Once in a small town, there lived two friends Ali and Saad. By profession, both of them were shop owners, Saad owned a grocery shop while Ali had a milk shop. Saad became rich in no time. He was smart so he used his smartness in deceiving people by being dishonest. Ali was intelligent and smart, but he was not dishonest, therefore he struggled.

Saad cheated on his customers in many ways, for instance, he used to mix sand in each bag of flour. Similarly, he did many other things in other grocery items. According to Saad, no one can lead a good life without being dishonest.

On the other hand, Ali believed in living an honest life. He couldn’t even dream of cheating anyone, even if that meant he would remain poor all his life. Ali used to believe that honesty gives you respect. Sometimes his family only ate once a day.

Both friends often argued on the topic of ‘to be honest or to be dishonest,’ which usually ended on Saad mocking Ali and then walking away.

One day, a rich man came to Ali’s shop and said, “I want four gallons of milk, but add two gallons of water in it. I am throwing a big party in my house and I want to serve the guests with milk.”

Ali, who was reading a newspaper, put it aside and said, “Wait a minute, won’t it be cheating your guests?”

The rich man, with a confused expression replied, “So, does it bother you?”

“All I am saying is that won’t it be wrong to serve your guests with milk diluted by water?” Ali explained.

The rich man, who was now becoming annoyed, said that he couldn’t waste his money on guests by serving them pure milk, all he wanted was that he should be remembered as a man who served his guests with an expensive and healthy beverage.

“By the way, who else is not dishonest in our society?” said the annoyed rich man.

“Well, sir, at least my conscious is free of any guilt!

I would advise you to serve your guests with water instead of milk, at least you won’t lie,” Ali advised.

The owner looked at Ali in confusion and turned away thoughtfully.

After sometime, the rich man sighed and said, “I am really impressed with your honesty! I want to offer you the job of a supervisor in my factory. I know with a person of such high morals, my factory will prosper,” said the rich man.

Ali accepted the offer and from that day onwards, he started living a good life and his belief in honesty became more firm.

A few days later, Saad’s shop caught fire, everything earned dishonestly was destroyed.

Published in Dawn, Young World, October 21st, 2017