An Equal Share

An Equal Share

Once in a village named Kunoor, there lived two brothers Ramu and Somu. They inherited their father’s wealth. Ramu and Somu shared their father's house, land and all properties. Two things were left. One is a thick wool blanket and other one is a cow. Ramu and Somu wondered how to share them equally. 

Ramu said to Somu, “I am your elder brother. I will do whatever is good for us both. Will you accept my decision?” Somu is an innocent person. He said to Ramu, "Ok brother, I will accept your decision on sharing the cow and the blanket". Ramu said, “I will take the back portion of cow and you take the front portion of the cow. For the blanket, I will use it on night and you use it in the morning. Can we agree on this?” Somu agreed without even thinking for a second.

 Somu fed the cow with grass as the front portion belonged to him. He could not use the blanket to cover him since it made him to sweat a lot in the day time. In the evening, Ramu milked the cow and took all the milk for him. Also, he got the blanket from Somu and took it to sleep. Somu was not able to get even a small cup of milk to drink. He did not have blanket to cover him and he slept in cold. Next day, he told Ramu about this. Ramu replied, "You have agreed to my decision. Now we cannot change anything." 

A week passed. Somu felt helpless. He visited his father's friend. He advised Somu to do some things to change Ramu's decision. Somu agreed to follow his advice and returned back to home. For the following two days, Somu did not feed the cow and the cow became very tired and week. 

When Ramu milked the cow, he could not get a drop of milk. He realized that Somu has not fed the cow, he became angry. Ramu asked Somu, “Why you did not feed the cow?". Somu replied, “It is my front portion, I will feed or I won't, that's my choice!". 

When Ramu asked him the blanket, Somu handed him the wet blanket. Ramu angrily asked “Why the blanket is so wet?". Somu replied, “It belongs to me in the day time, so I soaked it in water. I have agreed to your decision and there is no need to change anything".

 Ramu understood that Somu was demanding equal and fair share of them. Ramu apologized to Somu for being cunning to him and agreed to share the cow and the blanket equally. The brothers took care of the cow together and got the milk and shared it. They used the blanket at night. Ramu and Somu lived together happily.

Moral: Greed can result in loss of what you have. 

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Rain Water

Rain Water

Rangan is a farmer in a small village. He is a hard working person. He lived near his farm. His land has a deep well. Apart from the ground water, he thought that the rain water can be collected in the well. After spending a little money for buying pipes, Rangan set up the pipes in the roof and made rain water falling on the roof to run through the tube and then into the well. Rainy season started and rain water reached well. He advised the people in the town to set up rain water pipes on the roof so that they can also save rain water.

They did not listen to his words. They made fun of him and they ignored his advice. They considered it is waste of money to set up rain water harvesting pipes. Summer season started. All of the water resources became drained. Lakes and ponds became empty. So all the people in the village were troubled with water scarcity .The villagers decided to ask the village chief to help them. The chief asked them " Did your village get rain during rainy season?".

People replied that they got good rainfall in that year's rainy season . Then the chief asked, " Why was this drought if there was good rainfall?"

The villagers told that the lakes and ponds became empty. The chief asked again, " Whether you are storing rain water in the well ?"

The villagers said " No! We did not save rainwater"

He told them: " Water is our life saver, rain water is invaluable resource, If you have saved the rain water, insufficiency should not have occurred today .
The villagers felt sorry for not realizing the need to save water . The chief continued, Rangan, a farmer in your village has stored rain water in the well in his farm. He has accepted to offer water to your entire village this summer.
He advised that villagers to save rain water and reduce water wastage. People realized that they need to save water and saying thank you to chief and Rangan. They all returned to the village and rain water harvesting pipes were set in every house. They all began to save water and lived happily.

Moral: Little drops of water make the mighty ocean. Rain water harvesting is one of  the best method to save water.

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Find a Friend

Find a Friend

Once in a small village, there lived a small goat named Goki. He is very mischievous goat. So, none of the goats in the village wanted to make friends with Goki. He got bored and he decided to make new friends. Goki walked towards the jungle. One old goat saw him and stopped, "Goki, do not go into the jungle! It will be dangerous to be there! Big animals are there!” Goki replied to the old goat that it will find a new friend and come back. The old goat was unable to stop him.

After walking in to the jungle, Goki saw a Giraffe eating leaves from the branch of a tall tree. Giraffe asked Goki, "Who are you? Why are you here? Goki replied, " I am Goki the goat, I am here to find a friend " Giraffe asked "Can I be your friend?" "No, you are so tall. You cannot be my friend", said Goki and walked away from the Giraffe.

Goki continued walking and found an elephant munching leaves. Elephant was asking the same question asked by Giraffe to Goki. When Goki replied that he has come to jungle to find a friend, Elephant asked if he can be Goki's friend. Goki replied "No, you are so big and fat, you cannot be my friend".

He kept going into the jungle; he saw a rabbit near a bush. The rabbit asked about Goki and he replied that he is looking for a friend. Rabbit also asked Goki, if he can be his friend. Goki said to the rabbit, “No! No! You are small and timid! You cannot be my friend!".

Goki kept walking and he found a fox. The fox also asked the same question to Goki and he replied that Goki came there to find a friend. Then the fox asked Goki, "Can I be your friend?” Goki thought for a second, “You are not so tall, not so fat, and not so small, you will be my friend". The fox said to Goki, “We became friends, let us celebrate with a party at my home. Then, I will show you green pastures. You can graze as much you want". Goki happily accepted and went along with the fox. The fox took Goki to his cave and ate him. The poor goat Goki lost his life by choosing a wrong friend.

Moral: Never decide your friends by appearances, decide your friends by their character.

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Bitter Juice

Bitter Juice

There was a small boy named Meju in the town Vavi. Meju has a bad of habit of telling lies. Even for the smallest thing, he will tell a lie. His father and mother tried a lot of methods to change his behavior. They advised him. They beat him. None of them could change Meju. He was always lying to anyone he spoke.

One day, Meju's mother met with his school teacher in the market. She told the teacher about his behavior and he is not changing. Teacher asked Meju's mother to meet him in the school along with Meju. Also, the teacher told, Meju's mother may have to face a little difficulty for sometime till Meju changes. Meju's mother accepted that since she wanted Meju should not be a liar.

The next day, Meju and his mother went to school to meet the teacher. Teacher said to Meju's mother, " Madam, you are worried that Meju's lying, here is a bottle of tasty juice. Whenever he is found lying, you please have a sip of this juice. You will feel better. But, do not give this to Meju and please keep this aside of his sight". Meju's mother thanked his teacher and went to home. Whenever, Meju lied to his mother, she drank a sip of juice and said "Aha !" , after drinking she hid the juice in the kitchen shelf. Meju was so curious about the juice his mother was drinking.

When his mother was talking to their neighbor, he went in to the kitchen. He pulled a chair to the kitchen. He climbed over the kitchen shelf and opened the shelf door. He found the juice bottle. He took it and climbed down. He walked to the backyard, sat under a tree. He opened the bottle and drank a sip of it. The juice was not sweet as he expected. It was too bitter. He spit the juice out. He was wondering how mother would enjoy such a bitter juice.

When he was about to place it back in the kitchen, his mother came in. Meju turned and asked his mother , "Momma, how are you drinking this bitter juice?". His mother replied, " Meju, this juice is better than your lies. Your lies make me feel so bitter in my heart". Meju realized his mistake. He felt sorry for being a liar and making his mother to suffer because of his lies. Now , Meju has changed to a good person and speaks truth always. Meju and his parents lived happily.

Moral : A man who speaks truth will have a peaceful and successful life. A man who lies have to suffer because of his lies.

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Nail On the Wall

Nail On the Wall

A saint visited the small town Pudur. There was a rich man who welcomed him to his house . The rich man expressed his problem to the saint.
"Swamiji, I am getting angry for even small matters. What is the way to control my anger?" the rich man asked.
The saint asked the rich man, "Which room in your home is your most favorite room?
The rich man said that his favorite room is the drawing room of his house.

The drawing room had beautiful art, paintings and decorative items in the walls. Indeed, it was the most beautiful room. Then the saint turned back to the rich man’s wife and said, “whenever your husband is angry, hammer a nail in the wall of this room every time. A week later I will come and meet you!” He left the rich man's house after saying this advice.

"What it this? This saint is asking to hit a nail on the wall in my beautiful drawing room!" said the rich man angrily. His wife took the first nail and hit it on the wall. Whenever he got angry, his wife hit the nail on the wall. On the whole, she had to hit a total of fourteen nails on the first day. The next day, whenever the rich man became angry, she kept hitting the nails on the wall. There were ten nails at the end of the second day. On the third day, it reduced to six nails. 

Due to continuous hitting of nails, a small crack appeared in the wall on the fourth day. Large cracks in the wall could make the room completely ruined. The rich man wanted to stop his wife hammering the nail in the wall. He did not want to destroy the wall spoiling his most favorite drawing room. He began to remain quiet whenever he became angry. There was no need to hit the nail at the end of the fifth day. Gradually he wanted peace of mind and stopped becoming angry. 

At the end of the week, when the saint returned to see the rich man, he found him to be peaceful and saw politeness in his face. The saint realized that the nail on the wall treatment has worked very well and said “See how the nails have spoiled the wall; similarly your anger was spoiling your mind! If you stop becoming angry, your life will be peaceful!” The rich man accepted saint’s words. The saint blessed the rich man and his wife. The rich man lively happily and peacefully.

Moral : Anger is the root cause of all the evils. One should control his anger, else anger can destroy him.

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True Friendship

True Friendship

In a small town, there lived three friends a Popsicle, a Tomato and an Onion. They were best friends and they used to be always together. One day they were walking near a pond. Popsicle told that they all can swim in the pond. Tomato was hesitating to get into pond. But Onion and Popsicle asked him to swim. They all three jumped into the water. Popsicle melted in water and only the stick floated in the pond. Tomato understood that Popsicle is gone. Tomato and Onion started crying since they lost their friend. They became sad and came out of the pond.

Tomato and Onion started walking on the road. Tomato tried to cross the road along with the Onion. A fast truck on the road ran over the Tomato and crushed it. Onion called "Tomato! Tomato", but Tomato could not reply. Onion understood that Tomato is also gone. Onion started crying very badly. Onion kept crying for hours.

Seeing this, God came in front of the Onion and asked “Onion! Oh Onion! Why are you crying for a long time! “Onion asked “Who are you?". God told "I am God!” Onion replied “Ok God! Thank you for coming to me. I lost my friends. When Popsicle was gone, I and Tomato were there to cry for him. When Tomato was gone, I was there to cry for him. Now if I am gone, who will cry for me? This makes me sad, so I am crying!" God asked, “What can I do to give you happiness?” Onion told "I want someone to cry when I am also gone". God replied “Ok Onion! I grant you the wish you asked! From now on, everyone will cry when you are gone!” Onion was happy, from that day people get tears when they peel onions.

Moral : If you love your friends truly, God will help you always.

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The Disobedient Duckling

The Disobedient Duckling

There was a river named Palar. There lived a beautiful duck family. There was father duck, mother duck (mallard) and two little ducklings. The youngest duckling's name was Tucker. He was a very naughty duckling. He never listened to his parents. Tucker was not obedient to his parents. The father duck always advised Tucker to not to swim beyond the bridge in the river. But, Tucker was not listening to that advice.

One day, Tucker swam up to the bridge. When he tried to cross, his elder sibling noticed and stopped him. The next day also he wanted to go beyond the bridge. When he tried to cross the bridge, his mother saw that and stopped him from going there. Also, the mother duck told Tucker that it was so dangerous to go that side of the river. Tucker did not listen to his mother's words.

The third day, he swam near the bridge; he turned around to see if his mother or elder sibling looked at him. No one saw him. He swam beyond the bridge. He swam so happily. He was far away from their place. It was getting dark. Tucker wanted to take rest. He saw a rock in the middle of the river. The rock seemed to be floating on the water. Tucker swam towards the rock and climbed over it.

The rock started moving and Tucker saw it completely. That was not a rock. It was a big crocodile. Tucker was so frightened to see that creature. He was stunned and could not move. Tucker's father duck came in search of him. Seeing Tucker's father duck, the crocodile turned towards him. This gave sometime for Tucker to realize he should fly away now. He shouted “Dad! I am here!”. Both of them flew at the same time. It was a narrow escape from the crocodile.

Father duck told Tucker that the bridge has been a gate to protect them from crocodile and Tucker will be safe then. Tucker felt sorry for not obeying his parents. Thereafter, Tucker obeyed his parents and listened to their advice. He grew up to be a good duck and their family lived happily in the river.

Moral : Always obey your parents. Show respect to their words.

Home (Loosely based on story by Yer Jenny Lo)