Do Objects & People have value?

Once, I was waiting for a city bus at the corner of Shalimar and Pahaadi Mohalla in Jammu, India. 

Right next to the stop, there was a small tea stall. 

There was no customer at the shop at that time.

The owner was tearing the pages of an old book and making paper bags out of them. 

I noticed a pile of old books, magazines, and newspapers - lying on the floor.

Out of curiosity, I glanced over those old books - and suddenly, the title of one book caught my attention. 

It was Ghalib's Diwaan - a collection of Mirza Ghalib's poetry in Urdu.  

I asked him if he would sell that book to me. 

"How much do you want for it?"

He checked the number of pages. 

After calculating how many paper bags could be made from that book - 

He said: " One Rupee? 

I gave him two Rupees and bought that book. 

Needless to say that we both were happy with this deal.

I was happy that I got it so cheap.

He was delighted that he got much more than he expected.

For that illiterate man - though, the paper did have little value - but what was printed on that paper had no value for him at all.

On the other hand, the paper or its quality did not matter much to me - but what was printed on it was of great value to me.

Similarly, for the moth or a termite, the reality of a book is quite different from the reality of literature. 

For the kind of mind possessed by the moth, which eats the paper - literature is absolutely nonexistent. 

While the paper is its food - the means of survival, the very source of its life.

But for a curious - inquisitive person - literature has a much greater value than the paper itself. 

So - it's not really the things or objects that have value. 

The users give them value according to their needs and desires.

The same is true with people as well. 

A person who is the sole provider for his family would be highly admired and respected by his wife, children, and family - but he may not even be noticed by anyone else outside his home.

We appreciate, respect, and honor only those whom we find beneficial to us in some ways. 

And no matter how highly talented and wise others might be - we neglect them if we do not find them beneficial or worthwhile to us.  

Because it's not the people or objects who have value.

We - the people decide their value according to our needs and concepts. 

If we do not have a motive - if we do not have any expectations -

then everyone would seem the same and equal to us. 

                                       ‘ Rajan Sachdeva ’