THE IMPORTANCE OF PURPOSE

In the Hassan district of Karnataka, there is a village called Thapperghatta. A man named Lachha Naik lived there. He worked as a night watchman and lived in a hut. He had four children. One day he decided to offer three of his daughters as a sacrifice to the goddess Chamundeshwari. On April 23, 1988, he brought the idol of the goddess, performed rituals, and then killed his three daughters—aged one and a half, three, and thirteen—with a sickle. When his eight-year-old son, Raj Kumar, tried to resist, he attacked him too, cutting off his right hand. After this horrific act, he fled. Four days later, his body was found hanging from a lone mango tree.

His wife, Lilli Thamma (35 years old), was given five thousand rupees from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund and one thousand rupees from the Indian Red Cross Society. Now she is making plans for her son’s future. She believes her son must be educated. She is ready to work all her life, if necessary, to ensure his schooling. As a widow, she expects a pension of fifty rupees a month. Her son will also receive about the same amount as a disability allowance. Raj Kumar, who lost all five fingers of his right hand, is now learning to write with his left hand. (The Times of India, April 28, 1988)

Lilli Thamma had lost everything. At first glance, it seemed likely she might take her own life, or spend her days weeping with her son. But she did no such thing. She put the past behind her and began to plan positively for the future. The reason was that in working for her disabled son’s future, she had found a purpose for her own life.

A person with purpose is never truly deprived; in this world, the only one deprived is the person who has lost all sense of purpose.