Paulo Coelho The Story of a Pencil - A Good Read

In Unison with Nature

There might be innumerable ardent fans of the well acclaimed writer, Paulo Coelho as am one of those many. The day was just wonderful after the run of the mill chores. I could go for a hangout to a beach and sit back and "count the number of waves" with my family. I had some toothsome snacks from a thattukada on the roadside which was crowded by people like a swarm of bees around honey. We had delicious and crispy fitters like, ullivada, mulaku bhajji and cauliflower bhajji. 

Wow ! Great experience indeed. At the end of the day I could grasp my favourite book and I happened to read a chapter, The Story of a Pencil , from Paulo Coelho' s book, titled, Like the Flowing River. The story touched my heart so much that I could feel the rhythm of my heart beating in an unheard symphony. I felt like sharing those beautiful lines from the chapter with my beautiful readers. The story goes like this...

The Story of the Pencil 

By Paulo Coelho 

A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter. At one point he asked:

‘Are you writing a story about what we’ve done? Is it a story about me?’

His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson:

I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil I’m using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up.’

Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn’t seem very special.

‘But it’s just like any other pencil I’ve ever seen!’

‘That depends on how you look at things. It has five qualities which, if you manage to hang on them, will make you a person who is always at peace with the world.’

‘First quality: you are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand God, and He always guides us according to His will.’

‘Second quality: now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he’s much sharper. So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.

‘Third quality: the pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice.’

‘Fourth quality: what really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.’

‘Finally, the pencil’s fifth quality: it always leaves a mark. in just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action’.

Source: “Like the Flowing River” by Paulo Coelho.

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My readers, what do you think now? Wasn't it a good read? I hope it soothed your tiny tender brain and made you smile. The unbelievable personification of the pencil through prose tempts any reader to stumble and fall on the rest of the pages to continue the journey to read. Surely this post shall be a good means to tantalize your brain to read this book in the near future.

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