February 11, 2009

Carrots

Once there was a gardener Bhaari. He had a beautiful rabbit. This story is of those times where rabbits could understand and even speak English. Not only rabbits, but the entire animal kingdom could. If you havent read about this age in history, then you didnt read the right books!

So, as I was saying, our dear rabbit Dido was an intelligent kitten. His master Bhaari took him to different kitten races. He told Dido, "You win the race and I will give you a carrot." Dido always won. He simply loved the carrots.



Slowly slowly, Dido grew up. With all the carrots, he was bound to be fitter than most other rabbits. Bhaari now took Dido to the bigger races where Dido competed with much bigger rabbits. He told Dido as always, "Win the race and take the carrot". Dido was unhappy. He complained, "These races are bigger, tougher. I will not run or win for one carrot. I need two." Bhaari agreed. Dido always won. Slowly slowly, Dido got 3, 4, 5... carrots per race. Dido now grew fat and bulky. He ofcouse could not run the races anymore. He seemed tired. He wanted his master to take care of him now. The master just wanted to win the races. One fine day, the master threw Dido out of the house to get a beautiful new rabbit Mojo.

Also, at the same time there was a wise old fellow Sada. He had a not-so-beautiful rabbit Jijo. Jijo never won the races. His master after every loss told him, "You are very lucky. You got one more chance to learn today. Learn from your mistakes and move ahead." Jijo always got a carrot irrespective of whether he won or not. Jijo would make it a point to try his best to not let his master down. He practised harder and harder after every race. But, he surely wasnt the best. He always lost. When he grew up, his master gave him 2 carrots after every race. Never more. He said, "If you have too many carrots, you will end up spoiling your health". Jijo never asked for more.

The wise old man fell unwell one odd day. Jijo didnt want to disappoint the old man. He knew this could possibly be the last race the old man saw. He gave his best. He could have died on the race ground, that was his fierceness. He still didnt make it. He was a close second. With eyes blurred with tears, he reached his master. "I am sorry master. I failed you once again. You deserve a much better pet". To this, the wise master replied, "If you would have failed me, you would not have been besides me now. I have seen you put your efforts day in day out. You have done your 100%. Still, if only results matter, you have given me the true result in life. You have given me the happiness which no other rabbit could ever give. You gave me your sweat, you made me proud".

The master went on to live to see the next race which Jijo won.

Shocked at Jijo's - the weakest rabbit's - win, Dido came to meet him. "How did you manage this Jijo? I can barely run these days." To which Jijo replied,"We all run for carrots. More and more. More and more. Carrots are our motivation. After each win, they make us happy but the need for further motivation just keeps increasing. But, when there is no motivation, no need for even a carrot - when you have a master like mine - what you have is not motivation, but inspiration. And a second of inspiration lasts you a lifetime".

Dido understood the difference between a management Guru and a spiritual Guru :)

Shreyans
http://incessantlytimeless.blogspot.com/

11 comments:

  1. That was one helluva philosophical differentiation. Really good. :)

    We've a moral storyteller in making..thats gr8 dude. i enjoyed it thoroughly.

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  2. woww brother.....wht a way to put in ur thoughts with the help of carrot,rabbits and a mster......brilliant bro.......a fable that is thought provoking for sure.......wish to see more of ur work in lounge.......offcourse....get to learn something frm dido and jijo and his master.....nice ;-)

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  3. Beautifully written :) Reminded me of the time I read "Who Moved My Cheese"

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  4. truly inspirational..nice way to tell the difference between the spiritual and management gurus!

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  5. Nice!!! Philosophical and yet kept me hooked. I will agree to SD in saying that even I was reminded of "Who moved my Cheese?"

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  6. I ABSOLUTELY loved it.. I love stories with a moral in the end. :)

    I loved " If you havent read about this age in history, then you didnt read the right books!" this line.. The punch delivered was great.

    :D

    I want more!

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  7. That was brilliant bro..!!

    philosophically inspiring..!! Great narration too...
    I second kings and Rashi..!!

    Cheers..!!
    Arjun

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  8. Superb dear!! brilliant :) Felt the gratitude at the end :)

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  9. I went back to the time when I had read the Panch Tantra.

    The next time a kid asks me to narrate a story at least I cant stand ducks there.

    Well written dude. Looking forward to a book compilation..

    Sainath

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  10. wonderful writeup Shreyans. Loved it. It has very strong message. What we need is an everlating inpiration and not an ever-fading motivation.
    Just wanted to share a thought, I dont know if its relevant here or not. I heard from someone really intellectual---
    We should always work on building our self-esteem and not our confidence. Confidence depends on others' criticism but self-esteem will never allow ourselves to give up or to let ourselves down..


    thank you for sharing this one .. :)

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  11. Wow... I am overwhelmed by your responses! Thanks a lot...

    @The pink orchid

    Very valid point... What comes from within is inspiration (which you equated to self esteem) and what is external is motivation (which was equated to confidence).

    The only thing - I differ with the terminology self esteem and confidence. I shall rather call it self-belief (in place of self esteem) and pride (in case of confidence for pride depends on others' behavior).

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