Don't harm others, but...

This is a popular Ramakrishna story. There was a small village nearby a forest. A terrible poisonous snake lived on a lane going towards the forest. Everyone in the village was scarred of the snake and avoided going in the lane, as it bites anyone going in the lane.

One day, a swamiji (religious guru, monk) was passing through the village and about to enter the lane. The boys on the village ran towards him and said “Revered swamiji, please don’t go that way. A venomous snake lives over there.' 'What of it, my good children?' said the Swamiji. 'I am not afraid of the snake. I am always in the thinking of God and no one can harm me.’ So saying, he continued on his way along the lane. But the boys, being scarred, did not accompany him.

The snake noticed a passing man and moved swiftly toward him with upraised hood. But on seeing the swamiji and his kind look, it could not harm him. The swamiji recited a mantra, and the snake lay at his feet like an earthworm. The swamiji said: 'Look here. Why do you go about doing harm? Come, I will give you a holy word. By repeating it you will learn to love God. Ultimately you will realize Him and so get rid of your violent nature.' Saying this, he taught the snake a holy word and initiated him into spiritual life. The snake bowed before the teacher. The swamiji told the snake ‘Repeat this sacred word', 'and do no harm to anybody.' And then the swamiji moved on.

Some days passed and the boys in the village noticed that the snake would not bite. They threw stones at it. Still it showed no anger; it behaved as if it were an earthworm. One day one of the boys came close to it, caught it by the tail, and, whirling it round and round, dashed it on the ground and threw it away. The snake vomited blood and became unconscious. It could not move. So, thinking it dead, the boys went their way.

The snake regained its consciousness after some time. Slowly and with great difficulty it dragged itself into its hole; its bones were broken and it could scarcely move. Many days passed. The snake became a mere skeleton covered with a skin. Now and then, at night, it would come out in search of food. For fear of the boys it would not leave its hole during the day-time. Since receiving the sacred word from the teacher, it had given up doing harm to others. It maintained its life on dirt, leaves, or the fruit that dropped from the trees.

About a year later the swamiji came that way again and looked for the snake. The boys told him that it was dead. But he couldn't believe them. He knew that the snake would not die before attaining the fruit of the holy word with which it had been initiated. He went to the lane and searching here and there, called it by the name he had given it. Hearing the teacher's voice, it came out of its hole and bowed before him with great reverence. ‘How are you?' asked the swamiji. 'I am well, sir', replied the snake. 'But', the teacher asked, 'why are you so thin?' The snake replied: 'Revered sir, you ordered me not to harm anybody. So I have been living only on leaves and fruit. Perhaps that has made me thinner.'
The snake had become so soft it could not be angry with anyone. It had totally forgotten that the boys had almost killed it.
"The swamiji said: 'it can't be mere want of food that has reduced you to this state. There must be some other reason. Tell me.' The snake said: 'Yes, revered sir, now I remember. The boys one day dashed me violently against the ground. They are ignorant, after all. They didn't realize what a great change had come over my mind. How could they know I wouldn't bite or harm anyone?'
The swamiji exclaimed: 'what a great fool are you? You don't know how to protect yourself? I asked you not to bite, but I didn't ask you not to hiss. Why didn't you scare them by hissing?'

Moral of the story: Don't harm others, but protect yourself.

Rude Elephant and small sparrow – Power of teamwork

Once upon a time, there lived a rogue elephant in a forest. It was very big and strong and did not give respect to any animals in the forest. It was very rude and arrogant, because of its size, and harmed all other animals. It was very proud about its size and used to stamp down the small animals that came in its way. All animals in the forest were scarred on this elephant and tried to avoid going in front of him.

In the same forest, there lived a sparrow with her husband on a banyan tree. They built a nest and they also had some small lovely kids (baby sparrows) in the nest. One afternoon, this rude elephant came under the tree unable to bear the heat of the sun. Suddenly in a fit of rage, the elephant broke a branch of the tree on which the nest was built. Unfortunately, all the baby sparrows got crushed though the parents were saved. The she-sparrow was full of grief and began weeping for her babies. It felt helpless in front of the huge elephant, but somehow wanted to teach a lesson to the arrogant elephant.

A woodpecker, a close friend of the sparrow, heard her crying and moved by her grief asked her, “Why are you crying, my friend?” The she-sparrow said, “The wicked elephant has destroyed my offspring. If you are a true friend of mine suggest a way to kill him”. The woodpecker consoled her and told her that he knew a fly and she would definitely help them, to kill the elephant.

Both of them together went to seek the help of the fly. On meeting the fly, the woodpecker said, “This is my dearest friend. The wild elephant has crushed her babies. You have to find a way to kill that elephant. We need your help.” The fly replied, “One of my friends is a frog. Let us go to him and take his help too”. The she-sparrow, the woodpecker and the fly went to the frog and narrated the whole incident.

The frog said, “We may be small, but if we are united, we can definitely teach a good lesson to the huge elephant. Do what I tell you. Dear Fly, you go to the elephant when the sun is high in the sky and hum a sweet tune into his ears. When he closes his eyes in delight, the woodpecker will scoop his eyes out. Like this, he will become blind. When he will get thirsty, he will look for water. I will go to a marshy land and begin croaking there. Thinking that there is water, the elephant will come there. He will sink into the marshy area and die.”

The next day in the noon, all the three played out the plan and the elephant was killed, when he drowned into a marshy area after being blinded by the woodpecker, when he closed his eyes in response to the music of the fly. Thus, with the smartness of all the three small animals, the sparrow took her revenge on the elephant.

Morals:
However big and strong you are, never harm others.
Even if you are small, with right friends and an excellent plan, you can take on big enemies.
Always think it is possible, you can do the impossible.

Select your friends wisely

In a forest, all animals were scarred of the lion, which used to kill any animal that came into its sight. An ass and a fox entered into a pact that they would become friends and would try to help each other from the lion.

One day, the fox suddenly encountered the lion on its way. To save its life, the fox tried to negotiate with the lion. It said, “pls leave me now. I’ll get you the ass for your lunch. It is a good friend of mine and will do what ever I say” The lion was also not very hungry at that time and let the fox go.

The fox went to the ass and said ”I have found a way for us to escape from the lion. Come I’ll show you how.” The ass also went with the fox. The fox cunningly pushed the ass into a deep pit and went to the lion. “I have trapped the ass for you to eat. Pls spare me”

The lion had a look at the ass, which was trapped inside the pit and instantly killed the fox for its lunch. It had decided to eat the ass later at leisure, as anyhow it was already secured.

Morals:

Be careful in identifying your friends.
If you want to fool your friend, you’ll be fooled first
You reap what you sow

Price of Revenge

That was a beautiful forest with a large meadow. A horse was grazing in that place for quite some time. The horse was all alone, enjoying that vast meadow. One day, a stag intruded into this place and started grazing there. The horse felt its territory was invaded by the stag and it didn’t like it, even though there were enough grass for both the horse and the stag.

One day, it spotted a hunter in the forest and requested his help to punish the stag. The hunter had agreed cheerfully. But he also sought the horse’s help “ I can not hunt the stag, as it runs very fast. Let me mount on you and together we can chase the stag. Using my weapon, we can easily kill the stag”

The horse readily agreed. As planned, the hunter mounted himself on the horse and they chased the stag and the hunter killed the stag with his spear. The horse was very pleased with the revenge. There was no one now to share his grass. It began to thank the hunter for his help, but the hunter said,” No, do not thank me. I did not know until now how useful you could be to me. I should thank you, as from now on I’ll keep you as my servant”

From that time, the horse has become a slave of the hunter.

Moral:

Taking revenge on somebody may put you into deeper trouble
The price of revenge is always high

Mr. Turtle

A rich little boy had a strange pet animal. A turtle! He used to rear it in a pond in his big garden. Every day, he used to watch the turtle cheerfully swimming in the pond.

One day, he found the turtle lying on its back, lifeless and still, beside the pond. He was heartbroken. He was crying inconsolably. His father tried his best to console him, “Don’t cry, my son. We’ll arrange a lovely funeral for Mr. Turtle. We’ll make a lovely little coffin. We’ll line it with costly silk. We’ll get a beautiful headstone for his grave with Mr. Turtle’s name carved on it. Then, we’ll get fresh flowers placed on it every day.

The little boy dried his eyes and became very enthusiastic about the project. When all was ready, a cortege was formed - Father, mother, the boy’s close friends, gardener, driver and some neighbors - began to move solemnly towards the pond to bring the body. But, to their surprise, they could not find the body there. It had vanished.

Suddenly the turtle emerged from the water merrily. It was alive!

The boy stared at the turtle in a bitter disappointment, then told his father “Let’s kill the turtle”

Moral:

Sometimes the obsession makes one inhuman
Kill the obsession not the turtle

Two thieves

Long long ago, one late evening, two thieves were entering into an inn, on the way back from their hard days work! Both of them had looted a horse each. They wanted to make sure that the next day they would leave with their respective horse.

So, they devised a method. They have decided to measure the length of the tails so that next day they could identify their respective horses without any problem. The first thief’s horse measured three feet one inch. The second thief’s horse measured three feet one and quarter inch. They both were pretty satisfied with the measurements and retired for the day.

The next day morning, when the started to leave from the place, they measured the length of the tails again to identify their respective horse.

The first horse measured three feet one and half inch. The second horse also measured three feet one and half inch! They were very confused and both of them were quarrelling with each other claiming the stronger horse was theirs.

The in-charge of the inn was noticing the quarrel and asked them for the reason. When he understood the reason for the quarrel, he wondered “I was watching both of you when you were walking in yesterday. You came with a white horse and the other with a black horse, Then, why are you fighting now?!

Moral:

Always look for simple solutions.
Most of the time, we confuse our self by complicated solutions!
We can make our life easier by having simple rules.

What is Beautiful and what is ugly?

A stag was drinking water in a pond and had a look at its own reflection on the water. It thought, “what a beautiful horns I have. So sturdy, yet so graceful. This would save me in any combat, for sure. But look at my legs! They are so thin and so weak. It is very shameful to have such an ugly pair of legs. It is a wonder that these legs can carry my weight at all”

At that moment, a lion approached the pond for having water and noticed this beautiful stag. The lion was so hungry, and about to pound on the stag. The stag started running very fast, in order to save its life. It ran all over the plains free of trees, chased fiercely by the lion. Its ‘ugly’ legs carried the stag so well that it maintained a very safe distance ahead and the lion could not catch it.

But, when it had to pass through a woody place, the stag’s horns were caught by the overhead branches. Before the stag could release itself from the branches, the lion reached it and instantly killed it.

During the final moments, the stag thought, “how foolish I have been. The things I doubted and despised saved me, while those which I trusted and admired have brought about my end”

Moral:
Appearances can be deceptive.
What you think as your weakness could prove to be your real strength.
Look beyond the appearances, and recognize real strengths and weaknesses.

Ego !

Once there was a sculptor, who could make perfect wax models. His wax models were so perfect that it was almost impossible to differentiate the original from the reproduction. He had been very popular in his city and everyone was admiring his rare talent.

One day, he learnt that the angel of death was searching for him. He had decided to somehow dodge his death. He had reproduced a dozen wax models of himself. When the angel came down to pick this guy, she was at loss to know which of the thirteen specimens before her was the sculptor, so she left them all alone and returned to heaven.

This happened for quite sometimes, when ever the angel came for the sculptor, she would get confused and would go back.

Being an expert of the human nature, the angel came up with a clever idea. She said “ sir, you must be a genius to have succeeded in making such perfect reproduction of yourself. However, I have discovered a mistake in your work, just one tiny flaw”

The sculptor immediately jumped out and shouted, “impossible! Where is the flaw?”

“Here it is!” said the angel as she picked up the sculptor from among the reproductions and took him off.

Moral:
While our skills take us high, our ego pulls us down!

As Prof Bala Balachandran of Great Lakes Institute of Management puts it,
I Go, YOU Go, Why ‘E’go?

The goose that laid golden egg (New Version!)

Long Long ago, there lived a farmer in a countryside. He was very poor and found it very difficult to make ends meet with his earnings. He met a saint in the forest who used to be mostly in meditation, under a huge tree. He requested the saint to help him tide over his poverty.

The saint gave him a special goose, which could lay golden egg. Every day, the goose laid one beautiful and glittering golden egg. The farmer would collect the egg and sold it in the market and made lot of money.

Soon he has become very rich and leading a very happy life. But, after some time, he had become very impatient with his goose, which could give only one golden egg a day. He thought, this goose might have lot of eggs inside and decided to get all of them at once. One evening, he killed the goose and cut open its stomach. To his horror, there was no golden egg inside and he had lost his valuable possession.

With no more income from the goose, the former become poor again!

Moral:
Think before you act.
You should not be greedy
Those who have plenty and want more may loose all they have.



New Version:

This story happened very recently! The farmer’s great grandson had heard about this story. He felt sorry for his great grandfather, in fact, he was even very angry with him. Because of his foolish deed, this guy is also into poverty.

One day when he went inside the forest he found another saint meditating under a tree. Reminded of his great grand father’s source of the extraordinary goose, he also requested the saint for a goose. This saint was also kind enough to gift him a goose, which can lay golden egg.

From the next day onwards, he was getting a golden egg every day. He has been selling that egg in the market and becomes rich again. However, the greediness is still there in his blood! He has been looking at ways to get more eggs, without killing the goose.

One day, he happens to meet a scientist, who is specializing in cloning. Cloning is a scientific method of multiplying identical living things. The scientist explained about this method and also told him that this method is very expensive.

From the next day onwards, the farmer started saving some money from the selling of golden egg. When he got enough money, he approached the scientist and requested him to clone his goose. Through this, he got another goose, which can also lay golden egg every day! His source of income now has doubled!

Over a period of time, with the help of the scientist, he could get multiple geese through cloning and has become very very rich!

Moral:
Think before you act!
Learn from the mistakes
Think differently to solve problems.
It takes money to make more money

Untidy Neighbour

A woman was very unhappy with her neighbour. She always felt that the neibhour does not bother about cleanliness.
She complained to her visiting friend,
“ You should see how dirty she maintains her house. It is almost a disgrace to live in the same locality as her’s. Take a look at the cloths she has hung out on the hangers. Look at the towel there, see the black streaks on it”

The friend walked up to the window and said, “I think the cloths are pretty clean my dear friend. Look at your window. The black streaks are on your window”

Moral:
It is better to correct ourselves, before finding fault with others.

Hotdog Story

This story is about a man who once upon a time was selling Hotdogs by the roadside.
He was illiterate, so he never read newspapers.
He was hard of hearing, so he never listened to the radio.
He was so busy preparing and selling Hotdogs, so he never had time to watch the television.
But was very enthusiastic and was selling lots of hotdogs.
He was very courtesies with his customers and always kept their interest in his mind while selling his Hotdogs.
His customers liked his hotdogs very much and more and more of customers started visiting his store.
His sales and profit went up.
He bought better and bigger buns. He also ordered best possible sausages for the Hotdog.
This brought still more customers into his store.
He ordered more and more raw material and buns and used to sell more.
He recruited a few more supporting staff to serve more customers.
He had expanded his business to other parts of the town.
Over a period of time, he had set up more than twenty stores in the town and was very successful.
His Hotdogs have become a benchmark of quality and taste in the entire town.

He has become very successful and wealthy in that town.
He sent his son to a premier business school. After successful completion of the course, his son also joined his father.

Then something strange happened.
The son asked, “Dad, aren’t you aware of the recession that is coming our way?”
The father replied, “No, but tell me about it.”
The son said, “The international situation is terrible. The banks have fallen”.
”The domestic situation is even worse. We should be prepared for the coming bad times.”
”We need to immediately resort to cost cutting. We may also start planning about reducing our staff”

The man thought that since his son had been to a business school, read the papers, listened to the radio and watched TV, he ought to know and his advice should not be taken lightly.

So the next day onwards, the father cut down his raw material order and buns, removed all the special schemes he was offering to the customers and was no longer as enthusiastic in his business.
He reduced his staff strength by giving layoffs.
He no longer focused on the quality of the raw material. He has started ordering inferior sausages. He also reduced the size of the buns, to save cost.

Very soon, customers realized the changes in the quality of Hotdogs from his stores.
Over a period of time, fewer and fewer people bothered to stop at his hotdog stores.
And his sales started coming down rapidly, same with the profit.
He had to close down some of the stores, as it was no longer profitable to run those stores.
Over a very short period of time, he had to close down all remaining stores as well, and came back to the road side.

The father said to his son, “Son, you were right”.
“We are in the middle of a recession and crisis. I am glad you warned me ahead of time.”


Moral:
It’s all in your MIND!
Most of the time, the danger may not come from outside, we only would have created it by our actions.
Do not confuse intelligence with good judgment.
Listen to your advisers but use your own judgment.

More importantly,
NEVER COMPROPMISE ON QUALITY…
NEVER LOSE YOUR FOCUS ON YOUR CUSTOMERS …

NB: I heard this story from a popular Tamil TV channel last month. I really liked this, as this is timely. When Swaathi and Shreya insisted on a new story, I just told this story to them, not sure whether they can understand this story! When I finished this story and asked them for the moral, the immediate answer from Shreya was “Never compromise on quality"!!. This is one of the favorite stories of Shreya now a days.

I learnt another moral after telling this story to them. "Do not under estimate kids and do not suspect the understanding abilities of them". Though this story is relevant for the bigger kids like us, try telling this story to your kids and see their response. You'll be amazed!!!

Tortoise and Hare Story (New version!)

Presume all of us have heard the famous Aesop story of the tortoise and the hare. Let us start with the classical story and along with some newer versions…

That was a beautiful forest. There lived a hare, which was very fast in running. It always boasted about how fast it could run. It would call other animals for a race to prove that he really was the fastest animal in that forest. Tired of its repeated boasting, one tortoise had finally agreed for a race. All the animals in the forest had gathered to watch the race.

The race started. The hare sprinted very fast and was leading the race by a long distance in the initial minutes. The hare looked back and found the tortoise was very slow and was way back in the track. It had decided to take a nap under a tree, as it felt very tired. It also thought that the tortoise could never catch up with him as it was very slow. It had a nice and deep nap.

Unmindful of the actions of the hare, the tortoise was running slowly and steadily without any break. It soon overtook the hare, which was still in the nap and marched forward towards the finishing line. The hare woke up after some time, but could only realize that the slow and steady tortoise had already reached the finishing line.

The speedy hare had lost the race!

Moral:

Slow and steady wins the race.

How much ever competent you are, never relax in a race. Do not take any opponent lightly.

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The story continues:

The hare was disappointed at losing the race and did some soul searching. It had realized that the tortoise was taken lightly. It had concluded that it was over confident and lax. Had it not taken things for granted, the tortoise would have never won the race.

So, it called the tortoise for another round of race. This time, the hare had decided not to make any of the mistakes that it had done in the earlier race.

When the race started, the hare ran all out, without a stop. It took no rest and no nap this time. It ran steadily towards the finish line and won by several miles. The tortoise, as usual, ran slowly and steadily, but lost the race to the fast and consistent hare.

Moral:

Fast and consistent will always beat slow and steady.

It is good to be slow and steady. But, it is better to be fast and reliable.

It is OK to make mistakes, but realize the mistakes quickly and correct them.

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The story does not end here:

The tortoise did a soul searching this time. It realized that it could never beat the hare in the current format of the race. It had called the hare for a race again, but in a different route. The hare had also agreed. By the earlier success, the hare now had become more confident that it could beat the tortoise in any terrain.

The race stared. With the self-made commitment, the hare ran fast and consistent, without any break. It was leading the race by many miles until it stumbled upon a broad river. The finish line was a mile away from the other side of the river. The river was very deep and the hare could not cross it anyways.

The slow and steady tortoise reached the river after some time and swam through the river effortlessly. It reached the finish line, steadily moving forward.

The hare was beaten again!

Moral:

Even if you are slow, select your route carefully. Know your strengths and work according to your strengths.

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The story has not ended yet!

By the time, the hare and the tortoise have become pretty good friends. They realized the potential of each other and knew the earlier race could have been run better. They both have decided to go for another race, but had decided to do it as a team.

When the race stared, the hare carried the tortoise on its back until the riverbank. Then, the tortoise took over, carrying the hare on its back and swam through the river. On reaching the other side of the river, the hare again carried the tortoise on its back.

This time both the tortoise and the hare won the race together. They both felt a sense of satisfaction and pride than they had felt ever before.

Moral:

It is better to be individually talented but, if you work together with other talented people, you could achieve still higher.

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To sum up, here are the morals:

• 1. It is good to be slow and steady
• 2. It is better to be fast and consistent
• 3. It is OK to make mistakes, but realize the mistakes quickly and correct them.
• 4. When challenged in any situations, never give up. Instead look for alternatives
• 5. Always work towards your strength
• 6. Instead of competing against the individual, compete against the situation. Work with each other.
• 7. Together, everyone wins in a team.

Three fishes

Three fishes lived in a big lake. They were very good friends. The yellow fish was very intelligent. The Black fish was very shrewd. The white fish was very lazy and believed in the fate. However, all three fishes were happy being together.

One evening, the yellow fish saw two fishermen walking along the lake. It overheard what they were talking. The first one said “Hey buddy, look, there is a big lake here. How come we have never seen this before? Come, let’s spread our net and catch those big fishes” To which the second one replied “Oh, it is already very late. Let us come tomorrow and catch them all”.

The yellow fish immediately rushed to its friends and told them to leave the lake immediately. “Hey, tomorrow those fishermen will come with their nets and will catch all of us. Let us leave this place now itself”. The white fish refused to do so. It said” I have lived in this place for long, and I’ll not want to leave. If it is destined that we’ll be caught, let that be. We can not change the fate”. The black fish thought for a while and said ”Let me wait and watch, I know what to do if they come. I’ll manage”

The yellow fish decided to leave immediately. It did not want to wait until the danger comes. It swam through a small canal and left for a nearby bigger lake.

The next day, the fishermen came and threw their big nets. They caught most of the fishes from the lake. The black fish and the white fish were also caught.

The black fish pondered over the issue and decided to come out of it shrewdly. It closed its eyes and held its breath. It pretended as if it was dead. The fishermen spread the fishes on the ground and noticed the black fish. “Hey, this fish is already dead. Let us throw it back into the water” They threw the black fish, along with some other dead fishes into the water again. The black fish thus escaped from the danger and swam safely in to the deep area of the lake.

The white fish was jumping to somehow go back to the waters. The fishermen noticed this and gave it a big blow and put it inside their bag. The poor white fish could not escape from the fishermen and get killed later.

Moral: We need to be careful in assessing the danger and escape from it before the danger strikes, like the yellow fish. Prevention is always better.

Even if we can not avoid the danger, we need to be shrewd enough to escape from it, like the black fish.

We should not be foolish and resign to the fate, without taking any action, like the white fish.

Story of a tiny frog

A bunch of ten tiny frogs were going together in a forest.

Three of the frogs fell into a deep pit accidentally. They had been jumping vigorously trying to come out. But, the pit was so deep; they could not reach out of it.

The seven frogs on top of the pit knew it was very difficult for the three frogs to come out. They shouted at them “Don’t jump, you can’t come out. The pit is too deep”.

On hearing this, one of the frogs gave up. It thought anyway it was not possible. It stopped jumping. However, the other two frogs kept on jumping.

The frogs on the top kept shouting “Don’t jump. You can’t come out. If you keep jumping, you’ll lose your energy and will die” The second frog got tired and gave up. It didn’t want to waste its energy and die. But, soon both these two frogs died, out of anxiety and exhaustion.

However, the third one kept on jumping. This would not want to give up. The frogs on the top kept on yelling “it is too difficult, you can’t do it”.

But this little frog kept on trying and finally, with a big effort, it came out of the pit successfully!
Now all the little frogs on the top wanted to know how did this tiny one come out, while other two frogs failed.

It turned out….
The third frog was deaf!

The tiny frog thanked those seven frogs for encouraging him to come out! This tiny frog thought, since it could not hear what was said, that the other frogs were encouraging it to come out!

Now the moral:

Never listen to other people’s tendencies to be negative or pessimistic...
Because they make you weak and to give up your dreams...

ALWAYS be POSITIVE!

Don’t ever GIVE UP...

And above all:

Be DEAF when people tell you that YOU can not fulfil YOUR dreams!

Always think: I CAN DO THIS!

“Go deeper” – Another woodcutter story

That was a small village. A poor woodcutter lived in that village. The woodcutter used to go to the nearby forest everyday and cut trees for his living. He could not make his ends meet, as the trees he cut were not enough to make a decent living.

There was a saint in the forest, who used to sit in meditation most of the time under a huge banyan tree. He used to speak very less and what ever he speaks will have profound meaning. One day, the woodcutter met this saint and fell on his feet to get his blessings. He also mentioned abut his poverty and the difficult living he is into. The saint looked at the woodcutter’s eyes and said “go deeper” and closed his eyes and continued his meditation. The woodcutter could not understand anything and left the place very sadly.

Next day, when he was cutting the trees, he was thinking about what the saint has said. Go deeper. He has always been cutting the trees from the periphery of the forest. He usually stops at the place where he first sees trees and cuts them. He has decided to go deeper into the forest this time. When he went much further into the forest, to his surprise, he saw lot of sandal wood trees. Sandal wood trees are very expensive. He cuts those trees and sells them in the evening. He got much higher money that day than he would usually get. He was very happy, and continues to go deeper into the forest from that day onwards and has become rich.

He has bought a big house, and a cart with two horses. He has started living a happy, rich life.

After some months, he was still pondering over what the saint has said. Go deeper. The saint did not mention anything about the sandal wood trees. He only asked him to go deeper. So, he has decided to go still deeper the next day. To his surprise again, he saw a small mountain with lot of silver. He brought the silver back into the village, sold them and become still more rich. He constructed a huge bungalow and bought a new car.

After some months, he was pondering again over what the saint has said. Go deeper. So, the next day he went deeper and found a mountain of gold, after some months we went still deeper and found lot of diamonds and so on… He has become very very rich and lived happily ever after.

That is the end of the story!

Moral: We should not do the same thing every day, like the woodcutter on the periphery of the forest. We should always try to do it better, deeper. We will always get benefited by going deeper in what ever we do.

Cap seller and monkeys story (Ver: 2.0)

A cap seller was living in a village, many years ago. Everyday, he walks to many towns to sell his caps. Sometimes, he had to pass through jungles too. One afternoon, after a heavy meal, the cap seller felt very sleepy. He lied down and had a nap under a big mango tree.

There were lots of monkeys on this tree. They saw the cap seller sleeping with his bag full of colorful caps nearby. One by one, the monkeys came down from the tree and took the caps. They put the caps in their heads, the same way the cap seller had. They were very happy.

When the cap seller woke up after sometime, he could not find any of the caps in his bag. He was terrified and looked around to see for his caps. He looked up and found the monkeys wearing all his caps.

He was very angry and raised his hands, as if to beat the monkey. The monkey also raised their hands to attack him back.

He threw a stone on the monkeys to scare them, but the monkeys also threw the mangos on him, with the same anger.

He was very upset, and threw his cap on the ground, out of disappointment. All the monkeys threw the caps on the ground, imitating him. The cap seller was very happy now. He collected all his caps, packed them back in his bag, and left the place.

Moral of the story: For every problem, there will be a solution. We need to keep trying until we succeed.

Part II:
Many years have passed. The cap seller’s grandson also got into the same business.
One after noon, he passed through the same jungle with his bag full of caps. He felt too tired too, and slept under a tree. When he woke up, he could not find any of his caps. The monkeys on the tree had taken all his caps from the bag, and were cheerfully wearing on their heads.

On seeing the monkeys wearing his caps, he felt very unhappy. He pleaded with the monkeys to return his caps. The monkeys also imitated the same way he pleaded.

He threw a stone on the monkeys; the monkeys threw the fruits at him. He now remembered what his grand father had told him about a similar incident. He now knows the monkeys will imitate what ever he does.

He waved his hands; the monkeys also waved their hands,
He danced; the monkeys also danced,
He blew his nose; the monkeys also blew their noses,
He touched his ear; the monkeys also touched their ears,

He removed the cap from his head and threw it on the ground; the monkeys also removed the caps from their heads, but put them back and laughed at him!

He was very confused. By the time, an old monkey from the tree climbed down, came near to him, slapped him on his face and told, “Do you think only YOU have a grand father?”

Moral of the story:
Old solutions will not always work for the old problems. We need to constantly look for new solutions (from the cap seller)
Listening to the elders will be rewarding! (from the monkeys)

The honest (and wise) Woodcutter

Long, long ago, there lived a woodcutter in a small village. He is sincere in his work and very honest. Everyday, he will set out into the nearby forest to cut trees. He’ll bring the cut trees in the evening to the village, sell them out to a merchant and earn his money.

One day, while cutting a tree near a river, his axe slipped out of his hand fell into the river. The river was so deep, he could not retrieve it. He only had one axe and since it is lost, he could not earn a living now. He was very sad and prayed to the river God. Since his prayer was so intense, the God appeared in front of him and asked “what is the problem, my son?” The woodcutter explained the problem and requested him earnestly to get his axe back. The God put his hand deep into the river and took a Golden axe and asked “Is this your axe?” The Woodcutter looked at the axe and said “No”. God told him to look carefully, “This is an expensive golden axe. Look, this maybe yours” To this the woodcutter firmly said “No”.

The God put his hand deep into the water again and showed a silver axe and asked “Is this your axe?” The wood cutter looked at the axe and said “No”. The God finally put his hand into the water again and took his iron axe and asked “Is this your axe?” To this, the wood cutter said “Yes”. The God was very impressed with his honesty and gave the other two axes also to him, along with his iron axe, as the gift for his honesty. The wood cutter was very happy.

Moral of the story: If you are honest, the God will give you more.

Part II:

The story did not end here. The wood cutter took those two expensive axes and went to the merchant to sell. The merchant was very surprised to see such expensive axes with the poor woodcutter. The wood cutter explained about the Water God and His gifts. The merchant was very greedy and wanted to try that himself. He took his own expensive iron axe with him and went to the river. He intentionally dropped the axe into the river and prayed to the God. The God appeared before him and asked for the problem. The merchant requested the God to recover his axe which fell into the river. The God put his hand deep into the river and took a golden axe and asked “Is this your axe?” The greedy merchant immediately said “YES”. The God was very angry and pushed the merchant into the river and killed him. The merchant had lost his axe and his life.

Moral of the story: If you are dishonest, the God will punish you.

Part III:

There is a III part of this story too. After many months, the woodcutter went through the river with his wife. Now, his wife accidentally fell into the river. The river was so deep, she immediately drowned. The woodcutter prayed to the water God again. The God appeared in front of him and asked “son, what is the problem now? Have you dropped the axe again?” The woodcutter explained about his wife and requested Him to get her back from the river.

The God put his hand deep into the water and took Aishwarya Roy from the river and asked “Is this your wife?” The woodcutter looked at Aishwarya Roy and immediately said “YES”. The God was very angry. He shouted “Liar, how come you have become so dishonest and greedy? I know this is not your wife. What made you to lie to me?” To this the woodcutter very politely answered. ”My Lord, I know what will you do. If I did not lie now, you’ll show Sushmita Sen and would ask is her my wife? If I still say no, you would finally show my wife. And you would gift all the three ladies to me.” “It is very difficult to manage just one wife. Please imagine my fate if I have to manage three wifes?” “Instead, I would better get drowned into the river by You”

The God was very pleased with the wisdom of the woodcutter and took his wife back from the river and gave her to him. He got Aishwarya Roy married to Abhishek Bachchan and all of them were happy.

Moral of the story: It is important to be honest. It is more important to be wise. Otherwise, you’ll be in deep trouble!