeal to construct his life afresh and cutting down on his expenses, he put all his efforts into increasing his income. In addition, he sent all his children to school and resolved to give them the best possible education. Confrontation should be avoided at all costs and no factor which can produce positive results should be rejected or ignored. Like the farmer in the first example who continued to fight with and sue his rival over a period of twenty years, this farmer too had to work for twenty years for his efforts to come to fruition. For the former, twenty years of effort had amounted to nothing but destruction, whereas, for the latter they meant a period of great achievement. His children having received a fine education were well employed. He himself had developed his farm so much that he had to buy a tractor to replace the pair of oxen which had formerly tilled his land. His resources had increased considerably. The very farmer who once had humiliated him, had sold all his land along with the disputed boundary area. The above two contrasting cases present a good lesson for social harmony. The one who had wanted to settle the boundary dispute at the boundary was a loser; on the other hand, the one who tried to solve the problem on other fronts not only came to possess the disputed land but the whole field belonging to his opponent. When an electric bulb or fan stops working, we do not devote our efforts only to the bulb or the fan to make them work again, because we know that the reason often lies outside the bulb and the fan. Simply by carrying out repairs at the proper place, we can set matters right. For example, by replacing a fuse, we can re-light the lamp and set the