There lives a humble family in a small hamlet. A little girl is growing up as a young lady. The clock is ticking persistently, the date of her marriage is near. Her parents accumulate enough dowry for the marriage ceremony. The family is celebrating. The date of marriage arrives. She is married to a worthy groom. The time of farewell arrives. She pays respects to her parents and embraces them. All three of them are in tears. Father embraces her and gives her a packet of incense sticks. Mother hushes to him to give her something better at the priceless moment. He inserts his hands in his pockets and gives her all cash that adorned the pocket. Mother feels happy. People celebrate and bid her adieu.
The next day, her mother-in-law asks her present the assets of dowry before the family. She manages to bring the stuff. Mother-in-law inspects all the things, but her sight is attracted by the unique packet. She ridicules her and asks her to burn them out in the temple. She walks meekly towards the temple and opens the packet. She finds a letter inside. The letter says,
O, dear! As a stick of incense burns and emanates its fragrance across the space, burn out all the strong words or responses you receive from your new family. They may utter something which you may not like but forget and dust off the memories.
The more incense burns, the more it emanates its fragrance.
–Blessings
The girl drops into deep tears. Her father-in-law sees her and comes to know the cause. She hands over the letter to him. His son and mother-in-law also come running to the temple. Father-in-law hands over the letter to the lad. He reads the letter aloud and all the three drench in tears. Mother-in-law feels guilty for her uttering harsh words and embraces her daughter. From that day onwards, the family sustains merrily.
Though the concept of dowry is wrong it is prevalent. It is our responsibility to ‘see off’ our generations ahead, with virtues. Light of character never yields darkness.