Great story

Elephant And Friends Image: Shutterstock A lone elephant wandered the forest looking for friends. She came across a monkey and asked, “Will you be my friend, monkey?” “You are too big and cannot swing on trees as I do. So I cannot be your friend”, said the monkey. The elephant them came across a rabbit and asked him if she could be his friend. “You are too big to fit inside my burrow. You cannot be my friend”, replied the rabbit. Then the elephant met a frog and asked if she could be her friend. The frog said “You are too big and heavy. You cannot jump like me. I am sorry, but you cannot be my friend”. The elephant asked a fox, and he got the same reply, that he was too big. The next day, all the animals in the forest were running in fear. The elephant stopped a bear and asked what was happening and was told that a tiger has been attacking all the animals. The elephant wanted to save the other weak animals and went to the tiger and said “Please sir, leave my friends alon

True Friends Love You Anyway Image: Shutterstock Lord Krishna and Sudama were childhood friends. While Krishna thrived and prospered, Sudama didn’t. He lead the life of a poor Brahmin man, living in a small hut with his wife and kids. Most days, the kids wouldn’t even get enough to eat from what Sudama got as alms. One day, his wife suggested that he go and ask his friend Krishna for help. Sudama was reluctant to seek favors, but he also didn’t want his kids to suffer. So his wife borrows some rice from the neighbors to make some rice snacks that Krishna liked, and gave it to Sudama to take it to his friend. Sudama took it and set out to Dwaraka. He was amazed at the gold that was used to build the city. He reached the palace gates and was obstructed by the guards, who judged him by his torn dhoti and poor appearance. Sudama requested the guards to at least inform Krishna that his friend Sudama has come to meet him. The guard, although reluctant, goes and informs the lord. O

The Farmer And The Well Image: Shutterstock A farmer looking for a source of water for his farm bought a well from his neighbor. The neighbor was cunning, though, and refused to let the farmer take water from the well. On asking why, he replied, “I sold the well to you, not the water”, and walked away. The distraught farmer didn’t know what to do. So he went to Birbal, a clever man and one of the nine courtiers of Emperor Akbar, for a solution. The emperor called the farmer and his neighbor and asked why the man was not letting the farmer draw water from the well. The cunning man said the same thing again, “I sold the well, not the water. So he cannot take my water”. To this, Birbal replied, “All that sounds fine to me. But if you have sold the water and the water is yours, then you have no business keeping your water in his well. Remove the water or use it all up immediately. If not the water will belong to the owner of the well”. Realizing that he’s been tricked and taug

The Camel And The Baby Image: iStock One day, a camel and her baby were chatting. The baby asked, “Mother, why do we have humps?” The mother replied, “Our humps are for storing water so that we can survive in the desert”. “Oh”, said the child, “and why do we have rounded feet mother?” “Because they are meant to help us walk comfortably in the desert. These legs help us move around in the sand.” “Alright. But why are our eyelashes so long?” “To protect our eyes from the desert dust and sand. They are the protective covers for the eyes”, replied the mother camel. The baby camel thought for a while and said, “So we have humps to store water for desert journeys, rounded hooves to keep us comfortable when we walk in the desert sand, and long eyelashes to protect us from sand and dust during a desert storm. Then what are we doing in a zoo?” The mother was dumbfounded. Moral Your strengths, skills, and knowledge are useless if you are not in the right place.

The Boasting Traveler (Aesop’s Fables) Image: iStock A man came back from a tour and boasted about his adventurous journeys. He talked at length about the different people he met and his amazing feats that got him fame and praise from people everywhere. He went on to say that he went to the Rhodes where he had leaped to such distances that no man could ever match his feat. He even went on to say that there were witnesses who would vouch for his words. Hearing the man boast so much, a smart bystander said, “Oh good man, we do not need any witnesses to believe your words. Imagine this place to be Rhodes and leap for us”. The lying traveler didn’t know what to do and went away quietly. Moral He who does a thing well does not need to boast.

The Four Students Image: iStock There were four friends who hated studying. They partied all night before their exams and planned to skip the test by lying to the professor. So they went to the dean and told him that they had been to a wedding the previous night and on their way back, they had a flat tire. They continued to say that they had to push the car all the way back, as they didn’t have a spare tire and hence, were not in a position to write the exam. The dean listened and agreed to let them take the test on a later date. Happy that they got a second chance, the four friends studied hard and were ready for the exam. On exam day, the dean asked the students to sit in separate classrooms, which the students agreed to. The examination paper had only two questions, for a total of 100 marks. The questions were thus: Your name: Which tire of the car burst: a) Front left b) Front right c) Rear left d) Rear right Moral You may be smart, but there are people smarter t