We have to learn many useful lessons from
our ancestors.
If we understand them when young, we can overcome defeat, right from early stages of life.
Long ago, the crows had a low self esteem and inferiority complex that they were not beautiful like peacock, white as a dove and did not have a sweet voice like 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 in normal days humans offer food only to crows and none 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 do not complain that others are bad and they cheat us. We admit 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.
Know this:
(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 have invariably 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 their move such that while you make the right move, it should not have a back-lash on you.
(6) Do not clash head-on with evil forces, head-on.
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 have realized themselves.
Those were the days when kings ruled the country.
At the edge of the capital of the city, there stood a large banyan tree. Crows and their young ones lived peacefully, for several generations. Under the tree, there were many nests and sediments. There also lived a family of snakes 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 to cities from villages and towns, 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 and so too the snakes and its family. The young ones of the crow and the snakes who were too young to hunt stayed behind. A bored young snake climbed the tree from its dwelling place. “Will I be able to see my nest from above”, thought the young one? When it climbed up the tree, it was happy to see the nests of the birds, the young ones, and the eggs.
The young birds in their nest were frightened when they saw the young snake and alarmed when they the snake ate the egg from one of the nest.
In the evening, there was commotion in the homes of both the birds and the snakes. The frightened young birds informed their parents about the snake and how he had stolen the egg. This infuriated them and they planned to take revenge on the snakes.
An elderly and knowledgeable crow spoke to the birds and listened to their opinion and in the end decided about their plan.
As per the plan, the selected crows would sit on different trees to identify the thief in the morning and then after obtaining necessary proof, they would take further action in the afternoon. Till such time, the crows were told to be patient to whom they agreed.
Below the tree, there was a meeting among the snakes. A young snake made an announcement. It revealed a discovery, which would help the snakes in getting its food without going out to hunt, as food was
available on the tree itself! On hearing this, the snakes were immensely overjoyed.
The eldest snake informed that a final decision would be taken after observing the birds leave the nest and a bigger snake would stay put in the tree and subsequently follow the young snake to the nest.
The next morning, the crows observed the two snakes climbing up the tree. It noticed the snakes climbing up from the same tree where they resided. The crows found out the exact place where the snakes resided and informed the elderly crow. It evolved a plan and informed the other crows about it for which they got ready to implement.
“It is not possible to drive away or kill so many snakes from the tree nor is it possible for us to move away from the tree. Therefore, we need to get the help of a third person who is more powerful than us and snakes. Humans will be of great help” said the crow.
The crows got an opportunity immediately on the same day. The princess of the kingdom was taking her bath and had removed her previous jewels and kept them on the banks of the river. As per the crow’s plan, one of the crows picked up one of the jewel piece and flew to the tree. The crows immediately started making noise, which attracted the attention of the princess’s guards. They saw what was happening. The started chasing the crow which swords drawn. A group of crows followed the crow with the jeweler piece, which reached their tree. The smartness of the crow made the guards to reach the tree. It dropped the jewel in such a manner, which was observed by the guards into the snake pit. The guards broke open the pit to retrieve the jewel and in the process killed the snakes and left for the palace.
In the evening, when the crows and snakes returned to their nests, the snakes noticed their dead young ones and the snake pits destroyed. They left the place at night never to return. The birds were very happy.
Theme: Better ways to treat the God.
Know this:
(1) we face failures of every kind in our life time. Some times desperate without solutions to problems. We need a method to over come.
(2) Significant population of the planet lives by faith. The other way is, living by knowledge.
(3) It takes a long time to acquire knowledge. Not many have an ideal environment to learn.
(4) Life is too short, to learn all that is there, to learn.
(5) For the above reason, living by faith is the only way to most people.
(6) Messiahs of God described the god as a superior being.
(7) Over a period of time, we started treating god as equals. Now you read instances where you treat God as a power broker and so on.
(8) If you believe in God, treat the God as a superior entity. Look for Spiritual elevation and wellbeing.
(9) Do not involve god in material prosperity.
Now read a short story to describe a typical scenario, in the place of worship.
Short story: 06.
The merchant and the God.
Khalid Sheik was an international trader of his times.
He travels from country to country for several months and earns a great fortune.
This god-fearing merchant is coming home, with all the wealth he earned, riding his camel.
On the way, he notices a place of worship and decides to go in and worship the Lord who he felt had given these riches.
He spent some time praying and some more time in thanking Him for all the fortune he had.
On reaching the entrance of the mosque, he notices that his camel has run away. Now he was angry with God. He exclaimed in anger and sorrow “I came to worship you leaving the camel behind hoping that you would take care. But now the camel has run away and I have lost all my riches. You are responsible for this.”
He cursed Him using very foul language and epithets he knew.
A Sufi saint passing by instantly knew what happened and exclaimed loudly for the merchant to hear, ?
??God fearing is fine, but you could have tied the camel”.
Theme: Delegation of responsibility. Know this:
(1) in a large and complex environment, it is impossible to handle the entire tasks one person alone. So management gurus advocate delegation of responsibility along with authority.
(2) Be aware that, a delegated task could miserably fail, if you do not take into account a possibility of failure. Provide for check-points and inspect them periodically. Delegation frame work should signal failures and a plan B should be in place, to recover from the slippage, if any.
Theme: Delegation of responsibility.
Short story: 07.
The merchants’ nightmare.
This is an old Arab story. So, a donkey will invariably find its place in the list of characters.
A merchant went on a long business trip with his donkey. There were days, when the transport vehicles such as cars, planes and trains, did not exist. So donkeys, camels, horses and bulls played important role in transport of people and material. So these cattle were reared with lots of love and care.
Just as we take care of our expensive vehicles these days like cleaning and washing, servicing and tying sacred cloth on it, similarly in the olden days, these animals were taken care.
When night fell, he went to a popular hotel and met a youngster manning the reception and enquired about the facilities provided. Then he asked spoke to him, “Young man, I have few questions. My donkey is my life and I take great care of it.
Each man has certain needs, which changes with seasons. So, is it with my donkey?
The youngster replied, “Sir, you have not understood well about our hotel. Our guests, like you, are rich people. For them, their donkeys are more important than humans and are therefore taken good care by us”.
The merchant was still worried about his donkey. So he continued. “Ok, you should know that my donkey is very old and needs a good bed prepared with hay for it to sleep at night,”
The youngster patted the donkey and replied that it will be taken care of. “Not only that,” replied the man, “Since the donkey is old, its teeth are not strong and therefore it is important that the grass given is soft and chewable.
“Don’t I know your worries,” asked the receptionist. “You need not even inform us about these little things. If we don’t realize these issues, then we consider ourselves not good” he replied.
The visitor felt greatly relieved hearing this. He ate his food and went to his room to sleep. He did not even realize how long he slept and woke up suddenly. A dream he dreamt startled him. He dreamt that his donkey was without water and food and laid suffering on the cold floor.
He hesitated and then stepped out from him room and went to the lodging where his donkey was kept. The scene he saw made his blood freeze. There wasn’t much difference in what he dreamt and what he saw in front of him.
Post Script:
Every one has their own set priorities. The care we take to handle or safekeeping some of our belonging, which is very important to us, need not be so important to another person.
If you lend your vehicle, a camera or a laptop to a friend, more often, it would require expert attention when you receive it back. It is not the ill-intentions on their part but it reflects the fact that it is not so much dear to them, as it is to you.
When I herd the story from my friend, I had the following thought crossed my mind. “These marketing guys have not changed their ways, over several centuries now. May be they will never change.
Theme: Don’t chase unachievable targets.
Know this:
(1) there are people who believe that, only when you target moon, you will touch the sky. It is okay as long as successes, how ever small, encourage you and failed goals do not trouble you.
(2) A uniform and step by step growth may be sustainable and easier to accomplish than to achieve in one giant leap.
(3) Our goals shall not be guided merely by desires alone. It should be supported by our strength. We should know both our strengths and weaknesses.
While you leverage on your strength, work on weakness to match the efforts needed to reach our targets.
Theme 8: Forget anything that is beyond your reach.
Short Story 8: The Sour Grapes.
There is a loud and clear message in this story. When I was young, I was not sure why this story was told. But, in our present times, this story is extremely helpful and useful as a medicine to several ills in the society.
A fox was very hungry. He was walking along a grape farm. To quench my hunger, no harm in entering the farm the fox thought. On seeing a big bunch of luscious grapes hanging, its hunger increased.
It jumped trying to pick the grapes but since it could not reach it, it abandoned and went its way. Just to satisfy its mind, which was reeling with hunger and thirst, it said that the grapes must be sour.
Without tasting the grapes, why did the fox
decide the grapes would not be tasty?
1. What it could not achieve, it had spoken insultingly or (2) that it is useless to follow something that cannot be achieved formany and how to correct it is what can be understood.
There are many who compete for a position in a small space which is highly rewarding. The youngsters spend time in becoming a cricketer, a film actor, a political leader etc. They should understand their strength & weakness in time to change to alternate profession.
Perhaps this story should have been told for such people listed above.
Theme: Leading an impeccable life.
Know this:
(1) Very few among those who hold an official position, a public office wealthy are honest.
(2) In most societies, dishonesty is accepted as natural; the law of the land is lenient towards the dishonest;
(3) Honest among the people in a society, sometimes are uncomfortable to evil persons in the society.
(4) It requires a strong conviction and understanding of life fully to remain honest. Alternately fear for god or law, in committing sins may also be a reason for some one to be honest.
(5) Those who lead a spotless life. Do not gang up with like minded. That makes them vulnerable to attacks by evil doers in that society.
(6) Those special people among us, whom we refer to as men of knowledge, Gyanis, sadhus, sages and saints are honest, good and kind. They never become a victim to evil. Because, Goodness teamed with knowledge is a stronger than any one else.
(7) We understand that here is a “rule of the jungle”. This principle is also known as “the Survival of the fittest”. While we live no differently from animals, we pretend that we are different.
Theme: Leading an impeccable life.
Short Story 09.
Snake in the town:
This story tell you that anyone can lead an impeccable life. Yet be safe at the hands of their detractors.
The story is based on a parable of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. Now, read the
story.
Deep into a forest, under a Banyan tree, a
saint was teaching his disciples the benefitsof leading an impeccable life.
The saint further said, practice at the least one good principle in life For instance, practice non-violence against any other life.
Essentially this means,” do not bring grief to others”.
To reach the abode of God, you need to only practice this. There was no need for prayers. Thapas, (the penance) or any yoga asanas are redundant, the saint taught. We are unsure to what extent his disciples
appreciated this advice or practiced what he taught. A deadly poisonous cobra living in a pit close by decided to follow the teachings. of the saint.
It decided to give up the evil habits of a snake and live the life of the saints and took the saint’s blessings.
The saint was happy that the snake is looking for salvation.
The cobra thought that since the saint came from a city, living a life of good thoughts an
d deeds should be possible only in cities. It therefore, decided to migrate to the city.
The Cobra found, unlike forests, the city’s environment was polluted. It took a few more days to find even the minds of people were equally polluted.
During the initial few days, when the cobra went hunting for its prey, the people around were frightened and ran away. It took no time to realize that the snake was harmless. There after, the children watched the cobra hunting its food without fear.
Some of the school children stopped by and throw stones at the cobra, for fun. The snake did not react since it was following the saint’s teachings in words and spirit.
The children became bolder by day and one day caught the cobra by its tail and swung it around. This broke its bones and the cobra fell unconscious. The children went away thinking the cobra died. The cobra somehow managed to get back to its pit. It took many days for its health to recover. Finally some day, it slowly wriggled its way and reached the forest.
Cobra narrated the hardships it had faced in the city to the saint. He appreciated the cobra for its determination, against all odds.