The cracked pot

An elderly Chinese man had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which he carried across his neck.

One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the man bringing home only one and a half pots of water.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do. After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the man one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."

The old man smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?" "That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them." "For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.

Cooking Khichri- Akbar and BIrbal

 One Winter morning , Emperor Akbar and BIrbal were strolling by the lake , the Emperor happened to touch the water in the lake and found it icy cold, He had a sudden idea. He called out to Birbal" I will give a thousand gold coins to anyone who dares to spend an entire night in this icy chill water". The challenge was duly announced and a poor man came forward to take up the challenge.
   The man spent the entire night in the freezing water and went to the court the next morning.
Akbar was astonished that the man accomplished the task . Akbar asked the man ," How did you survive the entire night in the icy cold water?" . The poor man replied, " Your Majesty , there was  a lamp on the fort's window. Throughout the night , I was looking at the lamp and kept myself away from the thought of cold."
  Hearing the man's reply , Akbar said, " Since you warmed yourself with the heat of the lamp, you are not entitled for any reward."
 The poor man turned to Birbal for help.
    The next day , Birbal sent a message to the court that he would come only after his khichri( an Indian dish) was cooked.  After a long wait , Akbar went to Birbal's house and saw Birbal watching his bowl of khichri cook hanging from a pole five feet above the fire.
    Akbar laughed at Birbal and said ," Birbal, your khichri won't cook, It's far from the fire."
    Birbal answered , " Your Majesty, this khichri will receive heat from the fire the same way the poor man received  heat from the lamp in the far off fort." Akbar realised his mistake and rewarded the poor man.

Story and Picture courtesy Mindmelodies publication
www.mindmelodies.com

Carrying the coconuts

  One day , a poor coconut seller had the good luck of gathering a lot more coconuts than he usually could. He loaded his horse cart heavily and started to the near by village to sell.
   As he was about to start he saw a boy standing near his cart. He asked the boy," Can you tell me how long it would take to reach the village?"
   The boy looked at he cart and said , " If you go slowly, you will reach very soon, but if you go fast , you will reach only by Sun down."
    "What!" exclaimed the coconut seller and smiled. He could not believe the strange logic of the boy. The coconut seller climbed his horse cart and started hurrying towards the village. He whipped the horse again and again to make it trot faster. However , since the cart was heavily loaded ,many of the coconuts fell off. The coconut seller had to stop the cart to pick them up. Then he hurried his horse even more to make up for the lost time, the coconut fell off again and once again , the coconut seller had to stop and collect the fallen coconuts again and again. By the time he reached the village, it was night and he had also lost some of the coconuts on the way.

story and picture courtesy Mind melodies publication
WWW.mindmelodies.com

Don't Quit.

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile , but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out,
Don't give up though the pace seems slow-
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out-
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

                                        Anonymous

The monk and the cobra.

       There once lived a venomous snake in a hole under a large tree. The tree stood in  a corner of a field near a village.The cobra attacked people at the slightest provocation and many people died because of the snakes deadly bite. Fear of the cobra kept people from coming near the tree.
       One day a monk was passing through the village and saw this beautiful tree and decided to meditate under its shade before he moved on. Some boys who were driving their cows back home saw the monk and warned him about the cobra .The monk continued to walk towards the tree. The boys fled .
       As the monk sat down to meditate the snake came out from his hole with an angry hiss, ready to strike.
The monk chanted a mantra looking straight in to the cobra's eyes and miraculously the cobra laid down on the ground peacefully.
       After the monk finished his meditation he opened his eyes and found the snake still lying beside him. He spoke to the snake ," Your bite is venomous and it kills people , it is a very wrong thing to do. I will teach you a mantra repeating which will teach you to be more tolerant and loving towards other creatures".
The monk taught the snake a mantra and left the village. The cobra repeated the mantra and became very peaceful. He lived on berries and fruits that were available to it in the nearby fields. Slowly the people in the village forgot their fear for the snake.
      After a few weeks the same boys passed that way and saw the snake , at first they were afraid but seeing the snake so quiet and peaceful starting taunting it by throwing stones.One evening the boys stoned the cobra and made it bleed when one boy took the cobra by it's tail and started swinging it round and round and round and let go of it . The cobra went crashing on a huge rock. The boys clapped and  laughed and left it to die.
       The cobra continued to chant the mantra taught by his teacher which gave him strength to crawl back to his hole. Now the snake went out only in the dark when no one was about and ate a few dry leaves and berries.His wounds were slowly healing.
     After a few months the monk happened to pass by the same village and found the cobra weak and thin. He asked the cobra about the wound on his head. The cobra replied ," Some children playfully swung me around and my head hit a rock, I nearly died .How are they to know I have changed , it is not their mistake". Hearing the cobra the monk was deeply moved. The monk said ," Yes , I told you not to bite , but I did not ask you not to hiss".
     The cobra understood the truth in his teacher's words. He chanted the mantra taught to him but when someone tried to harm him he hissed and that frightened them away.


Picture coutesy- Ramakrisha math book.

The fish challenge.

       Gopal was a clever and witty barber, He lived in a small kingdom , ruled by a king called Raja Krishna Chandra. The Raja often turned to Gopal to help him out of difficult situations or solve a difficult problem.
          In Gopal's city, Hilsa fish was a very popular dish. Hilsa fish being available only once a year ,never failed to grab everyone's attention and interest. When it was Hilsa season, house wives exchanged recipes, shopkeepers discussed the latest price of Hilsa. Fishermen talked about catching the biggest Hilsa of the season.
        The King Raja Krishna was surprised to see even his courtiers discussing Hilsa fish rather than more important state matters. Finally , unable to bear this anymore he decided to put an end to all this talk about the fish. He thought he would be at peace even if people would stop about it for a few minutes. He announced an award of fifty gold coins to anyone who could bring to the palace a big Hilsa fish from the market . The only condition being that while bringing the fish to the palace no passerby must talk about the fish.
       Even after a week not one succeeded in this challenge, simple as the task seemed many tried to attempt it but the look of Hilsa fish did not fail to excite remarks from onlookers. After a week Gopal decided to take the challenge.
      He woke up one morning, shaved off half of his beard, put mud all over his face and hair , put on old clothes and wore his shirt backwards. His wife when she looked at him demanded to know where he was going looking like a tramp .Gopal simply smiled and said he was going to the market to buy the biggest  Hilsa fish available. So saying he left her and headed to the market. There he bought a big Hilsa fish ,he started walking towards the palace making very little effort to hide the fish.
     On the way people who met him were shocked at Gopal's appearance. They wondered if he had finally gone mad. What with mud on his face and his beard half shaven he did look strange. some others feared that Gopal had lost his memory . When Gopal reached the palace gates the guards hardly recognised him  and wouldn't let him inside. One guard went inside to inform the king, the king summoned Gopal inside. He took one look at Gopal and was shocked to see his best advisor looking like a tramp. He demanded Gopal to explain himself. Gopal merely laughed and replied that he had won the challenge and the king owed him fifty gold coins. The king looked confused he wanted to know what challenge was Gopal talking about.  Gopal unwrapped a big Hilsa fish from under his arms and showed it to the king. No one who had met him had spoken anything about the fish, in fact no one had noticed the fish ,Gopal's looks had taken away all their attention. The king laughed at Gopal's cleverness and gave Gopal fifty gold coins and suggested he go home at once and clean himself. Gopal went home happier and richer.

Manuneedhi Cholan

          King Manuneethi Cholan had hung a huge bell in front of his palace . He announced that anyone seeking justice could ring the bell and their voice will be heard.

          One day the young prince went around the city in his chariot. People cheered him where ever he went and welcomed him by beating drums and  with pipes. An young calf terrified with the loud noises ran berserk and got itself crushed under the wheels of the prince's chariot. The mother of the calf helplessly watched its little one die .The cow walked to the palace gates and rang the huge bell demanding justice from the king. The king came out and saw the cow,he learnt from his courtiers the death of the young calf under the wheels of his son's chariot.

          King Manuneethi Cholan kept his promise , he ordered his son to be killed for his recklessness. The prince was killed the same way the calf had died ,he was crushed under the wheels of the chariot .The king went through the same pain the cow had as he witnessed his son die and thereby being just at all cost.

Cherokee Wisdom

Cherokee Wisdom!

     An old Cherokee told his grandson, "My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies, & ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy, & truth."

    The boy thought about it, and asked, "Grandfather, which wolf wins?"

The old man quietly replied, "The one you feed".

Tenali Raman and the thieves.

        The witty Tenali Raman was now known to all as King Krishna deva Raya's favourite  courtier and was also now known to be a wealthy man as he received lot of valuable gifts from the king. This made Tenali Raman an easy target for thieves. 

       One summer night , when Tenali Raman and his wife were relaxing in their  courtyard, his sharp eyes caught a movement in the leaves in his garden. There was not even a faint breeze ,so Raman presumed that there were intruders in his house. He was right - a couple of thieves were hiding there.

     " My dear," said Raman quite loudly to his wife , "I've heard that far too many robberies are taking place in our neighbourhood. So let's hide our jewels in the well."

     A little later , Raman and his wife came out lugging a heavy box, and dropped it into the well. It fell with a mighty splash. They went back in to the house , as if to sleep.

     The thieves waited for a while and stealthily began to draw water from the well.They hoped to empty the well and get the treasure.The whole night , the two thieves drew water and poured it out as quietly as they could. They got the trunk out and to their dismay found huge stones inside them. By morning they were completely exhausted and very miserable knowing that they were outsmarted by the witty Raman.

    Tenali Raman came out in the morning and saw the thieves.

     "Thank you for watering my garden . You have saved me a lot of trouble," he called out.

      The two men begged Tenali Raman for forgiveness and hobbled away as fast as they could.

BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD.

      

    One day an anxious mother, along with her son visited Mahatma Gandhi. She told Bapuji, "My son is suffering from a kidney disease,Bapuji, I am really concerned ,I took him to the doctor and the doctor has advised him to take food without salt." She continued, "the problem Bapuji is my son refuses to follow the doctor's orders ,but if you tell him he will listen as he worships you and he will not deny you.".


     The Mahatma asked the mother and son to see him after a week.


     After a week or so , Mahatma Gandhi called the mother and the son to his house. He took the boy aside and looked him in the eye and said " You are very important for your mother's happiness and your health worries her, It is my wish that you follow doctor's orders and stop taking salt in your diet ".


    The boy who was in awe of the Mahatma was so pleased with the Mahatma worrying about him,agreed at once  . He turned to his mother and said" no more salt for me Ma."


     The relieved mother stood puzzled for a while and asked Gandhiji "But Bapuji, you could have told him this when we came a week ago, why didn't you?"


      To this Gandhiji replied"But madam at that time I was taking salt in my diet and it has taken a week for me to give up salt myself. How can I advice your son to eat a diet without salt with a clear conscience? How can I tell someone to do something which I myself do not practice .


    This is the great man who said" Be the change you want to see in the world".

Thirunyana Sambandar -the holy ash.

    King Nedumaran of Pandiya kingdom was  a follower of Jainism. His wife Mangaiyarkkarasi and Minister Kulachchiraiyar were devotees of Lord Shiva.


    When the young prodigy Thirunyana Sambandar in his travels reached Pandiya kingdom to sing the praise of the lord, both the queen and the minister were overjoyed. They welcomed him gratefully and were hopeful that at last the king can be removed from the influences of the Jains.


    Though in possession of sound  principles the Jains followed them selfishly. They were constantly fearful of losing the kings patronage and in the survival of their philosophy . Hence were out to poison the king about the intentions of Thirunyana Sambandar's arrival as a direct challenge to the king and his beliefs.The trusting king believed them and gave permission to burn down the mansion ,provided by the queen for the visiting Sambandar with their mantras and prove their superiority over Shaivism. The Mantras of the Jains failed to work on the mansion where the God child stayed. To convince the king of their success the jains set the mansion on fire.
      
       Seeing the mansion on fire and thankful that no one came to harm  , Thirunyana Sambandar sang a pathigam and  sent the heat of the fire back to the person who was responsible for it. The king had sanctioned this revenge and so was immediately affected and was soon down with a burning pain in his stomach.


     The king was miserable in pain and soon listened to the queen to allow Sambandar to cure him. The king asked the jains to work on his left side and Thirunyana Sambandar on the right side . The jains worked with peacock feathers and holy water ,it only increased the burning pain. The king begged Sambandar to cure him and promised to accept and follow Shaivism if he succeeded . The young saint praising the lord applied holy ashes(thiruneer)  on the king's body on the right side . At once the king felt a chilling effect and the pain leaving him on that side .Then he asked Sambandar to cure him completely . Sambandar then smeared the holy ashes on the left side of the king's body and cured the king.The king was all praise for Sambandar and saluted him with folded hands. It was not long before the king embraced Shaivism.


    The queen Mangaiyarkkarachiyar , Kulachchiraiyar and the king Nedumaran are all among the 63 Nayanmars.

The story of Markandeyan

      Once there lived a sage named Mrikandu with his wife Marudavali , the couple were childless. They worshiped lord Shiva for a child,one day lord Shiva appeared before them and asked if they wanted an ordinary child with a long life or a child with exceptional intelligence with a short life. Sage Mrikandu asked the lord for a child who would be an intelligent and a good son. In due course Marudavali gives birth to a son who would only live for sixteen years. The couple name him Markandeyan, the child as promised by the lord showed great understanding of the scriptures and at a very young age  became an accomplished sage.


     Markandeyan in his sixteenth year knew his time on earth  was going to end. He was in the temple worshiping lord Shiva in the form of a Shivalingam,on seeing Kalan(or yama,the god of death) come towards him, Markandeyan clutched  the shivalingam and prayed to lord Shiva to protect him. Kalan approached Markandeyan and threw his noose around him ,the noose also encircled the shivalingam which Markandeyan was hugging. Lord Shiva exploded out of the Lingam with great fury and struck down Yama for encircling the lingam with his noose . He blessed the boy-sage Markandeyan with eternal life always at the same age of sixteen.


     With Kalan gone , there was no death on earth and Bhumadevi (goddess earth) worshiped to the Lord saying that she cannot bear such a huge burden. And in answer to her prayer lord Shiva revives Kalan.


      The story is thus believed to have taken place in Tirukkadaiyur in Tamil Nadu, the place is now celebrated as a place where death itself died. People visit this place for good health and long life.

Ekalavya - the devoted disciple of Dhronacharya.

Dhronacharya was the royal teacher to the Pandavas and Kauravas of Hasthinapura ,he was a master of advanced military arts. Arjuna ,who belonged to the Pandavas was his favourite student.


Near Hasthinapura, in a forest lived Ekalavya ,the son of a hunter. Ekalavya once watched Dhronacharya teach archery to the royal princes . Ekalavya wished to learn archery from Dhronacharya and so approached the great guru and begged him to accept him as his student.Dhronacharya , refused to accept Ekalavya as his student as he belonged to the class of hunters who were considered as shudras or people belonging to the lowest social community.


 Ekalavya was much disappointed but did not lose hope nor did he give up his desire to learn archery. He returned to the forest , made a clay statue of Dhronacharya and practised archery everyday .He worshipped the statue as his guru and with constant practice excelled at the art of archery.


Years later ,one day Guru Dhronacharya and the princes were hunting in the forest near where Ekalavya lived. A dog from the hunting party reached near Ekalavya , disturbed by its constant barking Ekalavya shot arrows at the dogs mouth in such a way that the arrows stopped the dog from barking without hurting the dog. The dog returned to the hunting party. Dhronacharya and the princes were astonished seeing the dog with the arrows in its mouth. Dhronachaya at once understood that the arrows must have left the most skilled hands of a very talented archer. 


Eager to learn about the hunter , the hunting party went into the forest with the dog to lead them, there they saw Ekalavya practising with his bow and arrow. Dhronacharya asked Ekalavya the name of his teacher. Ekalavya took him to the clay statue and replied that Dhronacharya was his guru and inspiration. Dhronacharya was much taken aback, Arjuna who was a great archer was his favourite student . He did not want that to change. 


It was the prevailing belief that the full benefit of education can be achieved only by offering guru dakshina (fees) that the teacher asks for. Dhronacharya asked Ekalavya for guru dakshina ,Ekalavya was ecstatic as this means Dhronacharya who he worshipped as his guru for so long has finally accepted him as his disciple . He replied that he would be happy if it is in his means to offer his guru what he asks for. Guru Dhronacharya asks for the right thumb of Ekalavya as his guru Dakshina thereby ensuring that Arjuna has no competition in this art. Ekalavya did not even stop to think , he at once removed his axe and severed his thumb off his right hand and offered it to his guru as guru dakshina.Such was devotion of our dear hunter. Ekalavya will always remain a great example for a devoted disciple.

Story of Onam

            The beautiful state of Kerala was once ruled by an asura(demon) king Mahabali who was the grandson of Prahalad . The king was greatly loved and respected in his kingdom and was considered wise, judicious and extremely generous. Kerala witnessed a golden era during the reign of Mahabali and the people were extremely happy. His bravery and strength of character earned him the name Mahabali Chakravathy.


       Though belonging to the asura(demon) dynasty, King Mahabali was a devout worshiper of Lord Vishnu. The Gods were threatened by the popularity of this asura king. They wanted to find a way to put an end to his reign and to reaffirm their own supremacy .Aditi , the mother of the Gods appealed to Lord Vishnu whom Mahabali worshipped, for help.


       King Mahabali was famous for his generosity , Lord Vishnu disguised himself as a dwarf brahmin called Vamana. He approached king Mahabali just as he was finishing his morning prayers and begged for a piece of land. The generous king granted Vamana his wish and asked him how much land he wanted. Vamana asked for three paces of land. At once Shukracharya, the adviser to king Mahabali, sensed that the dwarf was no ordinary brahmin and warned the king. King Mahabali felt it is very unfit for a king to go back on his promise and asked the dwarf brahmin to chose his land. 


       As soon as the king granted the Brahmin his wish the brahmin  increased himself to the size of cosmic proportions. With one step he covered the earth and with the other he covered the skies , next he asked the king for a place where he could keep his foot for the third pace. Knowing that the third step would destroy the earth, the great king with folded arms offered his head for the brahmin to place his foot. Lord Vishnu put his foot on King Mahabali's head and pushed him into patala(underworld). The king on seeing the brahmin's true identity asked for just one boon. 


      The king was so attached to his kingdom and its people that he requested that he be allowed to visit Kerala once a year.Greatly moved by the kind king's devotion for his people Lord Vishnu granted him the wish.


      It is the day of visit of King Mahabali that is celebrated as Onam every year. It is a tribute to the great king's sacrifice .Elaborate preparations are made for the king's homecoming . The people of Kerala show in their celebrations how happy they are and also show how they wish their king well.

SHRAVAN,THE DUTIFUL SON

        Long long ago, there lived a boy called Shravan. He was the only son of a poor and blind couple. Shravan loved his parents and his sense of duty towards them was very high. He made it his life concern to take care of his blind parents.He tried to fulfill their every wish.

     One day his parents expressed their wish to go on a holy pilgrimage to Kasi. It was a prevalent belief among hindus that a dip in the holy river Ganges would rid them of a life time of bad karma.

      Shravan at once made arrangements to take them ,he seated them in two baskets slung from either end of a wooden pole which he balanced upon his shoulders.

      The holy city of Kasi was a long way off and Shravan had to walk day and night for long hours.One evening they reached a forest ,Shravan's parents were very thirsty , they asked their son to fetch them some water. Shravan left the baskets under a tree and went to a small stream to get water.

      At the same time in the forest ,King Dasharatha, the king of Ayodhya , was with his hunting party. King Dasharatha was celebrated for his fine marksmanship and could find his target just by hearing a merest whimper .As Shravan was filling his pot , it made a strange gurgling noise. King Dasharatha mistaking the noise for a wild beast ,aimed at the sound and shot his arrow .Only when the arrow hit the mark and Shravan let out a cry did king Dasharatha realize his mistake . He reached the spot as fast as he could and was disheartened to see that his arrow had pierced an young human. He tried to help Shravan but it was too late. Shravan wished King Dasharatha to take the water to his parents and died.

      King Dasharatha , very ashamed to face Shravan's parents went to them and offered the water and asked for their forgiveness for his terrible mistake.

Shravan's parents on learning that their sole caretaker and loving son gone would have none of King Dasharatha's apology, they cursed king Dasharatha to a similar fate as their's . Shravan's father cursed that King Dasharatha would also die of grief from separation from his son.Both Shravan's parents die of grief soon after.

      After many years the curse of Shravan's parents came true. King Dasharatha too died of grief after his son  Lord Rama went into exile to the forests for fourteen years.

Slave of my slave.

      Long ago when Alexander the great came to India , he found the people fearless and friendly. He befriended many of them. when he prepared to leave to his homeland he wanted to take a sage from India along with him. 

      He went in quest of a sage into the forest . He found one sitting under a tree deep in meditation. Alexander greeted the sage warmly and kindly requested him to accompany him to Greece. He promised the sage great riches and comfort.

      The sage calmly replied that he has no desire to go with the king and that he has no use for riches and is very comfortable here.

       Alexander flew in to a rage he burst out in anger, "do you know who I am? I am the great king Alexander, no one lives after disobeying me" .So saying he unsheathed his sword. The sage was not perturbed he replied ,"you say you are a king ,but you are just a slave to my slave".

       Alexander was much surprised by this reply,he could not comprehend its meaning, "why did you call me the slave of your slave? I am nobody's slave",he called back .

       The sage answered in a sweet calm voice," Great king , I have mastered  my anger. Anger is my slave,I don't lose my temper as you do, you are still a slave to your anger. Anger is my slave , so, you are a slave to my slave".

       

Vikata kavi Tenali Raman

      Once upon a time during the reign of king Krishnadevaraya there lived a man called Raman in a village called Tenali, Raman was very lazy and never did any work . One day he met a sage who taught Raman a secret Mantra and asked him to chant it thousand times in front of goddess Kali .

     That night after the whole household went to sleep, Raman crept out of his bed and made his way to the Kali temple. He chanted the mantra with great devotion. To his surprise goddess Kali with all her thousand heads stood in front of him when he finished chanting. When his eyes fell on the goddess he started to laugh , this infuriated the goddess who demanded him to explain himself . Raman begged her pardon and said that it was just that it suddenly occurred to him that when he has a cold it is difficult enough to wipe one running nose and that he wondered what the goddess would do if she ever caught a cold since she had thousand heads. 

      The goddess couldn't help smiling at this reply and gave him a boon by which he will always make others happy with his wit. She also said that henceforth he will be called Vikata Kavi . Raman was not satisfied with this boon he argued that it would do him no good. Then the goddess brought forth two bowls in her hand . One golden bowl containing the milk of wisdom and one silver bowl which had curds and stood for wealth , these she offered to Raman and asked him to choose any one bowl and drink from it to be blessed with that boon. Raman tricked the goddess by quickly gulping down the contents of both the bowls and again begged the goddess for forgiveness and explained that one without the other would be of little use. He argued that wealth without wisdom and wisdom without wealth would both bring unhappiness. The goddess relented and blessed him again with both the boons but she also warned him that to be so blessed will make other's envious and therefore he would make lot of enemies .But he would also have the wisdom to get out of any unpleasant situation.

        Since Raman hailed from the village Tenali he was called Tenali Raman and since he was blessed by goddess Kali , he was called Vikata Kavi Tenali Raman.

True to one's nature

     A saint was taking bath in a river.  His eyes fell on a scorpion . It was struggling for its life in the flowing water.


     He picked up the creature in his hands to save it from drowning . As he took the creature in his hands, it stung him on his hand. 


      Overcome by the pain of the sting, the saint let the scorpion fall from his hands in to the water.  As soon as he let the scorpion down, it again started  struggling for survival.


      Unable to see a fellow creature suffer the saint picked the scorpion with his hands once more . It stung him again. He was forced to let go of it because of the pain.The scorpion dropped back into the water.


       This act of the scorpion struggling for life and the saint picking it up went on for three or four times. Every time the scorpion stung the saint he dropped it into the river.


      One of the men on the bank of the river was watching this drama. He called out to the saint and said, "Why don't you give up the futile attempt of saving the life of a cruel creature? It has stung you so many times. Why don't you just let it die?"


      The saint smiled and said , " Every one gives only what one has. The scorpion has stung me again and again though I am trying to save its life. If it cannot give up its nature then how can I give up mine."

Mahatma Gandhi-His clothes

    Mahatma Gandhi , he stands for all things great about our country. His principles, strength of character and simplicity make us proud of him. We lovingly call him Bapu and when we think of him the image that comes to our mind is a simple ,kind old man wearing simple clothes - a mere loin dhothi.

      Mahatma Gandhi did not dress like this always.He was one of the few Indians who got educated in England during the pre-independence time. He wore western clothes or traditional Gujarathi clothes(long turbans, kurta and dhoti).

      In the year 1921 Mahatma Gandhi visited Madurai, and stayed in the residence of Sri Ramji Kalyanji 175 A West Masi street. On his way to Madurai he had seen farmers  and poor people wearing the simplest of clothes , a small towel like dhoti around their waist(Some he was told washed and wore the same clothes as they did not possess any other) .He was much disturbed and was haunted all through the night by the scenes that he had  witnessed . Overnight he took a decision to dress in a simple way just like so many of the people of his beloved country. He started to dress in this new way from the very next day much to the surprise of everyone present. He explained to them about his decision and attended the meetings in Madurai.He continued to dress this way through out his life.

riddles

1.  What is in the middle of Paris?
2.  Comes once in a year but twice in a week.
3.  What goes around the world but stays in a corner?
4.  Where does Thursday come before Wednesday?
5.  I have a head and a tail but no body.
6.  You can make it but cannot see it.
7.  I can run but cannot walk.
8.  What can't be used unless broken?
9.  What has four wheels and flies ?
10.What two words have thousands of letters?
11.How many letters are in the Alphabets?
12.Which building has maximum number of stories?
13.I have hands and a face ,no legs but I can run.
14.Which bank has no money.
15.What can you catch but cannot throw?
















Answer
1.  the letter 'r'
2.  the letter 'e'
3.  postal stamp
4.  in a dictionary
5.  a coin
6.  noise
7.  river 
8.  eggs
9.  a garbage truck
10.post office
11.nine
12.library
13.clock
14.a river bank
15.a cold