A sanyasi once visited a village. He summoned the villagers and said he was going to show them a miracle, said R. Narayanan in a discourse. The sanyasi threw a small pebble into the pond. It sank. “Did you notice that it sank?” the sanyasi asked. “We knew it would sink. You haven’t told us anything new,” the villagers said. The sanyasi then picked up a log of wood. He placed a large stone on it and set the log afloat. The log did not sink, and neither did the stone. “Now, did you notice that while a small stone sank, here is a large stone, which has not sunk?” the sanyasi asked. “That is because you have placed it on a log. Again, you have not told us anything new,” replied the villagers.

Whereupon the sanyasi said, “My purpose in demonstrating the obvious was to make sure that you got the subtle message that this conveyed. It was association with the log that saved the big stone from the same fate as the smaller stone. Likewise, in life, association with good people will save you from many dangers. More importantly, it will give you peace of mind. Choose your friends wisely.” Friendship means guiding one’s friend, advising him and cautioning him about the disastrous consequences of wrong decisions. Thiruvalluvar says that a good friend is like the hand that automatically holds a garment which slips down, and saves us from being shamed in public.