He was always seeking the perspective of other persons. He knew much, but always wanted more even from the person you least expect would be of intellectual value to him. I wondered why.
Seated in his sitting room, there was this corner of the house he wouldn’t allow me to access each time I came around; I was really curious to know what was hidden there.
This day as I strained my eyes in that direction I caught the reflection of a portrait through a glass bottle that held flowers. It read thus:
“There were six blind men who daily stayed by the road and begging from the people who passed. Obviously they couldn’t have seen, but have heard much about elephants. This day an elephant was driven down that road and they begged the driver to let them have at least a feel of what an elephant is like.
The first felt the hand and concluded it is like a wall.
The second felt the tusk and concluded it is a spear.
The third held the trunk and concluded it belongs to the snake family.
The fourth felt the legs and argued it was a tree.
The fifth was privileged to hold the ears and was certain it is like a huge fan.
The sixth only caught the tail and argued it was like a rope and nothing close to a snake.
They all argued unendingly.”
Well, they were all correct, but could have pulled their perspectives together to get a better picture of the build of an elephant.
Could this be the wisdom behind my friend’s attitude? I thought to myself.