A lesson in humility
I remember an incident that brought home to me the importance of being humble. This was after one of my visits to Hubli, which is my wife's hometown.
My wife's family was a joint one, consisting of her grandmother, parents, brother, uncle, aunt and three young cousins. All her cousins were boys. On one of my visits, my wife's cousins told me about the Nrupatunga Hill, which was about a kilometer or so from their house.
We decided to visit the hill the next day. The morning of the next day was spent in play and chatting at home. Late in the afternoon, when the heat had subsided, my wife's brother, cousins and I set out on our sojourn. First we walked past the high walls of the Hubli Sub - jail. Then, we stopped at the Hanuman temple which is beside the water reservoir that supplies the entire locality.
After praying at the temple, we continued our walk and reached the long flight of steps that takes climbers a quarter of the way up. There is a winding road that skirts the steps and climbs up the hill up to the other end of the steps, and continues towards the hilltop. After climbing up the steps, we took this road and made our way towards the top.
There was some open space with a play area, near the top of the hill. Here, my wife's cousins played to their hearts' content. My wife's brother and I, being a little older, took a stroll around the top.
From the hilltop, we could see the city, the airport, the Sai Temple, Unkal Lake, and fields of various hues - brown and green, both dark and light.
A little after five, we went to a spot from where we could see the Sun behind the lake - a glorious sight. Truly, the Sun appeared to reign over the entire scene. I had brought my camera with me, and used the opportunity to capture the glorious scene. After a few minutes, the Sun reached the horizon, and I took a photo of the beautiful sunset.
A few minutes later we began our walk home, this time choosing the longer path instead of the steps.
I was proud of the pictures that I had taken, though I did not tell anyone about it when I showed these pictures.
A few months later, at home in Bangalore, I came across an envelope that belonged to my wife. Out of curiosity, I opened the envelope. Out came a photo of the Sun shining in all his glory, over Unkal Lake! On seeing this photo, I was reminded of the ones I had taken, from Nrupatunga Hill. I am sure whoever took this photo - years before I took mine from the Hill - had taken them from almost the same vantage point. My pride in my photos came down considerably, and I never got an unduly high opinion of any my own photos afterwards.
My wife's family was a joint one, consisting of her grandmother, parents, brother, uncle, aunt and three young cousins. All her cousins were boys. On one of my visits, my wife's cousins told me about the Nrupatunga Hill, which was about a kilometer or so from their house.
We decided to visit the hill the next day. The morning of the next day was spent in play and chatting at home. Late in the afternoon, when the heat had subsided, my wife's brother, cousins and I set out on our sojourn. First we walked past the high walls of the Hubli Sub - jail. Then, we stopped at the Hanuman temple which is beside the water reservoir that supplies the entire locality.
After praying at the temple, we continued our walk and reached the long flight of steps that takes climbers a quarter of the way up. There is a winding road that skirts the steps and climbs up the hill up to the other end of the steps, and continues towards the hilltop. After climbing up the steps, we took this road and made our way towards the top.
There was some open space with a play area, near the top of the hill. Here, my wife's cousins played to their hearts' content. My wife's brother and I, being a little older, took a stroll around the top.
From the hilltop, we could see the city, the airport, the Sai Temple, Unkal Lake, and fields of various hues - brown and green, both dark and light.
A little after five, we went to a spot from where we could see the Sun behind the lake - a glorious sight. Truly, the Sun appeared to reign over the entire scene. I had brought my camera with me, and used the opportunity to capture the glorious scene. After a few minutes, the Sun reached the horizon, and I took a photo of the beautiful sunset.
A few minutes later we began our walk home, this time choosing the longer path instead of the steps.
I was proud of the pictures that I had taken, though I did not tell anyone about it when I showed these pictures.
A few months later, at home in Bangalore, I came across an envelope that belonged to my wife. Out of curiosity, I opened the envelope. Out came a photo of the Sun shining in all his glory, over Unkal Lake! On seeing this photo, I was reminded of the ones I had taken, from Nrupatunga Hill. I am sure whoever took this photo - years before I took mine from the Hill - had taken them from almost the same vantage point. My pride in my photos came down considerably, and I never got an unduly high opinion of any my own photos afterwards.
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