HUMAN NATURE

I met Abul Barakat Sahib (Nizampur, Azamgarh) in Delhi on December 3, 1991. During this meeting, he shared the following incident.

In the district of Azamgarh, near Mahal, there is a Hindu village called Tikurya. One or two men from the neighbouring village of Rasulpur came here intending to steal. It was night-time. When they reached a house, one of them knocked on the door. This house also belonged to a Yadav. He had raised his niece there, and at that time, only the niece was home. Her uncle had gone out for some reason.

Hearing the knock on the door, the girl went to answer it. She thought her uncle had come back. To confirm, she called out from inside, “Uncle!” The man outside heard this and replied, “Yes.” After that, the girl opened the door. But when she opened it, no one was outside. Finally, she closed the door and went back inside.

After a while, there was another knock on the door. The girl went to the door again and called out to confirm, “Uncle!” A voice from outside replied, “Yes.” The girl opened the door again, thinking her uncle had returned. As they both stood at the door, the girl asked, “Where did you go after having me open the door earlier?” The uncle replied, “I hadn’t come before.” The girl then asked, “Then who was it that knocked on the door earlier?”

As they were talking, a voice came from the side saying, “I knocked on the door.” The uncle asked, “Who are you?” He replied, “I am a thief.” The uncle then asked, “If you are a thief, why didn’t you just come in and do your work after the door was opened?” The thief said, “The truth is, when the girl asked from inside, ‘Uncle?’ I replied, ‘Yes.’ By doing that, I made myself her uncle. And an uncle can never steal from his niece’s house.”