Theme: Never Say a lie.
STORY 1
The poor man and the rich merchant.
It was a busy noon in the largest market place in the capital. People had come from far away places for both buying and selling. The merchandise was brought on camel backs as well as donkey backs.
A poor man, called Ahmed, earned his living as a porter for merchants in the market. Ahmed was a simple person who worked hard and was a believer in God.
While wading through the crowd, he stumbled on an object on a narrow passage in the market. He bent down to pick the obstacle and leave it on the side of the walk. He found it was a leather money bag. Only very rich merchants own such a big purse. He opened it and found a large number of Gold coins in it.
While he was wondering who might have lost it, an announcer was making the following announcement:
A merchant, Sheik.......... has lost his purse in market. Any one who found it and returned it would be rewarded ten Gold coins. For poor people like Ahmed, ten Gold coins was huge money.
Ahmed approached the announcer and told him that he had found the purse. He requested the announcer to lead him to the merchant who lost the purse.
On seeing Ahmed carrying his lost purse, the sheik’s face litup. He took the purse and counted the coins. Ahmed was waiting for the reward that was announced. Sheik turned his face and pretended to be busy with his work. Ahmed after waiting for some time reminded the sheik that he was waiting for the reward.
Now the sheik kept a cold face. He bluntly told Ahmed that he would not give any reward. He said, “Before the Chief of the soldiers comes to market, vanish from here. Otherwise I will complain to him that you have stolen 100 gold coins from my purse”.
“You will be jailed for ever”, threatened the Sheik. Poor Ahmed took the case to the Sultan.
The subjects of the country revered their ruler, known as Sultan for being both just and extremely intelligent.
Sheik and Ahmed were summoned to present their case. Ahmed recounted whatever happened in the market place. He pleaded that the Sheik had not only not kept his promise but also threatened him to get him arrested and jailed.
It was the turn of the Sheik. Sheik agreed that the purse was lost in the market and that Ahmed located it and brought it to him. But, Sheik said, “When I counted the coins in it, instead of 200 Gold Coins, there were only 100 in it”. “He should have taken those 100 gold coins”. I did him a favor by not handing him over to Chief of Soldiers, because he was poor.
It did not take even a minute for the Sultan to understand the problem. He delivered his judgment, as follows. The judgment, you will find, is logical and indisputable.
My subjects do not lie. I accept the versions given by Ahmed as well as Sheik.
If Ahmed was a dishonest person, he would have kept all the coins with himself. He did not do it.
The Sheik found only 100 gold coins instead of 200. This establishes the fact that the purse found by Ahmed is not the one that Sheik lost. So, he ordered Sheik to hand over the purse with 100 Gold coins to Ahmed and instructed his Chief of Security to investigate the missing purse of Sheik.
Ahmed received a reward more than he was promised. The greedy Sheik lost all that came back to him. That was the punishment he received for his lies.
2. Theme: Love and Friendship are illusions.
(1) Illusion can be defined as a state of mind when an apparently non-existent object or phenomenon appears to exist or an existent Phenomenon appears non-existent.
(2) Love and friendship take birth and die in one’s mind.
(3) It is part of the trick-pack played by nature / God / a Superior force which easterners understand as Maya, to keep all forms of life in a cycle of Birth- Growth - Reproduction -Death.
(4) While love disappears at some stage in youth, friendship accompanies man till his end.
(5) A friend is defined as some one who helps you in a difficult situation , without seeking a reward or return.
(6) It is the weak among us who look at friendship as a Divine intervention to bail themselves out when in trouble. This is the important reason for people to glorify friendship.
(7) Take any definition of a good friendship, and ask yourself to whom you would be such a good friend. You will not find an answer.
Ask as many as you know. None will have.
The problem is that every one is looking for such an ideal friend, who would be a man Friday for him.
(8) Very rarely people get along well for a long time. The team of two . There could be more reasons for the relationship to last than going strictly by the definition of friendship.
(9)More often, friendship between two expands to a team. Typically the members will have divergent socio-economic back grounds. Every one looks for some specific aspect of life from others. Examples are:
Money, a shoulder to cry, muscle power, official position, to run errands, sing their praise and so on. When these are met even national , the ties last long.
(10) Most friendships break up some day leaving a bitter feeling among the members of the team.
When I explained this to my co-travelers in the van, for the first time, many protested violently. A couple of days latter they congratulated me silently. This is a very good story to illustrate the typical scenario.
Theme: Friendship & love are illusions
Story 2:
Three friends
When there are more than two identifying themselves as friends, it is referred to as friend’s circle. We may have different friends’ circles at different stages of life and also in different spheres of life .
If only you give due thought, you will discover that the members of each circle will vary in terms of their individual strengths and seek others to compliment their weakness. We will proceed to the story.
There lived a fox in the forest, which befriended a donkey in a village adjoining the forest.
A lion in the forest was also a good friend of the fox. Let us analyze how there can be friendship between the three different species.
Lion is agile, fast and powerful. It hunts its food. The lion needs no other animal for its own survival. But yet, it leaves a little for the lesser animal to feast on. Life of lion is not threatened by a fox, this is an important aspect.
Animals like fox have speed but no power to hunt their food. Fox depends on lion for its survival. In return animals like fox sing the praise of the lion and the lion is happy with it. You may call it ego satisfaction.
Fox has its ego hurt because it has to praise the lion for its survival. So it turns to the donkey in the village to get its hurt ego healed.
Donkey needs no one for its survival. It is slow, dull and hard working. But the donkey has its unique situation in that it does all work with no compensation. So it found a shoulder to cry on when the fox offered its friendship. In return the donkey praised the fox for its goodness. Fox sees no threat from the donkey, and only the need to listen to the donkey’s tale of woe, whenever they met. Otherwise the fox has no real benefit in associating itself with the donkey. It is also true that Lion has no purpose served by its association with Fox.
Friendship between the three continued for long. A situation arose when the friends needed each other for survival.
The lion was injured during a hunting expedition. A few bones broke and a few other bones were dislocated. The lion could not hunt any more. Now both the lion and the fox starved without food.
The hungry lion asked the fox, if it could some how organize some food. Fox was equally hungry. Suddenly, the fox remembered the donkey in the village. It explained to the lion, “The donkey is a useless animal. Its friendship got us nowhere. Now it is time when donkey’s friendship will come of use.”
The lion was surprised. It asked, “How come a lazy donkey can help us?” The Fox said, “I will bring it here. You knock it down in one blow. We both will eat it.”
Lion agreed to that idea but demanded to know how to bring the donkey to the forest.
Fox replied, “It is quite simple. Any animal which lives in the cities and villages has inherited the weaknesses from humans”.
“Humans attach great importance to friendship, which can be exploited”, reasoned the fox.
“Most importantly they will fall victims to flattery”. “These two are enough to bring them to forest.”
The lion asked the fox, if it meant that animals living along side humans have no brain at all.
“You said it”, replied the fox and set itself on a journey to the village to meet the donkey.
In the village, when every one had slept off, the donkey was trying to find its food in the streets. The Fox met the donkey and greeted it.
As usual, the donkey started listing the listless woes of donkeys as species. The fox, this time, was not a mute listener.
The fox assured the donkey that there was always a way to come out of misery. The fox continued, “The humans always exploit the animals for their selfish ends. So, it is better to live only among animals. You have such soft grass abundant in the forest. You can enjoy it for free. There are no people in the forest to enslave animals.”
The donkey was not that dumb, as the fox thought it to be. “I know that in forests there are several wild animals that would devour us”, observed the donkey. The fox said, “It is merely the rumor created by wicked men to ensure animals do not disappear into the forest. Am I not meeting you often? Am I not living in the forest? Which wild animal devoured me?”
Thr donkey was not fully convinced, as such.
The fox, realizing that its plan A did not work with the donkey, pulled out its plan B: “There is an acute shortage of male donkeys in the forest”. The fox continued. “A handsome donkey like you will be entitled for at least three beautiful and healthy female donkeys in the forest. As a package deal, you get free food and no hard labor. You are one of the good souls. You deserve this and much more. Make a visit once and you will know all by yourself. If you don’t like”, the fox assured that, “I will drop you back to this village.”
The fox set out on a long journey lasting several hours. It was hungry, weak and tired. The fox explained to the donkey about the beautiful life in the forest all the way.
Finally, the donkey arrived into the dark den. It could not see anything inside. It would take some time before it could see around.
The hungry lion took a giant leap on the donkey only to miss it by a few inches. The donkey realized that everything was not all right. It ran towards the entry to the den and started walking slowly.
The lion was apologetic.
The fox assured the lion thus: “After all, the donkey has no other place to go. It has no brain like humans. It will come along with me even if I cheat hundred times. Okay, let us make a second attempt.”
The lion said, “You know, I have become weak without food. That is how, I missed the target. But now, I need a little while before I make another attempt on it. I know, you are clever and you would bring the brainless beast again for a feast”.
“In the intervening time, I will go to the nearby lake, drink some water and make myself fresh and strong before I come back. Wait for me till then”. Saying so, the lion vanished into the dense trees near its den towards the lake.
The fox followed the footprints of the donkey and located it. The donkey was in a very bad mental and physical state due to the long journey to the jungle followed by a shocking incident inside the den.
The fox with a surprised look, demanded to know from the donkey, as to what made it run from the den. The donkey said, “A huge object fell close to a place where I stood. I came running to save myself.”
The fox replied, “It is merely your fear and there was no danger to your life. One of the three donkeys was waiting to meet you. On seeing you, she fell in love instantly. In her anxiety she came rushing towards you. When I looked around for you, you were gone”.
The donkey looked at the fox in disbelief. Now the fox decided to play with the sentiments. The fox knew that sentiments work with humans. So it believed that sentiments should affect donkeys too.
“I have bad news for you”, said the fox. Soon after you left, all the three female donkeys felt that you do not like them at all. So they have decided to commit suicide.”
The fox said, “In the forest, we animals fear that the ghosts of such beings will haunt you and trouble you throughout your life.”
“Better, you come back and get married to the three donkeys and lead a royal life”, the fox concluded.
The weak and worn out donkey found no other better solution than to follow the fox.
In the den, the fox waited for a while. He saw the donkey trembling in fear. Donkeys might have strong legs and could give a mighty kick when in normal health. But it won’t need a lion to kill and eat this beast.
Slowly, the fox bit the ears of the donkey. This was enough for the donkey to fall unconscious. The fox ate up the donkey’s brain before the lion reached.
The lion which arrived in the den a little later was shocked and angry to find the donkey’s brain was not there.
The clever fox reminded the lion the fact that not only humans but every other species living in the vicinity of humans also did not have brains!
The lion found the fox was always right.
The lion gave the lion’s share to its trusted friend and adviser, the fox and enjoyed a nice feast.
Epilogue:
Now, it is time you evaluate your friends in the circle of your friends. The most cunning and powerful will always feast on the weaker in their circle. Figure out the lions, foxes and donkeys in your friends’ circle.
Theme: Do not befriend those stronger than you!
Know these:
(1) A few among us proudly declare our friendship with rich persons. Some feel proud to be associated with a thug. Some others seek to have friendship with a person holding an official position, a sportsman or some one popular.
(2) If you have a hero in your life, that means you have not realized your strength and reduced yourself in some way.
(3) Every powerful person whom you seek to make friendship with, could have grown in his/ her stature by stepping over people who seek to make friendship with them.
(4) Remember that there were no heroes existing in the past. There are no heroes now and there will be none in future. If they exist, the reason is that you feel yourself a weak person.
(5) Keep away from people who are known for their power, possessions and positions.
(6) If many people think that a particular person is evil, there should be a reason behind it. Never become friendly with such persons.
(7)Keep away or run away from people who praise you. There are many who make good their life only through flattery.
(8) World History has proven time and again that any country with a friendly relationship with a stronger country could neither preserve its sovereign existence nor ever prosper.
(9) Small plants do not grow under a big tree.
When you were young, a simple story was told to you. Some of you might remember the story. But none of you would have understood the message in the story.
Theme: Do not befriend those who are stronger than you!
Story: 03
Monkey’s friend, the Crocodile.
“People who praise you today, will one day bring harm to your life, possessions, and position”, said the mother monkey called Shylaa.
Shylaa continued. “Not everyone who talks sweet, agrees with your views and pleases you is a friend. Moreover, true friendship and love are illusions. They are creation of our minds. They do not exist in real life. In reality, this is not possible. Those who have realized this will suffer a bit”.
“It is quite possible that compared to an enemy, a friend is likely to do you more harm”.
“An intelligent person prayed to God - “God, I can presume what harm enemies can do to me. Therefore, I will not be harmed by them and can protect myself. But I do not know what or when my friends will bring harm to me. Therefore, God please protect me from friends.”
The husband of monkey Shylaa who was listening to the speech of his wife realized that this knowledge delivered by his wife was meant for him.
Even then, he did not bother. Still worse, he was mocking at his wife’s advice.
You may wonder, what made the mother monkey lecture this to her husband. There was an important development in their lives.
The place where the monkeys lived can be called monkey’s bastion. But, occasionally crocodiles surfaced there.
They ate and enjoyed the blackberry fruits that lay on the river banks. The husband monkey on the tree noticed this. He said to the crocodile, “Oh King of the River, do you want more of these fruits?” he asked. The crocodile was delighted to hear this and said,
“Yes, I would love some more”. From that day onwards, every day the crocodile came to the bank of the river and the monkey plucked the fruits and threw them down for him.
This marked the beginning of friendship between the monkey and the crocodile. The monkey took great pride in this friendship. The monkey’s wife felt that this new friendship would be harmful for her husband, but he did not bother to listen to her.
Many times the monkey’s wife tried to counsel her husband against this friendship through good advice, but in vain. She gave him one final warning - “I hope that all my repeated good advice has not gone in vain. A good wife is like a good minister, to save or warn her husband before an evil befalls him is her duty. I have done that. I assure you that this new friendship with the crocodile will not bring any good to you. Only time will tell what I said is right. May God help you.”
The crocodile and the monkey continued their friendship for a long time. The monkey continued to give the crocodile the fruits and in turn, the crocodile would heap praises on the monkey. Other animals envied this. The crocodile used to take the fruits for his wife and children too. There will be a turning point in the life of man and his friends. Similarly, it happened to the friendship between the crocodile and the monkey.
After eating the same fruits for some time, the crocodile’s wife started getting bored. She wanted variety. Her evil mind started thinking, “If the fruits given by the monkey were this tasty, how tasty would the monkey be since it had grown up eating these fruits?” She informed her husband about her desire and suggested to her husband that he invite the monkey and the entire family to their place on a full moon night for dinner and then set up a plan to eat them. Though her husband was shocked at this unusual request, he felt that this was a good idea and even praised her, as he wanted to satisfy his wife’s wish.
“But how will the monkey trust our invitation and come boldly to our house?” asked the crocodile.
What is the difference between a human and a monkey? It’s the tail!
Man gives more importance to his friends. Friendship cards are more in circulation than parents’ day cards.
Friends have become more important than parents, brothers and sisters.
“If you call him “my friend” three times, the monkey would surely fall in your net”, said the crocodile’s wife. Immediately, they set about putting their plan into action.
The crocodile informed the monkey about the party and the invitation from his family to the monkey and his family. He explained that it was a thanksgiving party. As the monkey’s wife refused to come, the monkey came down immediately from the tree to accept his friend’s invitation. The monkey disregarded his wife’s warning and jumped on the back of the crocodile and started crossing the river.
The crocodile and monkey had crossed halfway. The crocodile was thrilled that his clever wife’s plan had worked. Now that they were in water, he felt that the monkey was trapped with no chance of escape. The crocodile slowly told the monkey about his wife’s desire to eat him and his family.
After the initial shock on listening to this, the monkey recovered. He thought how foolish he had been by neglecting his wife’s warning! He thought of a way to escape.
He said to the crocodile, “Hey, crocodile!
You are about to commit a grave mistake. You are aware that the heart is the sweetest part of the monkey, but don’t you know that the monkeys usually remove them and hang them on the tree in the morning till they retire for the day?
If you had informed me earlier, I would have placed my heart back and come. Wouldn’t I do this for my friend?”
The crocodile was reflecting on this.
The monkey was persistent. He said, “O’ king of the river, don’t you know that the river queen will be angry if you brought me without my heart?”
The crocodile had no other choice but to trust his friend. He brought the monkey back to its tree. The monkey, relieved of the trauma, promised to bring his heart back with him. That was the last time he ever spoke to the crocodile.
The poor crocodile waited for a long time and left home tired and frightened, wondering how his wife would react for missing the meal.
Theme: Feeling Inferior is foolishness.
Know this:
(1) Day in and day out, we are being exploited by several people around us by making us feel inferior.
(2) How much fairness cream would turn a crow into a dove?
(3) Without exception, some times you and even I exploit, without being conscious of it.
(4) If someone deceives you, you are more to be blamed than the one who deceives you.
(5) It is important to know that no one is superior to others all the time and in every situation.
(6) Equally so, every one is inferior to some one, somewhere, on some occasions.
(7) We can safely conclude no one is superior or inferior to any one else, all the time. So no one needs to feel inferior.
A simple story was told for ages to drive home this simple phenomenon. But most of us did not absorb the message. The consequences are many: hurt feelings, lost money and so on.
Theme: Feeling Inferior is foolish.
Short story: 04.
FOOLISH CROW AND THE GREEDY FOX
This story has two versions - one an old story and the second its new form.
First, let me give a small description about our old times because children of today may not appreciate the story without it.
In the villages, those days, there was no electricity in use. Roads were not concrete or tar-topped. There were no cars or buses. A simple situation to imagine is that, in Chennai, in Tamil Nadu, people used to come in tourist buses to see the 14 storied LIC building on Mount road and admired it. The building, in those days was a great engineering accomplishment being- the tallest structure in some 1000 Kilometer area around it!
Some 40 years ago, you may spot one or two cars in the district headquarters.
Now let us turn to the older version of the story.
STORY OF THE CROW (Old version).
This is in that period of civilization when humans used to walk many miles along with their cattle.
One thing that has not changed over the years is the fast-food joints!
Under a large tree, an old lady ran a “fast food” joint selling ‘vadai ’. She did the job of cooking, distributing, cleaning, collection and security with great enthusiasm.
Customers would be waiting for their turn to have food while the aroma of food would waft over a large area. The crow and the fox would wait for the right opportunity at a distance to grab their pick.
The crow waited for the old lady to doze off and took this opportunity to grab a ‘vadai’. The lady woke and threw the long stick she kept near her. But the crow flew to the trees, unhurt.
It settled down on the branch. When it was about to enjoy the meal; it realized that a fox was looking at it, sitting right below, on the ground.
The fox addressed the crow saying, “Brother Crow, do you remember me? I am your diehard fan”. Now the crow was in a dilemma whether to eat or speak to the fox. “No”, said the crow. “Why don’t you open your mouth and say so,” said the fox. Somehow, the fox wanted the crow to open its mouth so that the ‘vadai’ would fall down and he could pick it.
The cunning fox was just waiting to eat the ‘vadai’. The crow looked around and hooked the vadai on one of the branches of the tree. Then looking down, he asked the fox what it wanted. He asked, “Shall I sing a song which you can listen to and go?” Realizing that his plan did not work, the fox took to his heels and disappeared.
A baby crow watched this scenario and was confused. The father crow explained it as below.
“I have heard stories of our ancestors. They, like the present day humans, due to their low esteem, often became a prey, resulting in loss of possessions and their rights. Except for humans, no other creatures on earth have the feeling of “high and low” among themselves.
Not everyone considers one high or low in status every time and on all occasions. Occasionally, at some point of time, a person might become rich. Everybody, during his lifetime may become low in status at times. Therefore, it would be wrong to demean or praise the person for his status. We need not become a slave if we understand this basic concept.
There are people who will create low self-esteem in us and enslave us. There are also those who create low-self esteem among themselves without outsiders’ help. They are enslaved and exploited by others. Not only humans, even crows have suffered from the low self-esteem syndrome!
The crows of the present generation have become intelligent! The fox did not realize that it was difficult to outsmart those who are intelligent.
We have to learn many useful lessons from our ancestors.
If we understand these lessons when young, we can overcome defeat right from the early stages of life.
Long ago, the crows had low self esteem and inferiority complex in that they were not as beautiful as a peacock, white as a dove and did not have a sweet voice like a Koel.
But they did not realize that they had many virtues which other birds didn’t have. The crows do not have enemies. They are considered as ancestors of humans and are given a feast during a death ceremony and anniversaries of their loved ones!
On festivals and often on normal days humans offer food only to crows and to no one else.
“When we have so many virtues to be happy about, why should we (crows) suffer from inferiority complex”?
“The “modern” crows have realized the truth. They do not suffer from inferiority complex any more. Therefore crows do not fall prey to others.
We decided not to complain that others are bad and they cheat us. We admitted openly that we were stupid and so vulnerable. We have changed our attitudes. But the humans have not”, concluded the father crow.
Theme: Strategies are important.
(1) When things go wrong in our society, very few have the knowledge to understand them.
(2) It is our duty to blow the whistle in time.
(3) The perpetrators of crime against society invariably have money power with which they can escape punishment.
(4) There are incidences when RTI activists and other whistle blowers are done to death as we read in news papers and magazines.
(5) One should plan his move such that while he makes the right move, it should not have a backlash on him.
(6) Do not clash head on with evil forces.
The following story is very useful to drive home this point.
Themes: Strategies are important.
Short story 05.
An Intelligent Crow.
The author has chosen Crows as heroes in this story, after they themselves realized this.
Those were the days when kings ruled the country.
At the edge of the capital of the city, there stood a large banyan tree. The crows and their young ones lived peacefully for several generations. Under the tree, there were many nests and sediments. A family of snakes also lived there peacefully. Even in those days humans were destroying the forest and its habitat. The snakes and the young ones realized that it was going to be difficult living there now.
Like humans who migrated from villages and towns to cities, the snakes and the young ones too moved to the city to the same Banyan tree where the crows had made their home. They occupied an anthill below the tree.
The crows woke up in the morning and flew to collect their food. Likewise did the snake