“Stop watering a dead plant. You are watering a dead plant.”
“I am not.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Nope, it is just dormant. Winter has come and it will go soon and this plant will be alive again.”
“Son, you are too attached to it, you are not able to see the reality, the way it is.”
“How can you say it’s dead?”
“You are too argumentative, you need logic and explanation for everything. Life doesn’t go like this, it is not maths, there are no set rules to understand it.” the old man replied.
“But could you please tell me why I am not able to visualise it dead?”
“See, the roots of love are dead but the soil has hidden it, you can’t see, you are not in that condition, there is too much un-clarity, false hope, false expectation or soil, which has hidden the true picture from your eyes.”
“But many plants we cut as a stem and put them in soil, they get their new roots and a new life or new plant reoccur, if this plant’s root is dead, it can always grow back, that’s why I am watering it”, the protegee argued.
“Yes, you are right, but … “
“But what master?”
“Stem of respect of this plant is dead too my child.”
“But it’s wet, see, the stem is alive.”
“No, the water or effort you are putting is only making it’s outer layer wet, it’s dead inside, the life force has disappeared from the stem.” the old man tried to make him understand.
“But I have seen many plants regrow themselves.” the young man still disbelieved him.
“Third and the last, the leaves of mercy are also dried, how do you still have a false hope of making this dead plant alive? You are the biggest fool in this world, the truth is bitter, yes you are watering a dead plant, whose roots, stem and leaves all are dead. You need to leave it to the winter, it will pluck the dried leaves one by one, it will break branches and stem bit by bit, and the white ant will feed on dead roots and in this winter, the existence of this plant will be no more. It will disappear from this place forever, making space for something else to appear here, maybe a building, a temple, a mosque, a church, grassland, forest anything but this plant anymore.” the old man replied to the protegee.
Some people are too adamant to learn, so was he, a fool, a die-hard person, he knew already. He continued watering the dead plant, wasting his time and effort. Yes, he was a real fool not to listen to his master, for him, there is nothing left in his life but to be perished along with the plant.