Striving Towards Excellence

-Karthik Gurumurthy

A student once asked his teacher: “I’ve read so many books, but I’ve forgotten most of them. What’s the point?”

The teacher didn’t answer. He just looked at him quietly.

A few days later, they were sitting by a river when the old man said:

“I’m thirsty. Bring me some water in that strainer over there.”

The student stared at him. A strainer? Full of holes? How?

But he didn’t argue. He picked it up and tried.

Once. Twice. Over and over.

He ran faster, tilted it differently, even tried plugging the holes with his fingers. Nothing worked. Every drop slipped through.

Finally, frustrated and defeated, he dropped it at his teacher’s feet.

“I’m sorry. It’s impossible.”

The teacher smiled. “Look at the strainer.”

The student glanced down—and paused.

The old, dirty, tarnished strainer was now gleaming. The water hadn’t stayed, but it had washed over it again and again until it shined.

The teacher said gently:

“That’s what reading does. You might forget the details. The knowledge might seem to slip away like water through a strainer.

But while you read, your mind gets refreshed. Your spirit gets renewed. Your thinking becomes clearer.

And even when you don’t notice it, you’re being transformed from the inside.”

That’s the real point of reading.

Not to memorize everything—but to cleanse and enrich who you are.