Author: Priyanka Sharma

The Turtle that fell off the Stick

Once there lived a turtle named kambugriva in a pond. He had two swans as her best friends. They enjoyed the company of each other. All three meet on the bank of the river every day, talked about many things and exchanged many stories, before returning to their place at sunset. They lived happily and days passed away in this way.

One year there was no rain takes place there and lake started to dry. The swans got worried about the decreasing water level in the pond. They said to the turtle, “Dear, you will not be able to survive here anymore. All the water of the pond will soon dry up. We should have to do something to get ride from this problem.”

As the turtle was already aware about the problem he said to them, “Dear, please seek for an alternate pond which is full of water, where I lived happily without any worry. Then, you find a strong stick. The turtle continued, “When you find another pond, you can carry me to that pond with the help of the stick. I will hold the stick tightly with my mouth, and you both can hold the stick from either end and then we fly.”

According the plan the swans flew towards the distant pond and after sometime they found a pond which had much water in it. So they decided to carry the turtle in that pond. They returned back to turtle with a strong stick. They suggested the turtle, “Dear, everything seems to be fine. Please hold the stick tightly with your mouth and keep your mouth shut at all the time. You cannot speak during the fly rather you will fall off.”

Within few moments they started flying. After some time the turtle saw a town below during the fly. He looked the peoples of the town who were staring them. The peoples of the town start discussing, “Look at that! This is a different sight which is rarely seen. Two birds are carrying a turtle with the help of a stick”, they shouted in admiration.

On hearing all the conversation, the turtle opened her mouth, “What is all the conversation about?” She asked. Within few moments when she opened her mouth she falling down to the earth and the swans could not do anything to stop her.

As she fell down, the people of the town captured her and make a meal of her.

The wise indeed say:

Never fail to listen to the advice of your friends.

November 12, 2021
Charlie Chaplin

A day without laughter is a day wasted

Born on 16 April, 1889 in Walworth, South London as Charles Spencer Chaplin was not just a great comedian but a great person also. Charlie parents were estranged by around 1891 so he lived with his mother and brother in the district of Kennington. As his mother had no permanent source of income other than the occasional dressmaking and nursing that she did, so they were always living in the poverty and adversity. Charlie was then sent to a workhouse at the early age of seven as his mother was no more able to look after him.

We think too much and feel too little.

Charlie and his brother were sent to Norwood School in 1898, which was an institution for poor children. Charlie’s mother condition deteriorated as a result of developing a psychosis and then she was sent to Cane Hill mental asylum. She was in and out the mental asylum till her death in 1928. Charlie and his brother went to their father to live for some time. But he had became a severe alcoholic and then died two years later. In due course of time his brother joined the Navy whereas Charlie straggled the streets in search of food and a place to sleep.

Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.

Charlie joined the Eight Lancashire Lads clog-dancing troupe and toured English music halls for two years. Although he was appreciated for his dancing style but he himself was beginning to show interest in performing comedy acts. He came into the world of theatre at the age of 14. He played a number of roles and was appreciated for it. Then one day, there came the first call of destiny for this young boy. Charlie act in the play ‘Sherlock Holmes’ was so publicly appreciated that he was selected to play the role in three nationwide tours. Charlie stayed with this play for two and half years till he was 18.

By the time Charlie’s brother had decided to make a career in acting and had become a star in a prestigious comedy company. He also managed to secure a role for Charlie in the play. Although Charlie started himself with smaller roles in the play but he went on to star lead roles by 1909.

Nothing is permanent in this wicked world – not even our troubles.

In April 1910, his lead role in ‘Jimmy the Fearless’ was highly appreciated and he got a lots of attention from the public as well as from the press. Then he started off by joining a touring troupe for two years. He was highly appraised by the viewers and this increased his popularity in North America.

Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself.

In 1914 Charlie was called up to act in a motion picture and he made his debut with the movie ‘Making a Living’. Although the Charlie did not like comedy used in the films but he hoped it would be a platform for more good chances to come in future. Then he was soon seen in his legendary character of ‘The Tramp’ in the movie ‘Kid Auto Races at Venice’. Charlie adopted the character of the tramp in all his next movies. But soon he was engaged into a disagreement with the director and was reached on the verge of being fired.

I remain just one thing, and one thing only — and that is a clown. It places me on a far higher plane than any politician.

Charlie Chaplin in ‘City Lights’/Image © 1931 Warner Bros

But because Charlie was in demand that time he was given a chance to direct a movie with an assurance of $1500 in case it failed. But his movie ‘Caught in the Rain’ which was directed by himself became a big success. Gradually Charlie’s fan count was increasing and the comedy he did was becoming popular among the audience.

A man's true character comes out when he's drunk.

Charlie joined Essanay studio for $1,250 per week in late 1914. Here he released his movies, ‘A Night Out’, ‘The Champion’ and the best of them was ‘The Tramp’ (1915). At that time his popularity touched the sky. There was merchandise and comic strips of his characters sold in many shops and he became a cultural icon in America. When he renewed his contract, he became one of the highest paid artists in the world when he agreed to work with Mutual Studios for an astonishing $670,000 per year.

“To truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain, and play with it!" – Charlie Chaplin

Charlie success continued with films like ‘The Kid’, ‘The Gold Rush’, ‘City Lights’, ‘Modern Times’ and ‘The Great Dictator’. The character played by him was liked by the people and appreciated all over the world. His movies ran to packed audiences in more than 50 countries. Although Charlie came under many controversies later career regarding his personal life but his impression will remain forever and cannot be replaced in the next 100 years of world cinema. Charlie was a global icon who has the ability to relate with the common man and make anyone from a child to an old aged person laugh from the bottom of the heart at his various actions.

All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.

September 9, 2016
The Little Master, Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar was born on 24 April 1973 in Mumbai in a Maharashtrian family. He is regarded as one of the world’s greatest cricketers. Well-known for his incredible batting skills and his affection for record-breaking one-day scoring, Sachin’s giant success in cricket world in unmatched by any other international players, making him a true star for the sport.

Sachin Tendulkar was born in Dadar, Mumbai to Ramesh Tendulkar, a Marathi novelist and his wife, Rahni, who worked in the insurance industry. He was named after Sachin Dev Barman, Ramesh Tendulkar's favourite music director in bollywood. Tendulkar has three elder siblings: two half-brothers Nitin and Ajit, and a half-sister Savita from his father’s first marriage.

Sachin was grown up in Mumbai itself. Sachin parents were relatively humble and middle class, offering him reasonable educational options and a potentially bright future. On the other hand, Sachin took his education as a responsibility instead of as a chance and was known as an annoyer in his early years.

During his early years of school

During his early years of school, driven by his idol tennis star John McEnroe, he used to play tennis and start fights with other students of the school and eventually becoming known amongst the staff as troublemaker with a limited educational future. His mischievous attitude and eternal energy noticed by his half – brother Ajit, who then introduced Sachin to cricket in his teenager years.

While Sachin viewed schoolwork as nuisance and academics as a waste of time, he immediately took keen interest to cricket at a younger age. He practised continuously as a batsman, either on his own or with his friends. His skills and potential caught the attention of a well-known local cricket coach in Mumbai called Ramakant Achrekar.

Early Career

Ramakant Achrekar immediately noticed Sachin’s talent and suggested that he move to a new high school with more advanced cricket facilities. Sachin followed his advice and moved to the new high school soon after. In the new school, Sachin found a group of players that had the potential and ability to challenge him and help him to improve his skills more. Then he devoted his life to cricket with full concentration and drive that few would ever match.

After school time he spends hours in the training grounds and creating a betting system with his fellow players to keep himself encouraged. Sachin would place one rupee on the top of the stumps and challenge players to bowl him out. If they bowled out him, they would keep the one rupee. But if could survive for the whole training session, he would keep the one rupee. His betting strategy worked well and by the end of his training sessions at the school he had thirteen coins, proving his abilities as a skilled and devoted batsman.

Sachin entered the ranks of professional cricket in the late 1980s, he batting as a player for India against Pakistan and New Zealand. At age of just sixteen, he continued to take part in international cricket matches and rising up through the ranks of Indian cricket to become a star in his early twenties.

It was the time of his early twenties, Sachin emerged as one of the India’s top cricket skills. Sachin made his first century in a one day, batting as one of the India’s top batsman against Australia at age 21. His batting reached its climax in 1998 when he scored an outstanding and recording breaking three century during a single tour against Australia.

He continued to play for India for over a decade, taking part in game from the late 1990s up until 2012. Sachin set a number of run records throughout his long cricket career as a batsman and emerged as one of the leading batsman of the entire cricket world and an outstanding and record breaking player.

Sachin’s unique playing style and giant success made him ideal for many young players. His minimalistic attitude as a batsman, in which he deliberately limits his movements and avoids showing off his skills, has resulted in comparisons between Sachin Tendulkar and Sir Donald Bradman.

Widely regarded as one of the world’s finest cricket players, Sachin Tendulkar is an incredible influence for young people looking to find their path in life. A success as a teenager and a true star by his mid-twenties, Sachin Tendulkar turned around his life after being a distracted, confused oppressor during his early teens and childhood.

Thanks to the guidance of his coaches and his own incredible work ethic, Tendulkar emerged as one of the cricket world’s true stars. Take his focus and attitude to your heart and you can find your own success, whether it’s on the batting crease, in a business environment, or even in the arts.

In 1995 Sachin married Anjali Tendulkar after a five year courtship. Anjali is a paediatrician and six years older to him. Her father is a Gujarati industrialist and a bridge champion and her mother is a British social worker. Sachin and Anjali have two children, Sara and Arjun, born in 1997 and 1999 respectively.

April 24, 2016
The Unforgiving Monkey

Once there lived a king named Chandra. His sons were fond of monkeys so they have a number of monkeys as their pets. These monkeys were lived in the royal palace and were treated as royal pets. They ate the food which they liked and they looked after by royal servants with the best care. The monkeys ate all the time and have nothing to did, so they got fatter and fatter.
The king of the monkeys was very wise and he was great philosopher and a learned monkey which have knowledge about many fields of science. He wanted to teach the other monkeys and whenever he tried to do so, he failed as they completely absorbed in their royal lives and did not want to learn anything.
The princes also had two well built rams (Billy goats), which were used by the princes to carry the carriage used by the princes. One of the rams was fond of food and whenever he got chance, he creeped into the kitchen and ate whatever he liked. This all made the cooks very angry even they kept a watch on him, he reached into the kitchen and destroyed all the food. The cooks would through anything they had in their hands to harm the ram whenever he would be near the kitchen.
On day the king of the monkey noticed the cooks who were trying to hit the ram with sticks, earthen pots, pans and anything else which they had in their hand. He began to thought, “Such type of behaviour of the cooks May leads to accidents one day and the entire palace may suffer for this. What if they threw some dangerous thing one day?
Thus the king of the monkeys immediately called the other monkeys and said, “Dears, the behaviour of the cooks towards the ram can lead to something bad one day and we may lose anything. So we have to find a way to get rid from such type of accident.”
He continued, “Let us leave this place as soon as possible, otherwise we have to face some accident.”
But the other monkeys did not want to go back to the jungle as they were enjoying the royal services there. So they refused to go away to the jungle and decided to stay there. They thought that the king was getting old and so he having all types of stupid thoughts in his mind.
But the king of the monkeys decided to leave alone. He said to them, “Stupids, you are all fools that you not predict the approaching danger. But I cannot stay there as I value my life more than the foods served here. I shall leave this place at this time.”
Thus the king of the monkeys had left to the jungle alone. After few days the ram entered into the kitchen and started to eat some food that was prepared for the king. When the cook saw him he got very angry and he threw a half burnt log from the oven in hurry. The log hit the ram and as the body of ram was covered with wool, it immediately caught fire. The ram cried in pain and wandered here and there. He reached the stable and within few moments the dry grass of stable caught fire and then the whole stable was caught fire.
A state of extreme confusion and disorder created there and by the time the fire was blow out by the workers the horses suffered great burnings. Within few moments when the news reached the king, he felt very disappointed as such thing had happened with his favourite horses. He immediately called the surgeons to prescribe him remedy.
As the veterinary surgeons approached there, they consulted many scriptures and said to the king, “Highness, the wounds of the horses were very serious and they recover fast if they applied with monkey’s fat.”
Thus the king ordered his servants to catch all the pet monkeys and killed at once. Then the fat from their bodies were used to treat the horse’s wounds.
Within few days this news reached the king of the monkeys and as he heard the news he became very disappointed. He thought, “I know the monkeys were stupid not to pay attention to the warning but the king is heinous for doing this to his pets. It is totally wrong and I will make him pay for his evil actions.”
The king of the monkeys then left the food and water for many days as he was very disappointed. One day as he was moving in the jungle, he unknowingly reached a lake full of beautiful lotus. As he was very thirsty he decided to drink some water from the lake. As he approached near the lake, he noticed the footprints of both men and animals led to the lake but not a single footprint led away from the lake.
Thus he became very attentive and concluded there must be something wrong in this beautiful lake. He brought some hollow stem of the lotus and then used them as a pipe to drink water from a distance. While he was doing so, a monster appeared from the lake. He had a beautiful necklace around his neck. He warned, “I am a monster and I live in this lake. Whoever enters into this lake either to bath or drink water, ends up finally. But so many years, I have not seen anybody as wise as you. You drink the water from a distance where I cannot reach and touch you. I am very delighted with you and want to give you something whatever you want.”
Immediately the king of the monkey remembered that he wanted to take revenge. He said, “Tell me, how many can you eat? I have a king as my enemy and I want to take revenge from him. If you give me your necklace, I shall use it to convince the king and his servants to enter the lake.”
The monster agreed with him and said, “If they enter the lake I can eat all of them. Take this necklace and go ahead and bring as many you can.” Then the king of the monkey took the necklace from the monster and wore in his neck. He jumped tree to tree as fast as he can and reached the palace. He then went straight into the king’s court.
As soon as the king and the others saw the monkey wearing a beautiful necklace in his neck they became curious to know about it. They asked the king of the monkeys different types of questions.
The king of the monkeys said to the king, “O highness, while moving in the jungle, I reached near a large treasure that Kuber (God of treasures) has hidden. It is hidden inside the lake. And the positive thing is that when anyone take bath in the lake on a Sunday, can get the treasure as much as he want. I got this necklace from there and this is nothing as compare to the others present there. The diamonds and pearls are beyond the beauty.”
When the king heard this, he said, “Hey King of monkeys, if such lake really exist and please lead us to it. I want to see it with my own eyes and even take everybody in the palace with me.”
The king of monkeys agreed with the king and it was decided that they travel to the lake early morning of the next Sunday. As the day reached the king and the king of monkeys started to travel to the jungle and they were followed by ministers, servants, queens, princes and everybody else in the palace.
After some time as they reached the lake, everybody fascinated to see the beauty of the lake that was full of beautiful lotus. Then the king of the monkeys said, “Everybody should enter the lake at the same time to get the blessings if you do not do so then only the first few will receive the blessings. My king, you should wait for some time, till they all entered the lake. Then I will show you a special place to enter the lake.”
The king and everybody agreed with him and followed the instructions as he instructed. They started to enter into the lake and then one by one started to disappear. The king kept waiting outside for them to return with the treasures.
After a long time when the peoples did not return from the lake, the king get worried and asked the monkey, “O king of monkeys, why do they not return from the lake? What happening there? Why is it they take too much time?
Suddenly the king of the monkeys climbed up to the top of a tree and replied, “O evil king, the reality is that a monster lives in this lake that has eaten all your person. I have now killed all your family, as you have killed all my monkeys. Now I take revenge from you and the holy books say, it is not a crime to return evil for evil deeds.”
The king of the monkeys continued, “O king, I saved you from the monster. Now you may return the palace empty-handed and all alone.
As the king heard this he got very disappointed but he could not do anything now, so he returned to his palace after losing all his family and all people. And the king of the monkeys had his revenge.

The wise indeed say:

Greed surely brings disaster and destruction in the end.

April 2, 2016
The Four Treasure- Seekers

Once there lived four Brahmins in a town. They were very good friends but all were very poor. They always passed their time with each other and discussed the solution of their problem.
One day as they were discussing their problem they reached a conclusion. They concluded, “We should leave this place, where we are suffering from poverty and have nothing else. Let us seek some other place to prosper in life.”
As they all agreed, they meet their friends and relatives and started on their journeys. After sometime they reached a town and they decided to stay there for some time. There was a temple of Lord Shiva near the bank of a river. First they bath in the river and then worshipped the God in the temple. In the temple they meet Yogi and then they went along with him to his hermitage.
The Yogi asked them, “Who are you? Where do you come from? Why did you come in this town? And what do you want from me? Immediately the Brahmins explained their condition to him, “Sir, we are suffering from poverty in our town and if we did not leave our town we would die there. So we come on this journey to earn money. You are a skilful Yogi, and we believe that you must have wonderful powers. Please guide us to the path of earning money for our livelihood.”
They continued, “We devote ourselves to you and we are ready to follow whatever path you guide us to follow. Please help us. We need you.”
Yogi took pity on their condition and agreed with them. He then took out four cotton wicks and gave each of them a wick. He said to them, “Sons, I gave you a wick in your hand, with this wick you go to path that takes you all to the Himalayas. Listen carefully, keep walking till one of the wick of you drop accidently. Then locate the place where the wick drops accidently from you, that location is the place where you find a hidden treasure. Dig the place and take the treasure and then return home with the collected treasure.”
Then the four Brahmins took the blessings from the Yogi and then they started their journey towards the Himalayas. They travelled for many days and one day the wick of one of them dropped accidently. They reached the place and dug that place where the cotton wicked had fallen. He found there a treasure filled with copper. Then the Brahmin whose wick had fallen said to the others, “Come on My Friends, there is too much treasure for even four of us to carry it. Let us collect it and return to our homes. We are now rich men and we need not to go further to earn money now.”
The other three Brahmins discussed and then said, “Dear, you found this copper treasure which is in your destiny. We may be destined to some richer treasure. You collect all your copper treasure and return home. We will continue our journey till we reached our goal.”
Thus the Brahmin collected all his treasure and then started travelling to his home. All the other three Brahmins continued their journey with their wicks in their hands. They continued travelling for many days and one day accidently one of them dropped his wick. Then he reached the place and dug the place where the cotton wick had fallen. He uncovered a treasure filled with silver. He said to his friends, “Dear friends, come here, there is too much treasure here and even much more than three of us to carry. Wes should collect it and go home. We are now rich and you need not go further to earn money.”
Then the two other Brahmins discussed and said, “Dear, you found this silver treasure which is in your destiny. We may be destined to some richer treasure. You collect all your silver treasure and return home. We will continue our journey till we reached our goal.”
Thus the Brahmin collected all his treasure and then started travelling to his home, while the other two Brahmins continued their journey with their wicks in their hands.
They travelled for many days and one day the wick of one of the Brahmins dropped accidently from his hand. He reached the place and dug the place where the wicked had fallen. He uncovered a treasure filled with Gold, he got surprised and said to his friends, “Dear friends, come here, there is too much treasure here and even much more than to carry by both. Wes should collect it and go home. We are now rich and you need not go further to earn money.”
Then the fourth Brahmin replied to him, “O stupid, don’t you understand what is all happening. First copper then silver and now it is gold. You all get the treasure which is in your destiny. I will sure now that next time I will find a costlier treasure of like diamonds or something else. You may collect all your treasure and return home but I will continue my journey. I am sure I will found a costlier treasure which is in my destiny.”
The other Brahmin said, “If you want to continue your journey then you definitely do but I will return home only with you. I will stay here and guard this treasure of Gold till you not find your treasure. After that we will return home together when you return with your treasure here.”
Therefore the fourth Brahmin started his the rest journey with his wick in his hand. He travelled for many days and one day he felt very restless. He was very thirsty and felt very hot. Within few moments he missed his way and then started moving in circles. While he was trying to find the right direction, a man came there with a spinning wheel around his head. His body was messy with blood. As the fourth Brahmin was felt so tired and thirsty so instead of helping him, he asked the man, “Sir, can you please tell me where I can get some water, as I feel very thirsty. Whoever you are I don’t want to know but please tell me quickly.”
As the man heard these words within few moments, the wheel moved from the other man to the fourth Brahmin. Then the wheel started spinning around the Brahmin’s head and it gave so much pain to him which he cannot bear. Thus he cried in pain, “What nonsense is this? What is the meaning of all this? How the wheel shifted itself from your head to mine? Please help me to get rid of this.”
The man replied him, “Dear, when someone carrying a miraculous cotton wick in his hand is come here, and speak to you as you came here. Only then you will get rid from this wheel, and this wheel attaches itself to him.”
The Brahmin did not understand him and told him to explain. The man explained to him, “I do not remember how long I have been here. It was during the reign of king Rama, that I got a magical wick from a Yogi to get rid from my poor condition. But out of my greed I continued my journey even after I got treasure many times. I wanted the most costly treasure. Thus in this way I met a man here under the same circumstances as you found me. And in this way I got this wheel around my head from his head. You will be free from hunger, thirst, aging or death but you have to bear this pain.”
He continued, “I know it was the Kuber (God of wealth) who made this wheel so that no one can approach this place and steal the treasure. And only a man with a magical wick in his hand can reach this place.”
As the other man finished himself, went away from there and the forth Brahmin was left alone. On the other hand the other Brahmin was worried about his friend as his friend was not return still. So he decided to search his friend. As he followed the path and reached the place where his friend was suffering from pain due to a spinning wheel around his head. His body was messy with blood.
The third Brahmin immediately asked him, “Dear, what happened to you? What is all this? How can I help you?
The forth Brahmin was in very pain and tears were in his eyes. He replied, “Dear, I understand that I was destined for this. This is in my fate”. And then he explained the whole story of the wheel to his friend.
When the forth Brahmin heard all this, there was nothing which he could do for him. So he started to leave and said, “Dear, even being a intellectual person, you lacked the sense to control your greed. You did not satisfy with Gold as you want pearls or diamonds or something more costly things. Now there is no point to in giving you company, as no one can help you. I should leave this place and return home.”
Thus the forth Brahmin started his journey to his home and the forth Brahmin was left all alone there in pain.

The wise indeed say:

Greed only brings misery.

April 2, 2016
The Four Learned Fools

Once there lived four Brahmins, in a certain town. They were good friends and always lived together. As they were naive Brahmins, so they decided to study hard and gain knowledge. After which they would be able to earn money by using their knowledge. It was decided that they would go to a different town to gain knowledge.
As decided they all started travel to a new town. When they reached the new town, they joined a saint to study further and acquire knowledge. They studied hard for twelve years and acquired knowledge. They learned in many fields of knowledge and mastered in that fields.
One day, they discussed, “Dears, now we have acquired sufficient knowledge in many fields of sciences. So it is the right time to start to earn money by using our knowledge. Let us ask our teacher’s permission to leave this place.” As decided they reached their teacher and asked for permission to them to leave that place. Their Guru gave them permission and blessed them for success.
They started their journey with all the holy books (shastras) they have with them. After travelling for some time they came across an intersection point, where the path was divided into two different directions. They began to think which path they should select to go further.
At the same time, a merchant’s son had died in a nearby town. While they stood in the path considering which path was right, a huge funeral procession came across them. The procession ha several people and they all were going to the cremation ground.
Conferring the scriptures of the shastras, one of the Brahmins said, “The right path which we have to follow is the path taken by these great men.” They all agreed with him and thus they decided to take the same path as that of the funeral procession. After some time the people reached the cremation place and then they all stopped there. They started the funeral proceedings further. Then they started discussing what course of action they should take next.
While they all were discussing they saw a donkey nearby. Consulting the scriptures of the shastras, a Brahmin said, “Dears, a true friend is one who stands beside you on all occasions. Be the occasion jolly or sad does not matter.”
Thus they decided to accept the donkey as their true friend. They washed his hoofs with water first and then hug the donkey and kissed him.
At the very same time, they saw a camel coming towards them from a long distance. Immediately by consulting their scriptures of the shastras, one of the Brahmins said, “virtues walk rapidly.” And then they agreed that the camel which coming towards them must be virtue in the flesh and nothing else.
At the same time another Brahmin on consulting his scriptures, said, “A good friend should always lead his friend to path of virtue.”
Thus they immediately stopped the camel and introduced it with the donkey. So they tied the donkey with the camel in order to lead their friend to path of virtue. Then the camel started dragging the donkey, while continuing his journey.
At the same time the donkey’s master who was a washerman saw the four Brahmins tied his donkey to the camel. He got very angry by seeing this and then chased them with a stick. On being chased, the four Brahmins ran way for their lives and they reached a river. As they reached the river they saw that a leaf of holy tree was floating on the water of the river.
Immediately one of the Brahmins said, "Holiness carries one across the river of life!" and then he jumped into the river on the holy leaf to cross the river. But he was unable to swim and then immediately began to drown.
When another Brahmins saw him being dragged away by the river, he jumped into the river to save him. He caught him by the neck but the flow of the currents were very strong, so he was not able to bring his friend to the bank of the river. At the same time he immediately began to think and remembered that, “When a intelligent man knows that he could not succeed in his work while completing the whole at the same time, he would sacrifice half and then work with the rest.”
Then he immediately took out his sword and cut his friend into two parts. Then he drag him to the bank of the river but at that time he had already died. When they came to know that they lost his friend they regretted for that and then the remaining three Brahmins continued their journey.
After sometime they reached a village. As the villagers saw them they welcomed them in a very friendly manner and offered them place to stay. Then the villagers decided that three different families will serve them food to eat.
One of the Brahmins was served with sweet food. He thought, “Long tactics will surely take a man to destruction!" Thus he refused to eat the food and remained hungry throughout the night.
Another Brahmin was served with a bowl foamy soup. He began to think that he learned from the scriptures, “Whatever is foamy and distended does not stay for long time.” So he refused to eat and remained hungry all over the night, too.
The third family serves the Brahmin a tasty food with a hole in the middle. He began to think, “Defects are an impending sign of approaching danger!" Thus he refused to eat the food and remained hungry all over the night, too.
In the morning when the villagers came to know that they did not have the dinner served for them, they laughed at them and mocked them.
The Brahmins got very angry and they decided to leave the village. As they began to start their journey, the villagers went with them up to a long distance. They all mocking and laughing at them all the time on their journey.

The wise indeed say:

Empty knowledge brings ridicule.

April 2, 2016
The Brahmin’s Dream

Once there lived a poor Brahmin named Swabhavakripna, in a small village. He lived alone as he had no friends or relatives. He used to beg for alms in the village for his living. He was also a miser and he always kept whatever little food he received as alms in a pot. He put the pot beside his bed. He kept a watch on the pot and he ate only when he was very hungry and cannot bear his hunger. He lived his life in this way.

One day, he received a large quantity of rice gruel in alms. As he reached home he filled the pot with rice gruel first and then ate the remaining. He was very happy to have his pot full of rice. He kept a watch continuously on the pot while he was lay awake in his bed.

After a long time, he fell asleep. As he slept he started dreaming about his pot full of rice gruel. He dreamt that there was a badly famine in the village and he sold out his pot full of rice gruel for hundred silver coins. As he got such high money he bought a pair of goats and within few months his goat gave birth to kids. And then he sold all his goats for some buffaloes and cows.

Soon, the buffaloes and cows gave birth to kids and they also gave a lot of milk. He used to do business of milk and milk products like butter and curd. In this way he a very rich and popular person. Everyone know him and want to meet him.

He kept dreaming that then he bought some horses and a big house which have four buildings. He became so popular that other Brahmins who were very wealthy, was so impressed with him that they want to marry their daughter with him. Within few months he got married with a beautiful girl in a grand ceremony.

After some time his wife gave birth to a son. He named his son as Soma Sharma. His son was very naughty. He did not listen to them and would play and make noise all time.

One day the Brahmin scolded him and asked to stop but he would not listen. When he said to her wife for this, she could not hear him as she was busy in her household activities. Swabhavakripna became very angry and he kicked his wife. As the Brahmin was in dream, he kicked in air and suddenly his leg hit his pot. The pot broke immediately and all the rice gruel spilled down. This all woke him up.

Then he realised that he had been dreaming. He also realized that all the rice gruel he had collected and was happily dreaming about was lost now. He became very disappointed.

The wise indeed say:

One should not build castles in the air

April 2, 2016
The Lion that sprang to Life

Once there lived four young Brahmins in a certain town. There were very good friends and always worked together. Although all four were young but one of them was a complete ignorant in matters of knowledge and learning but he had a good common sense. All the other three were very learned and educated persons in matters of Holy Scriptures, but they lacked common sense as the first one had.

One day when they all were assembled, they decided, “Dears, the knowledge that we have about the holy scriptures worth nothing, until we cannot impress the king or otherwise to earn money. We have to prove our knowledge.” Thus they decided to earn money by using their learning in Holy Scriptures. As the fourth one was not learned so the other three decided to leave him behind. The three agreed to this point and one of them said, “What good is common sense. What one does with his common sense? His talents would not help us in earning money, let us leave him behind and we all three move ahead.”

The fourth one was very disappointed at this decision and even after much insistent by him, they all decided to take him with us. They agreed, “It will not be right to behave like such a manner to a dear friend. So we have to take him with us. Even if he will not able to earn money we should share a part of our earning with him.” they all agreed and as decided they all started travelling.

While they were travelling through the jungle, one of them noticed the bones of a dead lion, lying on their way. As he saw, he immediately said to the others, “Let us start using our learning. It is the time to test our learning. We have dead lion in front of us, we test our learning to bring life into it.”

While all the three Brahmins agreed but the fourth Brahmin did not agree with them. He tried hard to left this idea but no one even listened him and they all started holy rituals to breathe life into the lion. One of the Brahmins started collecting the bones of the lion and by using his learning created a skeleton of the lion.

Then the other Brahmin came forward and started using his learning and within few moments the lion was covered with flesh and skin. Now the lifeless lion stood in front of them and then the third Brahmin came ahead and initiated rituals to put life into the lion.

At this the fourth Brahmin worried and said them, “O My Friends, what are you doing all this. If the lion comes to life then he will kill all of us. Please stop doing all this and immediately leave this place.”

The other Brahmins laughed at him, “Dear, after reaching so close to our aim, are we going to waste our knowledge? You say so, because you have not such knowledge and jealous of our learning. But we would not stop now.”

The fourth Brahmin understood that there was no point in arguing with them. So he decided to climb up the tree. He requested them, “Dears, Please give me a moment. I wish to climb up a tree before you make use of our learnings.”

As they agreed with him, the fourth Brahmin immediately climbed up the tree and saw the third Brahmin use his learning to put life into the lion. Within few moments the lion became live and he noticed that the three Brahmins were celebrating their successful functioning of their learning.

The lion immediately attacked on them and killed them at the spot. The fourth Brahmin saw all from above the tree but he could do nothing but wait kill the lion had gone. As the lion went away he climbed down the tree and returned home alone.

The wise indeed say:

Common sense is preferable to knowledge.

April 2, 2016
The Musical Donkey

Once there lived a washerman. He had a donkey named Uddhata. Throughout the day, the donkey would help the washerman and carried the clothes but during the night, he was set free by the washerman to eat the green grass in a nearby farm. The donkey grazed in the nearby field for few days but after sometime he reached into the nearby farm where a number of vegetables grew. The donkey ate the vegetables of his choice there and then he returned to the washerman’s house.

One night when the donkey was grazing in the nearby farm, he met a jackal there. First he got feared with the jackal but after sometime they became good friends and then they started meeting every night.

As the donkey was very fat, he was able to break the boundary marker of the farms and then the jackal easily entered the farm. While the donkey ate on the vegetables the jackal ate the poultry on the farm. But before the sunrise, they both return to their homes to meet again next night. This all continued for many days and days passed away in this way.

One night when they both were at the farm, the donkey said to the jackal, “Dear, I want to sing tonight, as the moon is full and beautiful tonight. What do you want to listen.” The jackal got feared and suggests him, “Uncle, we are here to steal and he should keep quiet as possible. And your voice is not pleasant as you think and not so smooth, can be heard from a long distance. It will wake up the farmers who are sleeping at some distance and we will caught by them. Please don’t do this.

The jackal continued, “Please uncle, eat as much you like but forget about singing. It may get us into trouble. When the donkey heard this he became very angry and he said, “My Dear, I know you are a wild animal so you don’t know about the music. Thus you don’t appreciate the music. I want to sing a melodious so. Wait till you hear it then you understand who melodiously I would sing.”

When the jackal understood that the donkey was firmed to sing, he did not want to take any risk. He said, “Dear, if you really want to sing, then please wait till I go outside the boundary to keep a watch on the farmers.” Then the jackal immediately went away outside the boundary and hid himself. On the other hand the donkey started singing at the top of his voice.

As he started, the farmers heard the donkey braying, they could see easily in the full moon light that the donkey was in their farm. This all made the farmers very angry and they chased the donkey with sticks. As they approached near to the donkey, they beat him so hard that the donkey got hurt very much and he fell on the ground. Then they tied a wooden mortar around his neck and let him go.

When the donkey returned through the broken boundary, the jackal saw him and he began to laugh at him. He said, “Uncle, that was such a musical Raaga! I enjoyed it very much and I saw the farmers were also enjoyed your song and thus they rewarded you with this necklace.”

The wise indeed say:

There is always a proper place and time for doing anything.

April 2, 2016
The Tale of Two Fishes and a Frog

Once there lived two fishes named, Sahasrabuddhi and Satabuddhi in a big pond. They both had their common friend, a frog named Ekabuddhi. They were close friends and loved each other company very much. They spent their time together on the bank of the pond. They shared many stories most of the time.

One day when they were at the bank of the pond and played together, they saw a few fishermen approaching there. They had nets and big baskets with them, which had a number of fishes that had caught few moments ago.

While they approached the ponds, they noticed that the pond was full of big fishes. They became very happy on seeing this and one of them said to the others, “Dears, we will come here tomorrow, as we have a number of fishes at this time and it’s all the evening time. This pond is not very deep and is full of fishes. We have never caught fishes from this pond, so we catch fishes from here tomorrow.”They all agreed to came the pond the next morning, and then they went away to their home.

On hearing so the frog depressed very much and said, “O My Friends, these fishermen surely come to the very morning, so we have to decide what to do now, whether to run away or hide.” But the fishes did not care much about all this and one of them said, “O dear Frog, It is just a talk of few fishermen. Don’t worry about this, they will not return. And even if they come here, I know a number of tricky water movements, by which I save myself and my family easily. So you don’t worry at all.”

The second fish agreed with the first one and said, “Dear, I am as capable in tricky water movements as you. I will be able to save myself and my family too. I support you for not leave our ancestor’s homes for just some talks of few passing fishermen. We have to face them with all might.”

As the frog heard this, he did not agree with them and said, “My Dear Friends, I am not agree with you and I know just one thing that I can forecast danger. You may stay here, but I cannot see my family in any danger, so I will leave this pond with my family to some other pond before morning.”

As the frog finished his point, he went away with his family but the fishes did not care all about. The very morning, the fishermen came there and cast their nets all over the pond. As their nets were very big, they caught many fishes, frogs, crabs and tortoises in the very first attempt.

Sahasrabuddhi and Satabuddhi tried many tricks to run away but none of their tricks worked. At last they both were caught and when the fishermen dragged their nets on the bank of the pond they were already dead.

As they both were largest fishes among all the fishes the fishermen caught, they were very happy and carried Sahasrabuddhi and Satabuddhi separately when they returned to their homewards.

On the other hand the frog, Ekabuddhi, had already found another well for shelter. But he was worried about their friends so he reached the surfaces of the pond. When he reached he saw the fishermen returning with his friends with their nets full of water creatures. He became very sad.

He told his wife, “They both were very talented but they lacked the only talent that was most important at this time and at last were caught. And I may have only one talent, but I got success to protect my family from them.”

The wise indeed say:

At the first hint of danger, act quickly to save yourself.

April 2, 2016