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There was a beautiful village named Chittoor. A young boy named Gopalan lived in that village with his parents. From his childhood, Gopalan was different from the other children of his age. He was very patient by nature. Even if someone rebuked him for some reason, he never got offended or angry. He was a brilliant student too.

In the village, children of his age usually played together in a playground. Gopalan was very good at games. In his neighboring house, there was a boy named Charan. Since Charan was physically handicapped, he could not play like others. Gopalan went to Charan’s house every evening and made him happy by spending his time playing games that Charan could play. Inspite of his parents’ insistence, Gopalan refused to go to the playground and play.

Once, an old beggar came to Gopalan’s house. Gopalan’s parents sent the beggar away without giving him anything. They could only sympathize with him. Seeing this, Gopalan followed the beggar, asked him what he needed and happily gave him the required things from his house.

Another day, Gopalan’s father took him to a shop where dolls were sold. Since it was Dashara, there were many dolls in the shop. All the children were buying dolls like Muruga with the spear, Ganesha with the Modhakam and Krishna as a crawling child. Gopalan alone chose to buy the doll of a boy with a broken hand. Though his father insisted that he choose some other doll, Gopalan was stubborn about buying that particular doll. So, his father bought him that doll. The shopkeeper was surprised.

Yet another time, Gopalan and his parents decided to go on a long journey. They boarded a bus early in the morning and were travelling to Sri Rangam. After an hour's journey, the bus stopped at a bus stop. Here, an old lady boarded the bus. Gopalan was sitting in a seat along with his parents. After waiting for about five minutes, Gopalan got up and asked the old lady to take the seat. He stood for the next 6 hours of journey. Gopalan’s mother felt hurt to see her son standing.

Observing that his son was very different, Gopalan’s father asked him-“Why are you behaving like this?”. Gopalan replied, “I want to shower love on all the things and people that others neglect and despise.”

Suspecting that his son had some psychological problem, Gopalan’s father took him to a Mahãn living in that village. He told the Mahãn about his son’s attitude and requested him to correct his son. Understanding the situation, the Mahãn blessed Gopalan by saying “If we neglect a sect of people in a society and refrain from supporting them, the society will deteriorate. Therefore, we must support such people too. Gopalan is setting an example. There is no doubt that he will become a great Mahatma in future.”

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