A Mulla Nasrudin Story
By
VIKRAM KARVE
There is a beautiful and bright young girl who lives in my neighbourhood.
She wants to get married but it seems that she just can’t seem to find anyone suitable matching her "stringent" requirements.
She is surrounded by so many “eligible” boys, colleagues at work, in her friends circle, if she prefers a "love" marriage; and also she has “seen” and “rejected” a large number of boys her parents and well-wishers keep lining up for her, in case she wants to go in for an "arranged" marriage.
None of the boys seems to come up to her perfect standards and high expectations. But one thing is sure - she does want to get married.
I wonder whether I should tell her this apocryphal Mulla Nasrudin Teaching story – THE PERFECT WIFE :
Mulla Nasrudin was sitting in a tea shop when a friend came excitedly to speak with him.
“I am about to get married,” his friend said, “and I am so very excited.”
“Congratulations,” Mulla Nasrudin said, nonchalant, pokerfaced.
“Tell me, Nasrudin, have you ever thought of marriage yourself?” the about to get married friend asked Mulla Nasrudin who had remained a chronic bachelor.
Nasrudin replied, “Of course I did think of getting married. In my youth, in fact, I very much wanted to get married.”
“So, what happened...?” the friend asked curious.
“I wanted to find for myself the perfect wife,” Nasrudin said, “so I travelled looking for the perfect wife. I first went to Damascus
"Oh, how sad...!" said the friend, " then what did you do...?
"Then I travelled further and went to Isphahan. There I met a woman who was both spiritual and worldly, beautiful in many ways, but her social graces were not of the highest standards.”
“What a tragedy...then what did you do...you gave up...?” the friend asked.
“No...No...I don't give up so easily...and I very much wanted to get married...so I kept on searching for the perfect wife and travelled all over the world meeting so many women..." Nasrudin said.
“And did you find her...? Tell me, did you finally find the perfect wife...?” the friend asked eagerly.
“Yes,” Nasrudin said, “after travelling all over finally I went to Cairo
“Then why did you not marry her...?” the friend asked excitedly.
“Alas,” said Nasrudin as he shook his head in dismay, “Unfortunately, she was searching for the perfect husband.”
Dear Reader, please be so good as to advise me:
Should I tell the beautiful and bright young girl this Mulla Nasrudin story right now...?
Or should I wait till she perfects the art of remaining single...?
VIKRAM KARVE
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