A KING'S PAINTING

 

A king’s painting

 Once upon a time, there was a Kingdom.

The king there only had one leg and one eye, but he was very intelligent and kind.

Everyone in his kingdom lived a happy and a healthy life because of their king.

One day the king was walking through the palace hallway and saw the portraits of his ancestors.

He thought that one day his children will walk in the same hallway and remember all the ancestors through these portraits.

But, the king did not have his portrait painted.

Due to his physical disabilities, he wasn’t sure how his painting would turn out.

So he invited many famous painters from his and other kingdoms to the court.

The king then announced that he wants a beautiful portrait made of himself to be placed in the palace.

Any painter who can carry out this should come forward.

He will be rewarded based on how the painting turns up.

All of the painters began to think that the king only has one leg and one eye.

How can his picture be made very beautiful?

It is not possible and if the picture does not turn out to look beautiful then the king will get angry and punish them.

So one by one, all started to make excuses and politely declined to make a painting of the king.

But suddenly one painter raised his hand and said, “I will make a very beautiful portrait of you which you will surely like.”

The king became happy hearing that and other painters got curious. The king gave him the permission and the painter started drawing the portrait.

He then filled the drawing with paints.

Finally, after taking a long time, he said that the portrait was ready!

All of the courtiers, other painters were curious and nervous thinking, how can the painter make the king’s portrait beautiful because the king is physically disabled?

What if the king didn’t like the painting and gets angry?

But when the painter presented the portrait, everyone in the court, including the king, left stunned.

The painter made a portrait in which the king was sitting on the horse, on the one-leg side, holding his bow and aiming the arrow with his one eye closed.

The king was very pleased to see that the painter has made a beautiful portrait by cleverly hiding the king’s disabilities. The King gave him a great reward.

 

Moral: We should always think positive of others and ignore their deficiencies. We should learn to focus on the good things instead of trying to hide weaknesses. If we think and approach positively even in a negative situation, then we will be able to solve our problems more efficiently.

 

Meet the scientist Marie Curie

 

I am Marie Curie

 

     I am Marie Curie, a scientist. I was born in Warsaw, Poland on 7th November, 1867. My original name was Maria Sklodowska, but my family called me Manya. My parents were both teachers. My dad taught me Maths and Physics. I was a very bright student, had a sharp memory, and did very well in my school.

     As I grew up my family started facing troubles and tough times. This was because Poland was under the control of Russia at that time. We were not allowed to read and write anything in Polish language. My father lost his job because he supported the Polish rule. When I was ten years old my dear elder sister, Zofia, became sick and died of Typhus disease. Two years later my mother also died from tuberculosis. This was a difficult time for me.

     After graduating from high school, I wanted to attend a university. But this wasn't something that young women did in Poland in the 1800s because the university was only for men. However, there was a famous university in Paris, France called the Sorbonne where women could study. But I did not have money to go there. Somehow I started working and arranged the money for my studies. After three years I got my degree in Physics. Later, I met Pierre Curie. He was also a scientist. We fell in love with each other and got married and soon we had our first child, a daughter named Irene.

     Do you know what scientific achievements I have done when I was alive? No? Then let me tell you. I became fascinated by rays that were recently discovered by scientists Wilhelm Roentgen and Henri Becquerel. Roentgen had discovered X-rays and Becquerel had found rays given off by an element called uranium. I began to do more experiments on them. One day I was examining a material called pitchblende. I expected there to be a few rays from the uranium in pitchblende, but instead I found a lot of rays. I realized that there must be a new, undiscovered element in pitchblende. I and my husband spent many hours in the science lab investigating pitchblende and the new element. We eventually figured out that there were two new elements in pitchblende. So, we had discovered two new elements for the periodic table. I named one of the elements as polonium after my homeland Poland. I named other as radium because it gave off such strong rays. We then came up with the term radioactivity to describe elements that emitted strong rays.

     In 1903, we were awarded with the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physics for our work in radiation. Because of this I became the first woman to be awarded the prize. Later, in 1911 I won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering the two elements, polonium and radium. So I was the first person to be awarded two Nobel Prizes. I became very famous. Scientists came from around the world to study radioactivity with me. Soon doctors found that radiology could help with curing cancer. The Curie Institute in Paris was founded by me in 1921 and is still a major cancer research facility. Finally, I died on 3rd July, 1934. This was because of overexposure to radiation, both from my experiments and from my work with X-ray machines. This is why today there are lots of safety measures to keep scientists from getting overexposed to the rays.

 

Article

 

Comfort zone

 

Our comfort zone is the place we are most at home.

Within our comfort zones, there is little stress and strain.

Many of us are reluctant to move out of our comfort zones.

We feel great in our comfort zones, but that is not where we need to be.

“A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” Getting stuck in a routine is easy to do.

Comfort zones encourage in us an attitude of learned helplessness or hopelessness, making progress or evolution stiffer.

The capability to take risks by marching outside our comfort zone is the rudimentary or primary way by which we grow.

In fact, comfort zones are not really about comfort, they are about anxiety or fear.

We have to break the chains of fear to get outside.

Once we do this, we will learn to enjoy the process of taking risks and growing in the process.

While staying in our comfort zone can result in constant, stable performance, walking out of our comfort zone into a new task can create the conditions for ideal performance.

Learning, creating, growing happen only when we step outside our castle and endeavour into the wilderness.

People who regularly seek out fresh experiences tend to be more productive and emotionally resilient than those who remain stuck in routine.

Innovation or invention happens when we move outside our comfort zone.

Being stagnant in routine often results in plunging creativity or ingenuity.

Brian Tracy rightly said, “Move out of your comfort zone.

You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.”

Whatever goal we are trying to accomplish, no doubt, at some stage we will have to make a move that makes us feel uncomfortable. 

Greatness is found beyond our comfort zones.

 

STORY

 

God dwells in all beings

There lived in a forest a holy man who had many disciples.

One day he taught them to see Narayana(God) in all beings and hence have a reverential attitude towards everyone.

     The disciples once went onto the forest to gather wood for the sacrificial fire.

Suddenly they heard a loud voice warning them, “Get out of the way, a mad elephant is coming”.

All of them except one disciple ran away and took shelter in a safe place.

The disciple reasoned that since the Guru had taught them to see Narayana i.e. God, in every being, the elephant is also God in another form and if so why should he run away from it.

He stood still bowed before the elephant and began to sing its praises.

The mahout of the elephant shouted, “Run away! Run away!” but the disciple didn’t move.

The animal having seized him with his trunk, forcefully threw him on the ground.

     Coming to know what had happened, his teacher (Guru) and brother-disciples came to the spot where he was lying and carried him to the hermitage.

After some first-aid, he soon gained consciousness.

Then the teacher asked him, “You saw the animal coming and also heard the warning, then why didn’t you run away?”

The disciple replied, “Sir you taught us to see God in every being, hence I thought that the animal is also God in another form and hence I didn’t run away.”

Then the teacher corrected him saying, “Yes my child, it is true that the elephant was God in another form but the mahout who was driving the elephant was also God and he instructed you to run away. Since all are manifestations of God, why didn’t you trust the mahout’s words? You should have heeded the words of the mahout God.”

No doubt God dwells in all beings but we should be intimate with all good people and must keep away from evil minded.

For instance, God is also in the tiger, but surely you cannot embrace the tiger on that account.

So always remember to keep safe distance from unholy, unrighteous, wicked and evil persons though God dwells in them as well.

FOLKTALE

 

The story of mice

Folktales convey cultural values in a very subtle manner. They try to bring meaning to life by connecting objects around us and weaving coherent relationships among them that encourage a stable and harmonious society. Most folktales are handed down through generations by oral traditions. They serve the dual purpose of training and engaging the current generation as well as passing the values to the next generation.

Traditionally, communities living around farms in small villages are not exposed to modern educational systems. While they may not be able to explain or understand the world in modern terms, they have a deep understanding of the universe and the interdependence of all human beings. The following story conveys an important message that humans, animals and plants are created to have a harmonious life with mutual dependence. If one lives this way, there can be prosperity and happiness for all; but on the other hand, if interdependency is replaced by competition, it can lead to instability, constant confrontations and unhappiness. This message has a lot more significance when we see the direction the modern world is going in --- selfish with the desire to help only those that benefit us.

 

Once upon a time, there was a young couple who lived in a forest. They were farmers; they worked hard to get their land ready for the crop they wanted to sow for their own consumption. But, just as they were about to saw the seeds, they realized that they did not have any. The farmer’s wife suggested that they go to the gods to seek help.

The man went to the land of gods and requested some seeds. The gods said they did not need any food grown on their land and did not stock seeds. Disappointed by the answer, the man returned to Earth and wandered around in search of seeds.

The man met an old lizard and explained his situation. The lizard, who lives on rocks and in deserts, suggested that he should try his luck with a crab, who lives near water bodies. The distressed man asked the crab for seeds. The crab suggested he go to the boar who digs for food. The boar, in turn, directed him to the tiger, the head of the forest. The tiger promptly said,”I hunt other animals and don’t eat any plants.” He suggested the man should ask the squirrel who lives on nuts and fruits.

The man approached a squirrel and for the first time, he found direct help. The squirrel showed the man a variety of seeds that he had hoarded. Unfortunately, all those seeds were from huge trees and none of them were suitable to grow grains and vegetables.

With a heavy heart, the man walked away in despair. On his way, a mouse encountered him and enquired why he was so sad. Upon hearing the man’s story, the mouse gleefully led him to his abode and shared his large collection of vegetable and grain seeds. The man was overwhelmed with joy and was grateful to the mouse for sharing the bounty. The man took some seeds, profusely thanked the mouse and promised the mouse that after his crop was harvested, he would definitely give the mouse some seeds as a return for the flavour.

      The man took the seeds and planted them. Time passed and he had one bumper crop after another and enjoyed his success. He completely forgot about the mouse or the return favour he had promised. When his house was full of grains, the mouse came by to collect a few. The couple shouted at the mouse and chased him away, accusing him of stealing their hard-earned wealth. The mouse thought that it was unfair of the couple to forget their promise and deny him even a small share of seeds in return. Therefore the clever mouse showed up every year and took his share of seeds.

 

This is the story the villagers tell their children when mice take their grains away. This teaches the children not to get angry at the mice, kill them or drive them away.

All the wealth we possess has been provided by nature and it is for us to share; we should not deny the due share for each creature. People should develop an altruistic attitude and live harmoniously with nature rather than fight, control and exploit parts of nature.

KNOW ABOUT ME

 

I am an Olympic Orange

      I am a yummy, juicy fruit that is orange in colour. I can give you plenty of energy to play sports. 

     All Olympic sports persons eat me regularly to win games and medals. This is why I am called a power food. 

     If you bite into me I will burst in your mouth with my tasty flavour and make your taste buds dance with joy. 

     I can kill all bad viruses in your body so that you don’t get cough and cold. I also have a magic material inside me that can make you look young even when grow old like your grandpa.

 I also have plenty of fibre that can help you in good digestion. So enjoy me to your heart’s content. I am physically not strong because I am a little soft and squishy. So, don’t squeeze me too much as I will become out of shape. And if you squeeze my skin into your eyes it can make you cry because it releases a gaseous stingy liquid. But don’t worry as it is not poisonous or harmful. 

      By the way, I also have plenty of other delicious friends who can help you in many ways. Together we control the world of health. 

     We are the jewels of your dining table. We come in all shapes, sizes and colours. We exist to make you humans happy. We help you avoid doctors and their expensive treatments like painful injections and bitter medicines. We can also make you run faster, jump higher and help you do great things in your school and college. 

     Do you want to know how we do all that magic? I will tell you how. We can do such wonderful things because some of us are good for your brain, some for your heart, some for your skin, and some for your bones, and so on. We are like warriors and can easily fight with all those nasty troublemakers hiding in your body. Aren’t we fellows’ great? But if you don’t eat us then those horrible troublemakers will always make you sick, tired, and weak. Then you will not be able to play sports or climb a hill. Now I am sure you don’t want to be such a weakling, do you?

 

Hindu mythology

 

ARUNI

       Aruni of Panchala was a dedicated student of the ancient sageDhoumya. In the days of yore, a student had to stay with the teacher andhelp in theteacher’s daily chores in order to receive the knowledge he sought.

     It was a day of cold winter. Aruni was carrying the firewood he had collected for the sage's household. As he was passing by a field, which belonged to the sage, he noticed a breach in the embankment that was holding water in his teacher's field. He realized that the water would seep away and the field’s crops would die with no water.

"What should I do? If I stop to build the embankment I will be delayed and there is no firewood at the hermitage to keep the place warm. I better rush to the hermitage with the firewood and then come back to take care of the breach."

Meanwhile the sage and his disciples had assembled for the day's lesson. Aruni was missing.

      Soon Aruni rushed in, dropped the firewood in the courtyard, and informed the teacher about the breach of the embankment. Then he quickly rushed out.

     Sage Dhoumya felt proud of his disciple, "It is hard to get such a responsible disciple."

      Aruni ran all the way back to the troubled spot and tried to stop the leakage of water by putting some logs and mud. However, this did not stop the leak. The heavy pressure of water washed away the dam Aruni made. He felt helpless. It seemed impossible for him to stop the leakage without help. He thought for a while and then made a plan.

      It was getting dark and the teacher became worried. He called his disciples and set out looking for Aruni. As he called out for Aruni, he heard a faint voice, "Here I am master!"

     The teacher and his disciples rushed to the spot and saw Aruni lying on the breach, in order to hold the water in the field. The disciples quickly pulled Aruni out from the freezing water. He was repeatedly muttering, "The water is flowing out, the crops will die ---."

"Don't worry Aruni! We will take care of the breach," said the disciples.

"Never mind my son! You are more precious than the crop," said the teacher.

     Aruni was covered in a blanket and brought home. Sage Dhoumya himself tended to Aruni. The sage then blessed his disciple with pride, "You shall, forever, be renowned for your unmatched devotion and obedience to your guru.”