PROHIBITION
A Teaching Story
By
VIKRAM KARVE
Here is a Ancient Wisdom Story titled “Prohibition”
Concerned at the increasing drunkenness and alcoholism in his kingdom, a famous king imposed strict prohibition on wine and liquor.
Earlier most people in that kingdom used to make their own liquor at home and had all the paraphernalia for distilling home-made liquor, and though they had stopped distilling liquor at home after prohibition was imposed, many such innocent people were arrested merely for possession of vats and distillery apparatus in their houses and they were punished severely in the same terms as those actually caught making illegal illicit liquor.
The Prime Minister advised the King not to be so severe with those people who merely had vats in their homes and were not actually distilling liquor but the king would not budge saying that even those having the tools of the trade deserved punishment.
One day,the king was driving his chariot along with his Prime Minister in the country when they saw a young man sitting under a tree.
“Have that man arrested…!” the Prime Minister told the King.
“What has he done…?” asked the king in puzzlement.
“That man is going to commit adultery…!” the Prime Minister proclaimed.
“How do you know…?” the king asked perplexed.
“He has the tools of adultery, just as those people have their vats…!”
The king broke out into a loud laugh and ordered that the people arrested for mere possession of vats be released immediately.
VIKRAM KARVE
http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
vikramkarve@sify.com
Showing posts with label tale. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tale. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
TIT for TAT - A Teaching Story
TIT FOR TAT
Art of Cooking
A Teaching Story
By
VIKRAM KARVE
On a freezing cold snowy winter day Mulla Nasrudin was having a chat with some of his friends in the local coffee house.
Mulla Nasrudin said that cold weather did not bother him, and in fact, he could stay, if necessary, all right without any heat.
“We’ll take you up on that, Mulla Nasrudin,” his friends said. “If you stand all night in the village square without warming yourself by any external means each of us will treat you to sumptuous meal. But if you fail to do so, you will treat all of us to dinner.”
“All right, it’s a bet,” Mulla Nasrudin said and that very night Mulla Nasrudin stood shivering all night in the village square till the morning despite the bitter cold.
In the morning he ran triumphantly to his friends and told them he had won the bet and that they should be ready to fulfil their promise of treating him to a sumptuous meal.
“As a matter of fact you lost the bet, Mulla Nasrudin,” said his friends.
“Lost the bet? How is that possible? I stood in the freezing cold all night,” Nasrudin asked perplexed.
“At about midnight, just before we went to sleep, we saw a candle burning in a window about three hundred yards away from where you were standing. That certainly means that you warmed yourself by it,” the friends said.
“That’s ridiculous, “Mulla Nasrudin argued. “How can a candle so far away behind a window warm a person standing outside in the freezing cold more than three hundred yards away?”
All his protestations were to no avail and it was decided that Mulla Nasrudin had lost the bet.
Mulla Nasrudin accepted gracefully the verdict and invited all of them to dinner that night at his home.
All his friends arrived on time, laughing and joking; they had built up a ravenous appetite in eager anticipation of the delicious meal Mulla Nasrudin was going to serve them.
But dinner was not ready.
Mulla Nasrudin told them that it would be ready in a short time and left the room to prepare the meal.
Hours passed and still no dinner was served. Neither did Nasrudin emerge even once from his kitchen.
Finally, getting impatient and very hungry his friends went into the kitchen to see if there was any food cooking at all.
They looked in disbelief at what they saw.
Mulla Nasrudin was standing by a huge cooking pot suspended from the ceiling and there was a small lighted candle under the large cooking pot.
“Be patient my friends,” Mulla Nasrudin assured his friends, “Dinner will be ready soon. You see it is cooking in front of you in this pot.”
“Are you out of your mind, Mulla Nasrudin?” they shouted in exasperation, “How could such a tiny flame boil such a large pot?”
“Your ignorance of such matters amuses me,” Mulla Nasrudin said nonchalantly, “If the flame of a candle behind a window three hundred yards away can warm a person, surely the same flame will boil this pot which is only three inches away.”
Dear Reader, any comments?
VIKRAM KARVE
http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com
Friday, May 22, 2009
Greed, Love, Lust
GREED AND LUST
[A Teaching Story from the Panchatantra]
By
VIKRAM KARVE
There was an old man, a good natured simple farmer, who had a young wife.
The young wife was not satisfied with her aged simpleton husband, neglected her household work, and always yearned for the company of young handsome men.
One day, a smart young good-looking man saw her and seeing that she was alone went to her and said, “You are the most beautiful woman in the world and I am the most eligible bachelor. I have fallen in love with you the moment I saw you. Please give me the pleasure of your company.”
Delighted, the woman said to the young Casanova, “Listen my dear, my husband has a lot of wealth. He is old and of no use to me. I will take out all the money and jewellery and let us elope to some other town and live there happily ever after.”
The con-man was very happy and asked her to bring all her wealth to the mango orchard near the river at midnight where he would be waiting for her.
“We will both disappear in the darkness and head for the next town,” he told assured her.
The lusty woman waited till it was dark and when her husband fell asleep she stole all the money, jewellery and gold, packed it in a bag and left the house at midnight to meet the trickster at a place he had indicated. The trickster took the bag full of money and gold from her on the pretext that he would carry it and walked towards the river.
The smart young handsome man looked at the woman and thought, “What is the point of wasting my whole life with this woman? She seems a bit older than me too and soon may turn into a shrew. Also if she couldn’t be loyal to her husband she may ditch me too for someone else. It is better I dump her but take her money and jewellery with me.”
With these thoughts in mind he told the woman, “Look, my dear, it is very difficult to cross the river. I will first swim with the money bag to the other side of the river and keeping it there I will come back and carry you on my back.”
She readily agreed and gave the bag to her new found lover.
He asked her to take off her clothes too and give them to him to carry across the river as he felt her clothes would hinder swimming. She took off all her clothes and gave them to the man who swam across the river the money-bag and her clothes.
Covering her naked body with her hands, the woman began waiting restlessly for her lover to return.
Just then a jackal with a piece of meat in his mouth happened to pass by. The jackal saw that big juicy fish had been washed ashore by a wave and desperate to catch it the jackal ran towards the fish and in the process he dropped the meat piece from his mouth.
But suddenly another big wave took the fish back into the water.
Disappointed, the jackal went back to pick up the piece of meat, but meanwhile a crow dived down fast and took the meat piece away before the jackal could reach it.
The woman laughed at the greedy jackal who had lost the both the fish and also the piece of meat.
Hurt by the woman’s behaviour, the jackal said, “Don’t laugh you stupid woman. I lost a piece of meat due to my greed but you have lost everything – your husband, your lover and your wealth – due to your lust.”
Tell me, Dear Reader, what is the moral of this story?
[A Teaching Story from the Panchatantra]
By
VIKRAM KARVE
There was an old man, a good natured simple farmer, who had a young wife.
The young wife was not satisfied with her aged simpleton husband, neglected her household work, and always yearned for the company of young handsome men.
One day, a smart young good-looking man saw her and seeing that she was alone went to her and said, “You are the most beautiful woman in the world and I am the most eligible bachelor. I have fallen in love with you the moment I saw you. Please give me the pleasure of your company.”
Delighted, the woman said to the young Casanova, “Listen my dear, my husband has a lot of wealth. He is old and of no use to me. I will take out all the money and jewellery and let us elope to some other town and live there happily ever after.”
The con-man was very happy and asked her to bring all her wealth to the mango orchard near the river at midnight where he would be waiting for her.
“We will both disappear in the darkness and head for the next town,” he told assured her.
The lusty woman waited till it was dark and when her husband fell asleep she stole all the money, jewellery and gold, packed it in a bag and left the house at midnight to meet the trickster at a place he had indicated. The trickster took the bag full of money and gold from her on the pretext that he would carry it and walked towards the river.
The smart young handsome man looked at the woman and thought, “What is the point of wasting my whole life with this woman? She seems a bit older than me too and soon may turn into a shrew. Also if she couldn’t be loyal to her husband she may ditch me too for someone else. It is better I dump her but take her money and jewellery with me.”
With these thoughts in mind he told the woman, “Look, my dear, it is very difficult to cross the river. I will first swim with the money bag to the other side of the river and keeping it there I will come back and carry you on my back.”
She readily agreed and gave the bag to her new found lover.
He asked her to take off her clothes too and give them to him to carry across the river as he felt her clothes would hinder swimming. She took off all her clothes and gave them to the man who swam across the river the money-bag and her clothes.
Covering her naked body with her hands, the woman began waiting restlessly for her lover to return.
Just then a jackal with a piece of meat in his mouth happened to pass by. The jackal saw that big juicy fish had been washed ashore by a wave and desperate to catch it the jackal ran towards the fish and in the process he dropped the meat piece from his mouth.
But suddenly another big wave took the fish back into the water.
Disappointed, the jackal went back to pick up the piece of meat, but meanwhile a crow dived down fast and took the meat piece away before the jackal could reach it.
The woman laughed at the greedy jackal who had lost the both the fish and also the piece of meat.
Hurt by the woman’s behaviour, the jackal said, “Don’t laugh you stupid woman. I lost a piece of meat due to my greed but you have lost everything – your husband, your lover and your wealth – due to your lust.”
Tell me, Dear Reader, what is the moral of this story?
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
TEACHING STORIES
Teaching Stories
by
VIKRAM KARVE
A wise man told a small boy to get water from the well. “Make sure you don’t break the pot!” he shouted, and then suddenly gave the child a tight slap.
A shocked spectator asked him, “Why did you hit the poor boy who has done nothing wrong?”
“Because, you fool,” said the wise man, “it would be too late to punish him after he broke the pot, wouldn’t it?”
This is a Teaching Story.
Teaching Stories have a special quality – if read in a certain kind of way they enlighten you. Teaching stories are Gems of Wisdom.
There are three ways to read a Teaching Story:
· Read the story once. Then move on to another. This manner of reading will give you entertainment – maybe produce a laugh; like jokes.
· Read the story twice. Reflect on it. Apply it to your life. You will feel enriched.
· Read the story again, after you have reflected on it. Carry the story around in your mind all day and allow its fragrance, its melody to haunt you. Create a silence within you and let the story reveal to you its inner depth and meaning. Let it speak to your heart, not to your brain. This will give you a feel for the mystical and you will develop the art of tasting and feeling the inner meaning of such stories to the point that they transform you.
Teaching stories relate events that are funny, foolish, bemusing, even apparently stupid.
But they usually have much profound and deeper meanings.
A good teaching story has several levels of meaning and interpretation and offer us opportunities to think in new ways.
At first you may just have a good laugh but as you think and reflect, the significance becomes more and more profound.
Each story veils its knowledge and as you ruminate, the walls of its outer meanings crumble away and the beauty of the previously invisible inner wisdom is revealed, and you begin to identify yourself in the story, and to acknowledge that you too could be as foolish or as lacking in discernment as the characters in these classic tales.
In this storytelling blog I will try to regale and illuminate you with such gems of wisdom, some of my favorite Teaching Stories - let us have an enlightened laugh together!
VIKRAM KARVE
http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
http://www.ryze.com/go/karve
vikramkarve@sify.com
by
VIKRAM KARVE
A wise man told a small boy to get water from the well. “Make sure you don’t break the pot!” he shouted, and then suddenly gave the child a tight slap.
A shocked spectator asked him, “Why did you hit the poor boy who has done nothing wrong?”
“Because, you fool,” said the wise man, “it would be too late to punish him after he broke the pot, wouldn’t it?”
This is a Teaching Story.
Teaching Stories have a special quality – if read in a certain kind of way they enlighten you. Teaching stories are Gems of Wisdom.
There are three ways to read a Teaching Story:
· Read the story once. Then move on to another. This manner of reading will give you entertainment – maybe produce a laugh; like jokes.
· Read the story twice. Reflect on it. Apply it to your life. You will feel enriched.
· Read the story again, after you have reflected on it. Carry the story around in your mind all day and allow its fragrance, its melody to haunt you. Create a silence within you and let the story reveal to you its inner depth and meaning. Let it speak to your heart, not to your brain. This will give you a feel for the mystical and you will develop the art of tasting and feeling the inner meaning of such stories to the point that they transform you.
Teaching stories relate events that are funny, foolish, bemusing, even apparently stupid.
But they usually have much profound and deeper meanings.
A good teaching story has several levels of meaning and interpretation and offer us opportunities to think in new ways.
At first you may just have a good laugh but as you think and reflect, the significance becomes more and more profound.
Each story veils its knowledge and as you ruminate, the walls of its outer meanings crumble away and the beauty of the previously invisible inner wisdom is revealed, and you begin to identify yourself in the story, and to acknowledge that you too could be as foolish or as lacking in discernment as the characters in these classic tales.
In this storytelling blog I will try to regale and illuminate you with such gems of wisdom, some of my favorite Teaching Stories - let us have an enlightened laugh together!
VIKRAM KARVE
http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
http://www.ryze.com/go/karve
vikramkarve@sify.com
ROI - Return On Investment
RETURN ON INVESTMENT
[An Apocryphal Story]
By
VIKRAM KARVE
Here is an apocryphal story; I heard long back, whose inner meaning had a profound positive effect on me:
On his first visit to India, a rich merchant saw a man selling a small green fruit which he had never seen before. It looked fresh and juicy and the merchant was tempted, and curious, he asked the vendor, “What is this?”
“Mirchi. Chillies, fresh green chillies,” said the hawker.
The merchant held out a gold coin and the vendor was so overjoyed that he gave the merchant the full basket of chillies.
The merchant sat down under a tree and stared to munch the chillies.
Within a few seconds his tongue was on fire, his mouth burning and tears streamed down his cheeks.
But despite this discomfort, the merchant went on eating the chillies, chewing them one by one, scrutinizing each chilli carefully before he put the piquant hot green chilli into his burning mouth.
Seeing his condition, a passerby remarked, “What’s wrong with you? Why don’t you stop eating those hot chillies ? ”
“Maybe there is one that is sweet,” the merchant answered, “I keep waiting for the sweet one.”
And the merchant continued eating the chillies.
On his way back, the passerby noticed that the merchant’s condition had become miserable, his face red with agony and copious tears pouring out of his burning eyes.
But the merchant kept on eating the chillies, in his search for the ‘sweet one’.
“Stop at once, or you will die,” the passerby shouted. “There are no sweet chillies ! Haven’t you realized that? Look at the basket – it is almost empty. And have you found even one sweet chilli yet? ”
“I cannot stop until I eat all the chillies. I have to finish the whole basketful,” the merchant croaked in agony, “I have paid for the full basket and I will make sure I get my money’s worth; till I get my full return on investment.”
Dear Reader:
Read this story once more, reflect on it, and apply it to your life.
Don’t we cling on to things that our inner voice tells us we to let go and move on.
We know some things are not good for us and we should let go of these things, but we continue to persist, at first hoping to find ‘sweet one’ and even when we discover that there is no ‘sweet chilli’, we still continue to shackle ourselves to painful people, harmful habits, negative careers and detrimental things just to ‘get our money’s worth’ when we should let go, move on and liberate ourselves and be happy.
Dear Reader. Please do let me know your views.
VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2008
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/
vikramkarve@sify.com
[An Apocryphal Story]
By
VIKRAM KARVE
Here is an apocryphal story; I heard long back, whose inner meaning had a profound positive effect on me:
On his first visit to India, a rich merchant saw a man selling a small green fruit which he had never seen before. It looked fresh and juicy and the merchant was tempted, and curious, he asked the vendor, “What is this?”
“Mirchi. Chillies, fresh green chillies,” said the hawker.
The merchant held out a gold coin and the vendor was so overjoyed that he gave the merchant the full basket of chillies.
The merchant sat down under a tree and stared to munch the chillies.
Within a few seconds his tongue was on fire, his mouth burning and tears streamed down his cheeks.
But despite this discomfort, the merchant went on eating the chillies, chewing them one by one, scrutinizing each chilli carefully before he put the piquant hot green chilli into his burning mouth.
Seeing his condition, a passerby remarked, “What’s wrong with you? Why don’t you stop eating those hot chillies ? ”
“Maybe there is one that is sweet,” the merchant answered, “I keep waiting for the sweet one.”
And the merchant continued eating the chillies.
On his way back, the passerby noticed that the merchant’s condition had become miserable, his face red with agony and copious tears pouring out of his burning eyes.
But the merchant kept on eating the chillies, in his search for the ‘sweet one’.
“Stop at once, or you will die,” the passerby shouted. “There are no sweet chillies ! Haven’t you realized that? Look at the basket – it is almost empty. And have you found even one sweet chilli yet? ”
“I cannot stop until I eat all the chillies. I have to finish the whole basketful,” the merchant croaked in agony, “I have paid for the full basket and I will make sure I get my money’s worth; till I get my full return on investment.”
Dear Reader:
Read this story once more, reflect on it, and apply it to your life.
Don’t we cling on to things that our inner voice tells us we to let go and move on.
We know some things are not good for us and we should let go of these things, but we continue to persist, at first hoping to find ‘sweet one’ and even when we discover that there is no ‘sweet chilli’, we still continue to shackle ourselves to painful people, harmful habits, negative careers and detrimental things just to ‘get our money’s worth’ when we should let go, move on and liberate ourselves and be happy.
Dear Reader. Please do let me know your views.
VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2008
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/
vikramkarve@sify.com
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