Who are you?

 A story on 'Self Awareness'.

During one of his travels, Kalidasa felt very thirsty and looked around for water. He saw a lady drawing water from a well. He went up to her and asked her for water. She agreed to give him water but asked him, "Who are you? Introduce yourself".

Now, Kalidasa thought that an ordinary village woman was not worthy of knowing who Kalidasa was. So he said, "I am a traveller". But the lady replied, "In this world there are only two travellers - the Sun and the Moon. Both rise and set everyday and keep travelling perpetually".

Then Kalidasa said, "Alright then, I am a guest". The lady promptly replied, "In this world there are only two guests - Youth and Wealth - both are temporary and hence can only be called as guests".

Intrigued Kalidasa said, "I am a tolerant person (sahansheel vyakti)". Now the lady replied, "In this world only two truly know the meaning of tolerance - Bhoomi (Earth) and Tree. How much ever you stamp the earth or throw stones at the tree (for the fruits) both continue to nurture us".

Now, Kalidasa was completely perplexed. He said, "Fine. I am a stubborn person (hatavaadi)". The lady smiled and said, "There are only two truly stubborn personalities - our nails and our hair. We keep cutting them non-stop but they continue to grow".

Kalidas had been patient so far but now in anger he said, "I am a fool". Now the lady gave a wide smile and said, " There are only two kinds of fools in this world - a King who rules without having any capability or knowledge and a Minister who is a sycophant to such a King and lavishes praises on such a useless king".

Kalidas realised that he had been outsmarted. He fell at the feet of the lady and when he touched her feet and then got up, whom did he see?

Mata Saraswati - the Goddess of Learning and Wisdom.

She said, "Kalidasa, you are wise. But only if you know yourself do you become a Manushya (human being). 

A person without any awareness of self has not reached the pinnacle of being a human.

More than teaching children how to earn money and become rich, parents should teach them to become aware of themselves and become better human beings (Manushya).

Intelligence is good but Wisdom achieves better results.

    *         *          *

In jest!

John Wayne.......his 5 rules to life....

* Money cannot buy happiness but it's more comfortable to cry in a Mercedes than on a bicycle * Forgive your enemy but remember the b******'s name * Help someone when they are in trouble and they will remember you when they're in trouble again * Many people are alive only because it's illegal to shoot them * Alcohol does not solve any problems but then again, neither does milk.

Tailpiece.

Got up at 6, the chores and was ready by a half past 9. Power interruption from 1000 hrs to 1800 hrs but the saving grace was that it was announced through a What'sApp message, in the morning. .

Attended a webinar "Green Technology Packages to Invigorate Farmer's Economy" by Dr Kamalasanan Pillai, Principal Scientist - International Azolla Programme from 1600 - 1700 hrs.