The current politics-induced “son of soil movement” taking place in most Indian states brings this little story to my mind. I don’t remember where I heard or read this story and some historical details in it may be inaccurate. Nevertheless this is one sweet little story. Here is how it goes:

Sometime around 13-14th century AD; Persians, or “parsees” as we call them in India, suffering from persecution in their own country Persia (now Iran), started migrating to other countries. One of their ships shored near Somaan in Gujrat, India.

The king of the princely state, where the ship landed, heard of these foreigners who were seeking asylum. The king was worried, as the local populace was not willing to let the foreigners settle on their land. But how to turn back poor asylum-seekers? This was against the Indian tradition of protecting even the enemy if he requests refuge.

The king talked to his advisors and decided to send a message to the parsees. The message was in code: a pot full-to-brim with milk. It was decided that if parsees could understand the message and could give a satisfactory answer, they would be given refuge. The pot was then sent to the parsees, who called on their wise men to help decipher the code.

On the sight of the pot of milk, the leader of the wise men smiled and asked his people to bring a handful of sugar. He added the handful of sugar slowly to the pot of milk, while stirring the milk carefully to dissolve the sugar without letting even a drop of milk spill. He then sent the pot back to the king. The king was surprised and pleased when he saw the pot returned. He granted refuge to the parsees, along with the rights to own properties and run businesses in his state. What was the message and what was the reply that brought whole-hearted acceptance to the parsees from the once-doubtful king and his people?

By the pot full-to-brim with milk, the king meant to say: “The population of my state is already very large and we are short on land and resources. How can we accommodate you?”. And by adding sugar to the pot of milk, the parsee wise man replied: “We will mix with the local populace, as the sugar blends in the milk. And we’ll make your state as prosperous, as sugar sweetens the milk. We’ll live in harmony with your people, without being a burden or threat”.

The parsees lived and prospered in the king’s state and later spread out to other states as well. They adapted to the local culture and also enriched it with their own customs and rituals. They have grown from strength to strength and now are as integral part of India as any other Indian community. They built large business houses like TATA (which is one of the best known Indian brands across the world), along with prestigious social, charitable and educational institutions; thus giving back to the country and sharing their prosperity.

Doesn’t this story have a message for those on both sides of current sons-of-soil/outsider divide? Why don’t they too follow this example? Let the natives whole-heartedly accept the “so called” outsiders (remember, they are our own countrymen) and let the outsiders respect local culture and make their new home state prosperous, just like sugar sweetens milk. Amen!

Tags: soil, son of soil, story, native, outsider, countrymen, parsee, persia, tata, divide, harmony