Specialisation in a subject is not enough

A learned man who had specialized in grammar came to the bank of the river. To cross it, he boarded a boat. On the way, with a view to boast of his knowledge of grammar, he asked the boatman. Hey! ‘Do you know grammar?’ The poor boatman was totally illiterate. He nodded his head and said no. I am illiterate. The learned man at-once commented, ‘Oh! You have lost half of your life.’ The boatman simply kept quiet. He had nothing to say.

After a while there was a big storm. The river was at a spate. The strong winds were making the boat sink. The boatman asked the learned gentleman, ‘Sir, do you know swimming? Our boat is sinking, and we may soon be in the water. The learned man said, no, I don’t know swimming. The boatman politely said, Sir, In that case all your life will go in vain, as the boat is about to sink. Your grammer will not come to your rescue here. If you do not know swimming, you are doomed.

Specialisation is good for deep understanding of a particular subject. But at the same time, one must know several other things as well. Right from our childhood, we must learn all those arts that are essential for our existence in this world. A jack of many trades, and master of none is, of course, better then the master of just one.