Artificial Gold

There is a known family that stays in the same locality in Lucknow in which we do. At present, only the husband and wife stay at Lucknow as their children have settled outside. They visit us often and, at times, his wife also visits alone. His wife came to our house one day. It was during my office hours and so my wife also was alone at home. That day an incident took place in which the gold chain of the 

lady was snatched by a thief when she was near our home. The lady was frightened by this incident and took shelter in our house narrating the whole development. Her husband being out of town, she could not even think of reporting the incident to the police. 

Next day, when her husband returned I advised him to report the matter to the police, which he immediately did. I also spoke to the Inspector General of police, who happened to be a good friend of mine, apart from being a good and efficient police officer. The main purpose of my speaking to him was to convey to him the perception of the law and order situation in the town which was being greatly damaged by such incidents. As far as this particular case was concerned, I expected no relief. But to my utter surprise, the relief came very soon. Within three days, my friend got a call from the police station saying that some chains had been recovered from a gang and they could visit the police station to identify theirs. The couple did so promptly and picked up a chain which they claimed to be theirs. The chain was restored to them immediately. This was a great surprise for all of us and the lady’s joy knew no bounds. 

The next day, the lady was advised to consult the goldsmith about the genuineness of the gold. To their utter dismay, it turned out to be of artificial gold. Their entire joy disappeared in no time and now they were sadder than they were at the time of loss. The matter was again reported to the Inspector General who helped in recovering the real one. 

Without going into the intricacies of the matter, I look upon this incident with some amusement also. The lady, herself being incapable of distinguishing between real and artificial gold, enjoyed both equally and in this particular case, she enjoyed the artificial gold even more than the real gold. But the same artificial gold gave her so much sorrow when identified by the goldsmith. The message is that most of us keep on enjoying artificial things and waste life in the process. It is only when we come to know the reality that the joy disappears and we try to seek real joy, which is within all of us. Let us, therefore, give up our artificial joy of objects and seek the real one of divinity. 

Rakesh Mittal I A S