Sweet Chillies

chili peppers (Photo credit: marzbars)

Let's learn from this story:

A rich merchant saw a man selling a small green fruit which he had never seen before. The merchant was hungry and the luscious green fruit looked so fresh and appetizing and the merchant was tempted and curious so he asked the vendor,

“What is this...?”

“Chillies, fresh green chillies,” said the hawker.

The merchant held out a gold coin and the vendor was so overjoyed that he gave the merchant the full basket of chillies.

The merchant sat down under a tree and stared to munch the chillies.

Within a few seconds his tongue was on fire, his mouth burning and tears streamed down his cheeks.

But despite this discomfort, the merchant went on eating the chillies, chewing them one by one, scrutinizing each chilli carefully before he put the piquant hot green chilli into his burning mouth.

Seeing his condition, a passerby remarked, “What’s wrong with you...? Why don’t you stop eating those spicy hot chillies... ? ”

“Maybe out of all these chillies there is one that is sweet,” the merchant answered, “I am waiting for the sweet chilli.”

And the merchant continued eating the chillies.

On his way back, the passerby noticed that the merchant’s

condition had become miserable, his face red with agony and copious tears pouring out of his burning eyes.

But the merchant kept on eating the chillies, in his search for the ‘sweet one’.

“Stop at once, or you will die,” the passerby shouted. “There are no sweet chillies... Haven’t you realized that...? Look at the basket – it is almost empty. And have you found even one sweet chilli yet...? ”

“I cannot stop until I eat all the chillies. I have to finish the whole basketful,” the merchant croaked in agony, “I have paid for the full basket and I will make sure I get my full money’s worth.”

What's the point? Don't be stupid. There's no sweet chilly. Hope is a good thing when one can distinguish reality from faith.

Everyone has varied tipping point. One's half glass is another's half full. The extent of chilliness relativity has nothing to do with the existence of a sweet chilly. Well, unless it has been genetically modified but that is another story.

Faith finds convenience in dependency to an external force, like destiny or grand designer, to make things better. I find it irresponsible for a decent, intelligent and capable human to think this way. It is even more insulting to base our actions on JUST mere leap of faith.

The merchant weakness, hunger and ignorance, contributed to perceiving the chilly as palatable. Our tendency to associate things based on what we see is a decisive factor. Since grapes and kiwi are sweet, this must be sweet too. Since popes are rich, believing in his belief can make me rich too. Since my friend is popular, with him I will be  popular too. And so on and so forth. And this association makes us their slaves.

For all its worth, the decision is yours. Be enslaved and stay ignorant. Or, learn from the weakness and take control of your life, stop and move on.