The choice that matters

Once upon a time there was a wealthy and rich king. He was known for his flawless administration and ruled the hearts of his subjects. People would come to him carrying their problems, with high hopes and he would never send them back disheartened.

Time passed, years flew by and the king started to become old and frail. He began to worry about who take care of his kingdom after his death. The question of who would be the heir for his chair started to loom his mind.

The king was blessed with three sons, who were loyal obedient and respectful towards the king. But he wanted all three of them to go through an acid test in order to prove themselves and to see who had the real caliber and who was fit to be a king. So he decided to chalk out a plan.

He called his three sons and gave them 100 gold coins each. Time of one year would be given to all of them to use these 100 gold coins. Then he said,” whoever brings a golden dog for me shall be my successor”. The three sons set out with their own set of gold coins.

The eldest of three brothers went to the city and took a palace on rent for himself. Then he hired some men, and sent them in all four directions, with the order to find the golden dog. After a few weeks, these men returned empty handed. In all of this process, his 100 gold coins got over. The eldest son lost the fight for the throne then and there.

The second son became a broker in the town and started lending money to people on lower interests. He earned multiple profits through this business and with the money he had of profits, he gave the local goldsmith the order to make a Golden dog.

The youngest of all three was the wisest. He bought a small house for himself and started staying in a colony of poor and needy people. He invested his money in a business and reaped heavy profits from it and thereby employed a few poor people under him. He not only provided employment to the poor but also built hospitals and schools for the poor from that money, in order to help them lead a better life. Seeing his contribution for them, the poor people around him were very happy and started treating him God-like. Satisfied with his work he went back to his father

A year passed by and the three sons stood in front of the king. The eldest gave nothing; the second son gave a golden dog while the turn of the third one came. He said, “His Highness please accept this dog made out of cotton. I ask you in all humility, not to underestimate the special appeal of this dog. I have crafted it with my own hands. The hard work, toil under the hot son to grow this cotton and the labor put in by me fellow companions is nothing less of gold.”

These words and feeling of the youngest son brought tears to the king as he had felt and related himself to all the feelings of a common man, essential for a future king.

Well deserved, the throne was given to the youngest son for his capability and merit.

Arnab was a very hard working person. He had been in IT field for the past 10 years. He frequently used to travel onsite as his job demanded the same. One day he had to travel to UK, however his flight was delayed by 4 hours.

Arnab usually faced this situation while on travel. He had the habit of reading newspaper and checking mails. He was sitting in the airport lounge when a stranger approached him and asked, ‘Do we get anything in the airport to eat. This is my first time in an international airport and I am not aware of the things here. Can you please help me?’

Arnab was munching on a packet of biscuits that time.

Arnab showed him the snacks counter. The gentleman thanked him and after sometime came back and sat in a sofa next to Arnab. He again asked, ‘Hi, my name is Akshay. Thanks for the help. May I know your name?’

‘Well, you can call me Arnab’ replied Arnab. They both started a conversation and talked about each other’s work. Arnab said, ‘Akshay, can you take care of my things. I need to go to the washroom’.

‘Sure, why not. Please go ahead’.

Arnab returned after 10 minutes and to his surprise saw Akshay munching happily on his biscuit packet. Although he was not happy with the gesture he maintained his calm and said, ‘Akshay, can I have the biscuit’. Akshay replied, ‘Yes, please have one’.

Arnab was shocked!

After sometime he again asked for the biscuits. Akshay again smilingly gave him one more biscuit. This continued for another 2-3 times.

Let’s see the short story on humanity…

Arnab was irritated now. He thought, ‘What a shameless creature he is. He is happily eating my biscuits and giving me one. He talked to me nicely and in lieu of taking care of my luggage, he has stolen my biscuit packet and now he is behaving as though he owns it completely’.

Amidst all this thought, he was actually getting very angry from inside. At that moment to add fuel to the fire, Akshay asked, ‘Arnab, do you want to have one more biscuit?’ Akshay boiled from inside and shouted at Akshay, ‘Hey man, what is this? I thought you to be a thorough gentleman, I even showed you the snacks counter and now you are eating my biscuit packet and pretending as if it belongs to you. If you were hungry, you could have asked me for the biscuits rather than stealing it from my seat in my absence’.

Don’t miss this short story power of asking…

Akshay was dumbfounded. He was not sure about Arnab’s behavior. He asked politely, ‘Arnab, what is the matter. Are you alright? Is there anything that is troubling you?’ Arnab was extremely angry, ‘Stop testing my patience, Akshay and don’t act like you know nothing’. Akshay understood the matter, ‘He said, Arnab my flight is being announced for US’. He kneeled down the sofa where Arnab was sitting and asked him to show his hands. He placed the packet of biscuit in Arnab’s hand. ‘Arnab, this is your biscuit packet. The one from which you were eating belonged to me’. He left the place.

Arnab stood there feeling ashamed of himself and his behavior.