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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

By Nitya Ramakrishna

Dear Vishrut and Anushrut,

I forget the name of a short story by W.Somerset Maugham that I read long ago-perhaps you will read it some day. But I still remember the story and in particular one sentence from it. This is spoken by a chap, brought up strictly to tell right from wrong, who has to go out to the colonies as the British called the countries they ruled in Asia and Africa.

Well, he has been told not to mix with an uncle there who has become "bad". Our pal finds that this uncle does cut corners and cheat but also that he his kind, generous and helpful to people especially the poor. So our pal grows to like this uncle.

When people back home say angrily to him that he has forgotten the difference between good and bad, he replies "No, the difference is clear in my mind. What I don't know is the difference between good people and bad people. Is this Uncle a good man who does bad things or a bad man who does good things?"

Do you think he is stupid not to know? I somehow feel that he is very intelligent to realise this confusion.

You must have heard or read the Mahabharata stories. Was Duryodhana bad? Surely, he did very bad things: cheat at dice, trouble Draupadi and all that.

But he did some wonderful things too. He befriended Karna when others, including Arjuna, made fun of him because he was low born. Duryodhana was brave in battle and in facing the results of his doings. In fact, you must someday read his last words, as he lies dying, spoken to Krishna who is left speechless.

And the Pandavas, were they good? Did they do right by Draupadi? Did they not lie to Drona about his son's death just to win the war? Did Krishna not help them to cheat? But the Pandavas and Krishna did wonderfully good things as well.