The Mirror of Truth

In a peaceful village lived a young boy named Arjun. Arjun had a habit that many found tiring: he was an expert at spotting other people's mistakes. If his friend Rohan was a little slow in finishing his homework, Arjun would tell everyone, 'Rohan is so lazy!' If his classmate Meera accidentally spilled some water, Arjun would whisper, 'Meera is so clumsy!' One evening, Arjun's grandfather sat him down and handed him a small, hand-held mirror. 'Arjun,' Grandpa said softly, 'whenever you feel the urge to point out someone else's fault, I want you to look into this mirror first.' Arjun laughed, 'But Grandpa, I want to look at them, not myself!' Grandpa smiled and replied, 'When you look at others, you see their tiny cracks. But if you look at yourself with that same intensity, you might see the shadows in your own heart—like your unkind words and your habit of judging. If we all spent as much time fixing our own shadows as we do pointing at others, the world would be a much brighter place.' Arjun went quiet. He realized that while he was busy judging Rohan and Meera, he was being unkind himself. The next day, when Rohan arrived late to the playground, Arjun didn't tease him. Instead, he said, 'Don't worry, Rohan, we can start now.' When Meera struggled with a drawing, he encouraged her instead of mocking her. As Arjun began to work on his own character, he found that people began to love him more than ever before.