We have heard of Aesop’s fables where most of the
characters in his stories are animals, some of which take on human
characteristic and are personified in the ways of speech and emotions. The
majority of his characters retain their animalistic qualities; tortoise is
slow, hares are quick, tigers eat bird, etc. Aesop used these qualities and
natural tendencies of animals to focus on human traits and wisdom. The most
important thing to be noted is that each tale or fable has an accompanying moral to be learned from the tale. Aesop
was a story teller and a slave from ancient Greece. Aesop was known to be a
keen observer of both animals and people.
Life is full of chances to
learn new things day after day. Sometimes we need an interest and sometimes an
attitude to learn the right thing. In management, the learning is more
important than the way of learning. That is why there are role plays, games and
stories to make people learn the obvious and the important.
What follows is a bunch of
short stories and the lessons to be learnt from them. It’s a collection of
assorted humorous stories to be read in the right spirit. The lesson is the end
and the means are not important. We should not get deep into the story and
concentrate on the Lesson that we learn out of them.
- YOUR POSITION DEFINES YOUR ATTITUDE
A crow was sitting on a
tree, doing nothing all day. A small rabbit saw the crow and asked, ‘Can I also
sit like you and do nothing all day long?’ The crow answered: ‘sure why not.’
So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow and rested. All of a sudden, a
fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Lesson: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must
be at the top.
If one has to reach the top he has to put in
enormous effort and stretch himself over and above what he can do and be
focused and be passionate about what he is doing. This will take time and
effort and thereafter after some point one reaches the top. By now he is
thorough with the understanding of the organization and the environment he is
working with and also gets to know the people around him.
After one reaches the Top slot he will not do any
work by himself but will think, think and Think all the time and also Take
Decisions which will cost the organization heavily if any wrong decision is
taken.
By nothing is meant less or no physical work and
more of work in the mind.
- YOUR POSITION DEPENDS ON YOUR PERFORMANCE
A turkey was
chatting with a bull. ‘I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree,’
sighed the turkey, ‘but I haven’t got the energy’. ‘Well, why don’t you nibble
on some of my droppings?’ replied the bull, ‘They’re packed with nutrients.’
The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it actually gave him enough
strength to reach the first branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some
more dung, it reached the second branch. Finally, after a fortnight, there it
was proudly perched at the top of the tree. The turkey was promptly spotted by
a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree.
Lesson: Bullshit might get you to the top, but it
won’t keep you there.
- BE SMART AND ACT SMART TO SURVIVE
A little bird
was flying south for the winter. It was so cold that the bird froze and fell to
the ground in a large field. While it was lying there, a cow came by and
dropped a load of hot, steaming dung on it. As the frozen bird lay there in the
pile of shit, it began to realise how warm it was. The dung actually thawed it
out! It lay there all warm and happy and soon began to sing for joy. A passing
cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the
cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung. The cat promptly dug the
bird out, and ate the bird.
Moral or Lesson: Not everyone who drops shit on you is your
enemy. Not everyone who pulls you out of shit is your friend. And when you’re
warm and happy in your pile of shit, keep your mouth shut! If you don’t, you
have to face the consequences.
- INSTANT GRATIFICATION WILL LEAD YOU NOWHERE
A sales
executive, a clerk, and a manager are walking to lunch when they find an
antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out. The Genie says, ‘I’ll give
each of you just one wish.’ ‘Me first! Me first!’ says the admin clerk. ‘I want
to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.’ Puff!
She’s gone. ‘Me next! Me next!’ says the sales rep. ‘I want to be in Hawaii,
relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina
coladas and the love of my life. Puff! He’s gone. ‘OK, you’re up,’ the Genie
says to the manager. The manager says, ‘I want those two idiots back in the
office after lunch.’
Lesson: Always let your boss have the first say.
Smile and keep
finding good and smart ways to enhance your learning. Remember, end is
important than the means. You can also read stories from Panchatantra which
gives morals at the end of each story. Here too animal characters are portrayed
and the purpose of the dialogue among the various animal characters is to place
the respective human point of view in perspective. The greatest importance in
Panchatantra is given to Dharma or righteousness.
In Panchatantra
even the villains in the drama mouth time-tested truths to justify their case,
as if to state that truth can be used by just about anyone, though it does not
become untruth for that reason. For, as the Panchatantra says, “rascals, for their own personal benefit,
show the master things in a false light and speak with great powers of
persuasion.” It is for the hearer to discern the truth.
Be blissful.
S.SEKAR
Contact: sekrajc@yahoo.com
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