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Thank you,
Vidhyaa
Please visit and leave your valuable comments.
Thank you,
Vidhyaa
Friday, 8 March 2013
Tuesday, 5 March 2013
Tit for Tat
In a small town in Northern India, there was this Mithaiwala- a seller of sweetmeats. His name was Sonu bhai but he was called Lalchibhai by the people of the town as he was a very very greedy person.. His sweets were extremely tasty and made with good ingredients but Lalchibhai was more and more greedy for money. He started charging higher and higher for his sweets. The height of his greed was that he started charging even for enquiries if one did not buy anything. His shop was the only one in town and so the people were really annoyed at his attitude.
One day a simple looking but smart fellow by name Sanka from the neighbouring town came to this town to visit his uncle. In the evening, while returning to his town, he wanted to get some sweets. He asked his uncle, who told him of Lalchibhai's greed and told him it is better not to buy anything at all than to go to Lalchibhai's shop. This made Sanka all the more determined to teach Lalchibhai a lesson. So he went to the shop . Before he could open his mouth Lalchi announced "Ahem.. I think you are new here. Even if you enquire the price and not buy you have to pay. So do not waste my time OK??" Sanka was a bit shocked at this attitude but quietly he began to smell the aroma muttering to himself, "Wah Wah!! What nice scent of Gulab!! The aroma of honey is lifting me up Wah Wah". He went near each plate of sweets, smelling the aroma and commenting nice words. Lalchi was hopeful that after all the smelling the customer would buy kilos of his sweets, but hey what was this? Sanka was preparing to leave!!
"Hello, Hello... Hey you Stop!" yelled Lalchi. Sanka turned and looked around and asked very innocently, "Arre Saab you called me??" "Yes YOU. What do you think you are doing hmmm? Where is the money ha? Are you trying to cheat me?" yelled Lalchi.
"Money?? What money? I did not buy anything nor did I enquire with you any price. So what money are you talking about?" said Sanka.
Lalchi got all the more angry and said "YOU SMELT THE AROMA OF MY SWEETS AND THAT IS EQUAL TO EATING THEM. NOW PAY THE MONEY AND LEAVE"
Sanka looked around coolly and took out a bag of coins from his pocket. Lalchi was happy. Here was going to be a windfall. Ha. But to his dismay, Sanka took the bag and shook it. Jingle Jingle Jingle.....Tinkle tinkle. Jingle tinkle..."Enough" he asked. Lalchi said "Give me the bag You!!"
Sanka coolly put the bag back into his pocket and said "If smelling the sweet is equal to eating, then listening to the jingle of coins is equal to receiving them. Bubbye. See you!" and walked away.
That insult was enough for Lalchi to become a wiser fellow.
One day a simple looking but smart fellow by name Sanka from the neighbouring town came to this town to visit his uncle. In the evening, while returning to his town, he wanted to get some sweets. He asked his uncle, who told him of Lalchibhai's greed and told him it is better not to buy anything at all than to go to Lalchibhai's shop. This made Sanka all the more determined to teach Lalchibhai a lesson. So he went to the shop . Before he could open his mouth Lalchi announced "Ahem.. I think you are new here. Even if you enquire the price and not buy you have to pay. So do not waste my time OK??" Sanka was a bit shocked at this attitude but quietly he began to smell the aroma muttering to himself, "Wah Wah!! What nice scent of Gulab!! The aroma of honey is lifting me up Wah Wah". He went near each plate of sweets, smelling the aroma and commenting nice words. Lalchi was hopeful that after all the smelling the customer would buy kilos of his sweets, but hey what was this? Sanka was preparing to leave!!
"Hello, Hello... Hey you Stop!" yelled Lalchi. Sanka turned and looked around and asked very innocently, "Arre Saab you called me??" "Yes YOU. What do you think you are doing hmmm? Where is the money ha? Are you trying to cheat me?" yelled Lalchi.
"Money?? What money? I did not buy anything nor did I enquire with you any price. So what money are you talking about?" said Sanka.
Lalchi got all the more angry and said "YOU SMELT THE AROMA OF MY SWEETS AND THAT IS EQUAL TO EATING THEM. NOW PAY THE MONEY AND LEAVE"
Sanka looked around coolly and took out a bag of coins from his pocket. Lalchi was happy. Here was going to be a windfall. Ha. But to his dismay, Sanka took the bag and shook it. Jingle Jingle Jingle.....Tinkle tinkle. Jingle tinkle..."Enough" he asked. Lalchi said "Give me the bag You!!"
Sanka coolly put the bag back into his pocket and said "If smelling the sweet is equal to eating, then listening to the jingle of coins is equal to receiving them. Bubbye. See you!" and walked away.
That insult was enough for Lalchi to become a wiser fellow.
The hermit and the miser
This is a story I heard on radio this morning. Thought it was nice enough to share. My own additions are there to the story!
Once upon a time, in a village in Central India, there was a very wealthy land owner named Dhanlal, who was extremely miserly. He was so.. so miserly that he used to eat just one item a day like rice on one day, dal on another day, vegetables on one day and so on as it would be very 'costly' to eat all dishes on the same day. The whole day time he spent in counting the money he hoarded. His family members were a distressed lot as they also were subjected to the torture of one dish a day.
One day as Dhanlal was counting the coins, there was a sadhu going on his way singing bhajans , stopping in front of each house in the village. In olden days the practice of feeding sadhus or needy people was common and the sadhus used to enlighten the public with their spiritual talks and stories in return.
The sadhu stood in front of Dhanlal's house and sang a song on earning merit by helping the needy. The song was about how the quality of charity was essential to get Moksha or salvation. Dhanlal was hearing the song all the while counting his coins but did not move an inch. But somehow, the song kept ringing in his ears and he knew he had to do some charity to get salvation.
He spent two or three days in calculating how much he would lose if he spent a certain quantity of rice in alms everyday to a few needy people. Then he decided that he would give one fistful - just one fistful of rice to one person everyday. He would not lose much at the same time he would qualify for salvation.
He started his "charity". He was particular that the same fellow should not get the rice everyday lest he become "rich". One fistful a day went on for a month or so. The sadhu who had sung the song was camping near the banyan tree on the river bank on the other end of the village. Dhanlal wanted to go and meet him.
So he went and met the sadhu and told him how he was influenced by his song and how he had started being very charitable by donating a FISTFUL OF RICE EVERY DAY.
The sadhu did not utter a word. He signalled to Dhanlal to wait and went and sat under the banyan tree. He did something like gnawing at the roots of the tree with his nails and Dhanlal did not understand what he was doing. Dhanlal waited and waited and waited for three hours. He got very impatient. He wanted to check the status of his salvation efforts and go back and count his coins and here was this sadhu doing some useless thing making him wait.
Dhanlal called out "Swamiji, Can you please talk to me for a moment and then do what you are doing?" The sadhu said "Beta wait for sometime. I shall come as soon as I cut the roots of this tree with my nails. It wont be long"
Dhanlal was amused. He did not imagine that the sadhu was so silly. He laughed out aloud and said , "Swamiji do you know how many hundred years it will take to cut such heavy roots with your nails?? Ha ha ha ...." The sadhu coolly replied "Only that many number of years it will take as it will take for your salvation with half heartedly donating one fistful of rice a day!"
Dhanlal immediately realised his folly and fell at the feet of the sadhu who had with his simple action made him realise his mistake. Dhanlal turned a new leaf much to the happiness of his family members and the villagers and it is said that he became to be called "Daanlaal" from "Dhanlal"!!!
Help the needy in times of need and be happy like Daanlaal.
Once upon a time, in a village in Central India, there was a very wealthy land owner named Dhanlal, who was extremely miserly. He was so.. so miserly that he used to eat just one item a day like rice on one day, dal on another day, vegetables on one day and so on as it would be very 'costly' to eat all dishes on the same day. The whole day time he spent in counting the money he hoarded. His family members were a distressed lot as they also were subjected to the torture of one dish a day.
One day as Dhanlal was counting the coins, there was a sadhu going on his way singing bhajans , stopping in front of each house in the village. In olden days the practice of feeding sadhus or needy people was common and the sadhus used to enlighten the public with their spiritual talks and stories in return.
The sadhu stood in front of Dhanlal's house and sang a song on earning merit by helping the needy. The song was about how the quality of charity was essential to get Moksha or salvation. Dhanlal was hearing the song all the while counting his coins but did not move an inch. But somehow, the song kept ringing in his ears and he knew he had to do some charity to get salvation.
He spent two or three days in calculating how much he would lose if he spent a certain quantity of rice in alms everyday to a few needy people. Then he decided that he would give one fistful - just one fistful of rice to one person everyday. He would not lose much at the same time he would qualify for salvation.
He started his "charity". He was particular that the same fellow should not get the rice everyday lest he become "rich". One fistful a day went on for a month or so. The sadhu who had sung the song was camping near the banyan tree on the river bank on the other end of the village. Dhanlal wanted to go and meet him.
So he went and met the sadhu and told him how he was influenced by his song and how he had started being very charitable by donating a FISTFUL OF RICE EVERY DAY.
The sadhu did not utter a word. He signalled to Dhanlal to wait and went and sat under the banyan tree. He did something like gnawing at the roots of the tree with his nails and Dhanlal did not understand what he was doing. Dhanlal waited and waited and waited for three hours. He got very impatient. He wanted to check the status of his salvation efforts and go back and count his coins and here was this sadhu doing some useless thing making him wait.
Dhanlal called out "Swamiji, Can you please talk to me for a moment and then do what you are doing?" The sadhu said "Beta wait for sometime. I shall come as soon as I cut the roots of this tree with my nails. It wont be long"
Dhanlal was amused. He did not imagine that the sadhu was so silly. He laughed out aloud and said , "Swamiji do you know how many hundred years it will take to cut such heavy roots with your nails?? Ha ha ha ...." The sadhu coolly replied "Only that many number of years it will take as it will take for your salvation with half heartedly donating one fistful of rice a day!"
Dhanlal immediately realised his folly and fell at the feet of the sadhu who had with his simple action made him realise his mistake. Dhanlal turned a new leaf much to the happiness of his family members and the villagers and it is said that he became to be called "Daanlaal" from "Dhanlal"!!!
Help the needy in times of need and be happy like Daanlaal.
Tenali Rama and the Brinjal
We all know the about the intelligent Tenali Ramakrishna who adorned the court of Raja Krishnadeveraya. This story is about how Tenali escaped the punishment for eating the brinjals grown in Raja Krishnadevaraya's private garden.
The Emperor Raja Krishnadevaraya had been gifted with a few saplings of an exotic brinjal variety by one of his vassals. The brinjals were so tasty and fleshy that the emperor decided that the saplings should be planted in a private garden and the brinjals should be used exclusively for himself.
Accordingly, the royal gardener who was a very capable fellow created a nice garden with the saplings and soon there were many of them bearing chubby brinjals. Of course the brinjals were used only for the king's meal and no one even knew of the garden that existed.
One day, Tenali Rama happened to be entertaining the emperor and it was almost lunch time. The emperor wanted Tenali's company for lunch and Tenali gladly agreed. That day the main item was made of the exotic brinjal. The dish was sooo....good that Tenali fell in love with the brinjals in that short while. He could not ask the emperor as it was not courtesy. He went home savouring the taste of the brinjals and the rest of the day he was raving about the tasty brinjals to his wife.
Over the next few days, Tenali made discreet enquiries with the kitchen staff and came to know of the private garden. He also came to know that the Raja had ordered that all brinjals in that garden should be used for the Raja alone. Somehow, Tenali coaxed the gardener to give him only a few brinjals and also promised him that no one would know of the deal. The gardener unable to bear the nagging gave in . Tenali happily took the brinjals home and told his wife to make his favourite dish for dinner.
While having dinner, Tenali's eight year old son asked him "Papa, the brinjals are very tasty. Where did you buy them??" Tenali started off "Er.. the King's garden... Oh no! I mean the shop near the garden.... no.. the Shop on the garden road... Now why do you bother? ha? Eat quietly and go to sleep.. Asking too much ...."
"Papa..." said the son, "I saw you taking them from the Gardener uncle near the palace....." Tenali was shocked . "Hushhhhhh... no palace, no gardener no brinjal. Don't you blabber any nonsense ! Go to bed huhh..!" he scolded his son.
In a few days the Raja called Tenali at about 9 pm. "Why is the king calling me at this hour?" wondered Tenali. The Raja was pacing in the balcony seething with anger. It was a stark contrast that the full moon was shining so coolly above the palace and the king was hot with anger. He had come to know of the brinjal incident. "Rama" said the king. "I thought you were close enough to me to ask me what you wanted. Why did you.. like a thief go and get brinjals from my gardener clandestinely huh??" Tenali was flabbergasted but as a first response he had to deny the fact and so he said in a very naïve voice"Maharaja, please forgive my asking but who told you I got brinjals from your gardener? Is there a separate garden for brinjals???"
"Rama... do not try to pretend, Your son has told our minister's son who has in turn told the minister. I know that an eight year old will not lie. Now.. tell me the truth"
Tenali laughed aloud and said " Oh.... my son... hahahaha, hahahaha....He is a fool . he talks all nonsense. in face I want to consult a good psychologist for his behaviour.. Maharaja, if you want, I shall produce him tomorrow in court and you just ask him anything and assess for yourself whether he speaks sense." The Raja agreed half heartedly.
Tenali rushed home. His son was sleeping on a mat in the open balcony with cool full moon shining nicely In those days there were no mosquitoes nor security issues and people enjoyed nature's bounty in all entirety. Rama drew the curtains in the room adjacent to the balcony. He took a large container of water and threw it on the boy. The boy who was in deep slumber got up shocked and Tenali said, "Come in it is raining heavily" and covering the boy's head with a towel, he pulled the boy inside the room. He shut the door, wiped the boy and changed his clothes and put another mat and waited for him to go to sleep.
The next day , the boy was taken to the court and the Raja looked at him from head to toe and in a deep voice asked him, "So.. boy, yesterday was Punnami (full moon day) . Did you have dinner in moonlight??" The boy thought for a while and said "Ha Maharaja I had dinner in Moonlight but it rained so heavily after I fell asleep on the balcony and I was totally drenched , that Papa had to change all my clothes"
The boy was very innocent and the Raja looked puzzled at Tenali and there was Tenali giving a look of "See, I told you!!"
The Raja asked the boy once again, "Did it rain?? Are you sure??" The boy shook his head hard in the affirmative "Yes Maharaja... Yes. Did you not know it rained????"
The king was convinced that the boy was in the habit of blabbering and so told him to go home. He also told Tenali that if he ever need brinjals he could ask the king rightfully.
Tenali went home a happier man!!
The Emperor Raja Krishnadevaraya had been gifted with a few saplings of an exotic brinjal variety by one of his vassals. The brinjals were so tasty and fleshy that the emperor decided that the saplings should be planted in a private garden and the brinjals should be used exclusively for himself.
Accordingly, the royal gardener who was a very capable fellow created a nice garden with the saplings and soon there were many of them bearing chubby brinjals. Of course the brinjals were used only for the king's meal and no one even knew of the garden that existed.
One day, Tenali Rama happened to be entertaining the emperor and it was almost lunch time. The emperor wanted Tenali's company for lunch and Tenali gladly agreed. That day the main item was made of the exotic brinjal. The dish was sooo....good that Tenali fell in love with the brinjals in that short while. He could not ask the emperor as it was not courtesy. He went home savouring the taste of the brinjals and the rest of the day he was raving about the tasty brinjals to his wife.
Over the next few days, Tenali made discreet enquiries with the kitchen staff and came to know of the private garden. He also came to know that the Raja had ordered that all brinjals in that garden should be used for the Raja alone. Somehow, Tenali coaxed the gardener to give him only a few brinjals and also promised him that no one would know of the deal. The gardener unable to bear the nagging gave in . Tenali happily took the brinjals home and told his wife to make his favourite dish for dinner.
While having dinner, Tenali's eight year old son asked him "Papa, the brinjals are very tasty. Where did you buy them??" Tenali started off "Er.. the King's garden... Oh no! I mean the shop near the garden.... no.. the Shop on the garden road... Now why do you bother? ha? Eat quietly and go to sleep.. Asking too much ...."
"Papa..." said the son, "I saw you taking them from the Gardener uncle near the palace....." Tenali was shocked . "Hushhhhhh... no palace, no gardener no brinjal. Don't you blabber any nonsense ! Go to bed huhh..!" he scolded his son.
In a few days the Raja called Tenali at about 9 pm. "Why is the king calling me at this hour?" wondered Tenali. The Raja was pacing in the balcony seething with anger. It was a stark contrast that the full moon was shining so coolly above the palace and the king was hot with anger. He had come to know of the brinjal incident. "Rama" said the king. "I thought you were close enough to me to ask me what you wanted. Why did you.. like a thief go and get brinjals from my gardener clandestinely huh??" Tenali was flabbergasted but as a first response he had to deny the fact and so he said in a very naïve voice"Maharaja, please forgive my asking but who told you I got brinjals from your gardener? Is there a separate garden for brinjals???"
"Rama... do not try to pretend, Your son has told our minister's son who has in turn told the minister. I know that an eight year old will not lie. Now.. tell me the truth"
Tenali laughed aloud and said " Oh.... my son... hahahaha, hahahaha....He is a fool . he talks all nonsense. in face I want to consult a good psychologist for his behaviour.. Maharaja, if you want, I shall produce him tomorrow in court and you just ask him anything and assess for yourself whether he speaks sense." The Raja agreed half heartedly.
Tenali rushed home. His son was sleeping on a mat in the open balcony with cool full moon shining nicely In those days there were no mosquitoes nor security issues and people enjoyed nature's bounty in all entirety. Rama drew the curtains in the room adjacent to the balcony. He took a large container of water and threw it on the boy. The boy who was in deep slumber got up shocked and Tenali said, "Come in it is raining heavily" and covering the boy's head with a towel, he pulled the boy inside the room. He shut the door, wiped the boy and changed his clothes and put another mat and waited for him to go to sleep.
The next day , the boy was taken to the court and the Raja looked at him from head to toe and in a deep voice asked him, "So.. boy, yesterday was Punnami (full moon day) . Did you have dinner in moonlight??" The boy thought for a while and said "Ha Maharaja I had dinner in Moonlight but it rained so heavily after I fell asleep on the balcony and I was totally drenched , that Papa had to change all my clothes"
The boy was very innocent and the Raja looked puzzled at Tenali and there was Tenali giving a look of "See, I told you!!"
The Raja asked the boy once again, "Did it rain?? Are you sure??" The boy shook his head hard in the affirmative "Yes Maharaja... Yes. Did you not know it rained????"
The king was convinced that the boy was in the habit of blabbering and so told him to go home. He also told Tenali that if he ever need brinjals he could ask the king rightfully.
Tenali went home a happier man!!
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