I remember once on my birthday , my dad gifted me some coin shaped chocolates which were wrapped with a beautiful golden paper and I thought that he has gifted gold coins to me . I innocently asked him , " Hey Papa , thankyou for this lovely gift but what should I do with these gold coins?" To which he replied , " Beta , these are not gold coins , these are just chocolates which you love eating wrapped with a golden paper . I replied , "Oh , so these are chocolates wrapped with a golden paper ? But why would anyone wrap chocolates with a golden paper ? To which his answer was , " Because most of the people in this country love gold . It gives them a sense of pride when they wear something which is made up of gold or even for that matter looks like gold . Wrapping chocolates with a golden paper is just a way of attracting more people so that they buy these chocolates ." I immediately asked him , " But doesn't it create a false impression in other's minds ? Is it okay to do so? " And my dad's response to that was , " We all need to understand one thing so that we don't get tricked by anyone and that is , " All that glitters is not gold ." Let me tell you something really important . This proverb is not just applicable to gold , but also in many other areas of your life . The golden wrapper which is used for chocolates is still easily removable and also if you ask the ones selling these chocolates , they will tell you the truth and these items are sold inside all the confectionery stores so people mostly know what they are investing into . But there are some things which are just wrapped inside fake gold and that wrapper is not easily removable like the wrapper of these chocolates . There are many things and people in this world who wrap themselves in fake gold in such a manner that you won't be able to differentiate between the real gold and the fake one which they have wrapped themselves into . After listening to dad , I asked him , " So then how do you differentiate? How do you tell the truth from lie? And why do people do this? " Dad replied , " Most of the times people lie to protect themselves and it is okay to do so in certain cases but one should also take care that he/she is not harming anyone while trying to protect himself/herself . For differentiating the truth from lie , an art of discernment is needed . This art is not developed overnight . This art develops when you constantly encounter similar experiences , when you observe the slightest details and also when you start detaching yourself from those experiences . Remember , no one can trick you without your permission . Everyone has the right to know what they are investing into before investing into something or someone . It is not wrong to seek the clarity . Rather clarity has become a necessity in today's world .
So , if at any point , you feel that you are being tricked or manipulated , look out for the smallest details , ask questions to those who you feel are tricking you , give them sufficient time and space to put their point across and even after all this , if you feel that you are getting tricked then just walk away in the same manner like you would have done if you would have felt that the shopkeeper selling these chocolates is lying just to keep you engaged . You don't need to eat and digest all the lies just because someone wants to feed you with it . At any point of time , you have the right to say , " No thanks , but I really don't want this " and walk away before the lies and deception poisons your mind and soul. "
After this conversation , I thanked my dad for guiding me and till this time , I feel that this guidance has played a very crucial role in my life . When I recall that day now , I realise that in real life , the competition is not between gold and silver but real gold and fake gold and that the art of discerning real gold from the fake one will save us from trickery and we will be blessed with lots of golden opportunities to encounter real gold in the near future if we have the courage to walk away from the fake gold .
© Minotee Gokhale