Free Letters from a Young Poet by Rosinka Chaudhuri Page B

modesty today. I wait expectantly … And then a large, sleek boy from amongst them got up and began to deliver a lecture on
modesty
in the English language. He said:
Modesty is an ornament of mind. Modest men are praised and immodest men blamed by all. Every man is pleased to see a modest man, but a proud man is very much disliked. Newton was a modest man. When his dog upset an ink bottle on his papers Newton said to his dog, ‘My friend, you do not know what harm you did to me’—such was his modesty. Brethren, let us all be like Newton. One day Chaitanya was walking in the street—a dog was lying on his way—Chaitanya said, ‘My friend, please move a little’—the dog moved away at once—such was the force of his modesty. The dog required no beating. We should treat every man like this dog.
    He gave everybody a lot of good advice in this way. A second student stood up, and in melodious Bengali began to say:
Once upon a time my travelling companions and I were all sojourning together. Afflicted by the summer heat we entered a pleasant, birdsong-filled forest glade. (A very long description) At one place we saw some men employing manly words while engaged in the fiercest argumentation. We did not know who they were—our companions had fallen behind, so they too could not be asked. After going a little further, we arrived at a flower-bedecked, becalmed poolside upon which swans floated peacefully. (Long description) Upon seeing some beauteous maidens sporting upon the waves, we surmised these must be the daughters of gods.Later we came to know that those aforementioned men were pride and arrogance, and these beauties were modesty. Modesty has endless virtues. Of all the virtues with which God has blessed mankind, modesty is the most valuable virtue of all. Oh, when you see modesty in men then the eyes fill up with tears of joy and the heart is flooded with delight. Etc.
    After this another boy immediately got up and began—
There is no virtue anywhere that can compare with modesty.
    Everybody everywhere is appreciative of the modest person.
    Be obedient to your mother and father and everybody—
    Only then will everyone call you a modest person.
    Etcetera
    Another boy began with modesty and ended with true love and God’s endless mercy. After every speech, there was ringing applause for some time. I sat there, quite clueless. Suddenly the
Headmaster
came and said, ‘There are many more compositions, but everybody is eager to hear your speech.’ Face drawn, hands and feet cold, ears ringing, hemming and hawing, I stood up and started. I said, ‘Before I start to speak on the subject of modesty, I should humbly say that I am not sure I will be able to speak very much about the subject. I completely agree with the speakers preceding me, the students who have proved that modesty is among one of our chief virtues: undoubtedly, Newton was very modest, nobody can doubt that any more.’—This was the way things went. Gradually, as I spoke, one or two thoughts made an appearance. After I sat down, two by two they went up and began to praise my qualities and those of my ancestors. The first to rise was the
head pundit
. He said he didn’t have the power to speak, but after having heard my speech he was so charmed that he was unable to help himself—that the powers of poetry, oratory and, on top of these, singing, could not be found combined anywhere but in me. Havingsaid this, he sat down with a thud. The
second master
rose and said, ‘I do not think what the master pundit has said is enough, more needs to be said on the subject. The person who is present before us today is no ordinary person; who does not know the name of the revered mahatma (at this point he forgot the name he needed, until somebody nearby prompted him) Dwarakanath Thakur—whose name, it would not be an exaggeration to maintain, is well known all over the world—who is his grandfather, and his father, the great saint, or you could say great king,