Shiv Bilas said shamefully, ‘Yes, my friend, you are right. This is called spiritual slavery.’
Sant Bilas remarked, ‘You must have thought about your policy. If you adopt the same stance as the other newspapers, then what is the need for one more?’
Sri Bilas added, ‘You don’t ask me anything! I am also about to leave school. My name will also appear in the newspapers.’
Shiv Bilas offered, ‘Join my newspaper as a clerk.’
Sri Bilas replied, ‘Who will want to sit at a desk the whole day working his mind away. I have decided to till the land. I will plough the fields and develop new crops.’
‘Yes, I have not had time to discuss the paper’s policy with you. Instead of meddling in politics I want to concentrate on cultural reforms. At the moment we are blindly imitating Western society. I will speak up against extravagance, pomp and show. My guiding principle will be “an enlightened and simple society”. Aping the West has made wealth the measure of respectability, humanity, honour and dignity. We have forgotten the modesty, balance and purity of our forefathers. Wherever you look you see the display of capitalists, rich men and zamindars. I will make the support of the helpless my code of conduct. Although these ideas are not new, they have been discussed in newspapers every now and then, but so far, they have not gone beyond academic argumentations, and that too in imitation of some Western philosophers such as Edward Cantor, Russell, etc. The proponents of these ideas do not display any unity of words and deeds, and therefore their deliberations have no effect. My life will be a living example of these principles. I will be frank with you: Sometimes I lose all hope for my country when I see this run on wealth. Everybody, the highest and the lowest, the poor and the rich, all are its slaves. Respect for knowledge and perfection has gone. There were times when the highest rulers would bow their heads before persons of excellence. And now even religious movements are dominated by the rich. Our hermits, ascetics and religious preceptors hardly ever turn to the rural areas. They prefer to speak in beautifully decorated pavilions. They go around in motorcars and are invited by the wealthy. Educated and learned people also worship a golden idol. Those who are supposed to set examples of an awakened and simple society have become slaves to their desires. The spirit of sacrifice has vanished from the world.’
Sant Bilas remarked, ‘Your ideas look like those of the Bolsheviks. Don’t you know how they have honoured the learned and the educated?’
‘Yes, I know. But these people deserved no better. In the same manner in which the landowners use their property and the merchants their goods to fulfil their own needs, our clerics too sacrifice their expertise and knowledge for worldly gain. They get regular salaries from educational institutions. This is the level of their esteem and rank. Is this situation not deplorable?’
‘So is it your intention to return to the semi-barbaric civilization of two thousand years ago? To bring back that simple society into this developed age is a ridiculous idea.’
‘You involve me in a fruitless discussion. You call our times an age of development because natural physics has made amazing discoveries. Human knowledge has increased immensely, and limitless opportunities to earn wealth have opened up. And you call the old times semi-barbaric because they didn’t have such inventions, such practical discoveries, such opportunities for trade and for acquiring wealth. May I ask you what in your opinion should be a person’s aim in life?’
‘A person’s aim in life is to stay alive, to make use of the means given by nature, to discover the hidden treasures of nature, and to make human life more perfect, to extend and elevate it.’
‘I fully agree with you. The only difference is that you believe in physics and in ideologies, and I believe in the purification and refinement of the self. You are led by fantasy and I by reality. Look, father is coming!’7
The three boys got up to pay their respects to their father and then sat down again with their heads bent low. Hari Bilas looked at Shiv Bilas thoughtfully and asked, ‘When is your college reopening?’
‘The college will open on the second, but I no longer want to go. I have resigned.’
Hari Bilas was annoyed, ‘What folly is this? You ought to have asked me at least. Did I not have the right to know?’
‘I admit my mistake, but in fact my course has ended. Now I only have to take my exams, and because I don’t want to work in this profession I do not feel the need to take the examination.’
‘But you will have to do something for a living. What have you decided for that?’
‘This does not worry me too much because I can reduce my necessities and can get by with very little. I can work as a gardener for a living. The rest of the time I intend to devote to the service of the nation. My main aim is to bring out a newspaper.’
‘Do you think it is easy to publish a newspaper? First of all you will need enough capital, then you will have to face the adverse conditions in the country. You still don’t have any idea of the difficulties. You think that this is an easy path, but after a few steps you will realize that there are stumbling stones at every step. I am not so selfish and opportunistic that I would like to suppress your enthusiasm for service to the nation, but I think it my duty to advise you to think well before entering this field. If not, you will stumble after a few steps which will be an utter disgrace for all of us. Neither do I want any help from you, nor am I not proud of my son who wants to be a fearless
