Adrianne B.

"Suppose you and I are walking on the road," said Swamiji, the holy man whose storytelling I was researching in 1985. 'You've gone to University. I haven't studied anything. We're walking. Some child has shit on the road. We both step in it. That's shit! ' I say. I scrape my foot; it's gone. But educated people have doubts about everything. You say,'What's this?!' and you rub your foot against the other." Swamiji shot up from his prone position in the deck chair, and placing his feet on the linoleum, stared at them with intensity.He rubbed the right sole against the left ankle. 'Then you reach down to feel what it could be," his fingers now explored the ankle. A grin was breaking over his face. "Something sticky! You lift some up and sniff it. Then you say, 'Oh! This is shit " The hand that had vigorouslyrubbed his nose was flung out in a gesture of disgust Swamiji turned back toward me, cheeks lifted under their white stubble in a toothless and delighted grin. Everyone present in the room was laughing uncontrollably. I managed an uncomfortable smile. "See how many places it touched in the meantime," Swamiji continued. "Educated people always doubt everything. They lie awake at night thinking, 'What was that? Why did it happen? What is the meaning and the cause of it?' Uneducated people pass judgment and walk on. They get a good night's sleep." -Kirin Narayan