Charity begins at home
A 6-year-old Ravi would often see his grandfather and father waking up in the wee hours and heading to their farm. His mom and granny would also wake up early to prepare tiffin boxes for them.
Ravi’s family has been into farming for ages. They owned multiple farms and had a big house in Goregaon’s small village. Ravi was the only child in the family and was loved by everyone. Despite being rich, everyone in Ravi’s family still worked very hard.
Every weekend Ravi’s dad would prepare ample halwa and pooris to distribute to the needy, and his grandparents would buy plenty of clothes. The entire family would then set up a stall under the old banyan tree to distribute food and clothes to the needy.
This was their age-old custom which they followed generations after generations. Ravi had been noticing this from the very beginning. One day he asked his dad, ‘Why do you give away food and clothes for free? Isn’t your money getting wasted?’
His dad laughed and said, ‘What good is this money if we can’t use it to help others?’ What does that mean, asked Ravi?
It means that God has given us so much more than our needs. So, just like God has been kind towards us, we must also be kind to others. We must do our best to serve the poor and needy who can’t even afford a proper meal a day and cannot even buy new clothes.
But, in return, what do we get, dad?
Well, son, we earn the blessings of these poor people, which are precious. The success we have achieved to date is all because of our blessings in this life. The more blessings we have, the happier our lives become. True success comes with compassion, humbleness, and givenness!
Remember, the Universal law is to share your success with everyone to be more successful in life. If you are not compassionate towards others, you are not successful.
Ravi understood the importance of helping the needy and deprived. Since then, he has helped his family in all their charity sessions.
Moral: ‘Share your success to be more successful.’
The Proud King
Once a proud wealthy king called Shiva used to live in a small city, Akashpur. He lived in a beautiful palace. The king was so rich that he would wear new gold ornaments each day. There was no shortage of luxuries in the king’s palace.
King Shiva would take a lot of pride in his money and power. He was arrogant by nature and would show off his wealth by wearing the costliest clothes and jewellery.
Once, a very accomplished saint visited the king’s palace. King had a lot of faith in saints, so he welcomed the saint to stay in his castle. The king served the best food to the saint containing mouth-watering delicacies of the world. But, the saint requested that he must be served with simple food like dal, chawal, and curd. He refused to eat anything other than his regular simple food.
The king laughed at his simplicity and considered it to be his folly to have refused such good food. On seeing this, the saint gave his precious learning to the king. He told him that ‘our bodies are precious and are the best gift from God. Our bodies work day and night to keep us alive. So, we must return the same love and care towards our bodies by feeding nourishing foods and beverages.’
King Shiva refused to pay any heed to the advice of the saint. Soon, it was night time, and the saint requested the king to make arrangements for his sleep. The king took the saint to the most luxurious air-conditioned guest room with a king-sized bed and satin curtains.
The saint refused to stay in that big luxurious room with all facilities. He instead slept on the floor and opened the window with natural ventilation. The king again laughed at his behaviour and told him that he would seldom get a chance to enjoy such palatial luxuries. The saint replied that he prefers to stay close to nature and follows a simple living.
A few days had passed by like this, and now it was time for the saint to leave. The saint was delighted with the love and affection shown by the king towards him. He thanked the king for his hospitality and reminded him that he must consider leading a simple healthier lifestyle. The king, as usual, laughed over the saint and told him that he would never understand the worldly pleasures and luxuries that money brings.
The saint left, and the king continued with his usual routine. After 15 years; the king had become wealthier and fatter. He also grew more arrogant with time.
Over the years, the king had gained so much weight that it was difficult for him to even walk from one room to another. But, he had hundreds of servants at this disposal, so he hardly cared about his increasing weight.
One day the king fell severely ill and had difficulty in breathing. He needed help for getting up from the bed. The best doctor was called to attend to him. The doctor advised him to reduce weight at the earliest, else, he will have to face severe health issues which could be even fatal.
But, as the king was used to eating tasty unhealthy food so he could not control his eating desires. And, since he was the emperor, with just one clap of a hand, he would be served his favourite mouth-watering delicacies. Nor any of his attendees or ministers had the guts to stop him from eating unhealthy. The king’s health further deteriorated, and he was advised bed rest.
One day, the same saint revisited the king. The saint had a beautiful shine, peace, and smile on his face. His hair was as black as before, and he was filled with vibrant energy. There were hardly any wrinkles on his face, and age did not show up on him.
He entered inside the king’s palace and learned about the ill-health of the king. He went to the king’s room to see him.
The king was amazed to see that the saint looked the same as how he looked 15 years back. He could feel the contentment, peace, and happiness on the saint’s face. He immediately felt happy to meet the saint.
The saint was sad to see the king in such bad shape. He offered to help the king. The king had immense respect for the saint and happily agreed to take his help. The saint immediately took charge of the king’s eating habits. He advised his cook to serve him only dal, chawal, curd, salad, and some fruits. No sweets were allowed to be served to him.
The saint also asked the king to shift his room to one which has plenty of windows and doors for natural air and light to seep in.
The king hated these changes but did not say a word, as he knew he needed help. He was strictly served only healthy nourishing food. The saint would first offer the food to God, and after his prayers, only the King and saint would sit down to eat together. The prayers would make the food delicious and pure like ‘prasad.’
Slowly the king’s weight started reducing. He was able to get up from the bed without help. The saint started taking him for evening and morning walks in the park. The saint kept appreciating the beauty of nature while the king would walk.
Soon with the right lifestyle, the king’s body started healing. Surprisingly, the king’s conscience also shifted with the new lifestyle he started following. He started making more straightforward choices. He noticed that wearing simple clothes and eating simple food brought in a lot of joy to him. He also started enjoying the gifts of life like the chirping of birds, beautiful sunshine, the soothing breeze in the evenings, etc. The king was super excited to see the payer’s magical power of healing.
The saint was extremely happy in seeing such positive changes in the king. After a month passed by, the doctor revisited the king and was pleasantly surprised to see such significant improvement in the king’s health. The king gave the entire credit of his good health to the saint. The doctor also thanked the saint and insisted the king follow the saint’s footsteps.
This entire incidence proved out to be a turning point in King Shiva’s life. He realized that life treats you best when you are simple-hearted, joyous, and contented with what you have. The king could not thank the saint enough for all his help and felt deeply obliged. Soon, after seeing the king cured, the saint left on his journey to a famous ashram to serve mankind.
After this episode, King Shiva changed to become a humble, thankful, and disciplined person. He started meeting the poor and the needy people of the village. He opened the doors of his heart to all the people of his village. He started helping the poor and deprived in many ways. Soon, he became a popular name in the village. The people began taking inspiration from him as he emerged as a perfect example for them.
Moral of the story: Arrogance and greed is harmful in every way. No matter how rich you become, you can never buy good health by just being rich! So, always stay grounded and be simple at heart to win over the life.
Bubbli- A motivational story of a village girl!
Bubbli was a six-year-old girl who lived with her parents in a small city of Sitapur. Her father, Ramu, was a farmer and her mother, Bela, was a home-maker. Bubbli was a joyful, bubbly girl who loved to enjoy every bit of life.
Sitapur city had just one school. There was no playground or any other activity at school for kids.
Bubbli’s parents would work very hard to make a living. They used to wake up at 4 am. Her mother would cook food for the entire day till 6 am. She would then go to the field to do farming. Bubbli would wake up at 6 am. She would have a glass of milk and go off to school. They were so poor that they could not afford three meals a day. She would carry her lunch box to school, which was always kept ready on the table.
Bubbli would feel hungry in the morning hours, but she had gotten used to going to school without having breakfast.
One day, Ramu’s brother visited his house with his family. He, his wife and their daughter Sunehari had come to stay for a few weeks. Ramu’s brother lived in a nearby village and owned a Kirana shop.
Ramu’s brother was much better off financially as compared to Ramu. His daughter would go to a better school, and they had a good standard of living.
Every year Ramu’s brother would bring plenty of gifts for all of them. Bubbli loved and enjoyed Sunehari’s company. One day, she took her sister Sunehari to show her school.
Sunehari’s school was bigger and cleaner than Bubbli’s. So, she was not pleased to see Bubbli’s school and frankly expressed it. Bubbli felt disappointed on hearing her sister’s remarks but stayed quiet.
Bubbli and her parents were happy in their world and enjoyed every single moment of life. Life continued in its own pace, and Bubbli was growing up fast.
Bubbli started realizing that more money was needed to support a comfortable living. She began taking tuitions for the kids in her neighbourhood. The poor parents happily sent their kids to Bubbli for tuitions.
Bubbli started earning a few thousand bucks each month, which helped the entire family to survive comfortably. Her parents, Ramu and Bela, took a lot of pride in their daughter. Though, Bubbli handed over her entire earnings amounting to Rs. 5000 to her parents, Ramu and Bela, would save Rs. 3000 for Bubbli’s higher studies.
Years passed by, and now it was time to go to college. Ramu and Bela always dreamt of sending Bubbli to the best possible college for her higher education but did not have enough money to afford the best education. Luckily, Bubbli cleared the toughest entrance exam and got admission in one of the best medical colleges of India.
On the other hand, Sunehari also took admission in one of the engineering colleges. Her fee was way too high, but her parents could afford it.
Bubbli joined a medical college in Delhi and stayed in a hostel. Bubbli would iron the clothes of her college mates to pay for studies. She soon became a doctor and became independent.
With increased income, the first thing she did was to buy all the comforts for her parents back home. After a few years, Bubbli bought a house for her parents right next to hers and got them shifted there. It was Bubbli’s intellect, dedication, hard work and co-operation that helped to secure her own life, her parents’ life.
On the contrary, Sunehari despite being from a good background could not become self-dependent. She finished her engineering graduation, and her parents looked for a suitable groom and got her married. She could not serve her parents, and later realized the importance of being self-dependent, but now it was too late. And, thus Bubbli brought a happy end to this story…..
Moral of the story: No circumstances, hurdles, or crisis can come in the way of an enthusiastic, positive and hardworking individual. Success chooses those who dare to dream big, no matter what!
The Bear and the Monkey
Once in the jungle, in a small cave lived a baby bear with a mama bear and a papa bear. The baby bear was extremely fond of mangoes and would eat as many as 20 mangoes in a day.
SLURP……SLURP……SLURP!!!
Every time he would go out to the forest, he would come drenched in mango juice One-day baby bear ran into the nearby woods to enjoy his mango treat.
He saw the yummy delicious juicy round mangoes hanging on a tall tree. But, a poor baby bear could not climb up the tree to fetch those mangoes as he was hurt. A small monkey was watching baby bear trying to climb up to the tree. He came closer to the bear and said ‘Sceech…..hh, Sceech….hh!! To which the baby bear replied grhhh….hh, grhhhhh…
The very next moment monkey climbed up the tree and started plucking mangoes. He threw those mangoes on the ground for his newfound friend, baby bear. The baby bear immediately picked up mangoes and started relishing them as he always did. Baby bear and monkey became great friends.
The little monkey’s house was close by and he lived on a tall tree with his family. Whenever the monkey was around he would scream sceehh sceech and the baby bear would come out running to play with him.
Once, a man in long white beard came in the jungle. He was carrying a big bag and a thick stick. He kept roaming around in the jungle and noticed the baby monkey sitting on a branch of a tree. He had come to catch hold of a monkey who could be trained and used in the circus to entertain people.
He thought the little monkey would be a perfect fit for his circus. He immediately pulled out a thick rope and made a loop out of it. He threw the loop of the rope on to the monkey’s neck and caught him. The monkey started screaming but nobody from his family was around to help him.
The man kept the monkey in his bag and started walking fast. As he was walking, the monkey was constantly screaming out of fear. Little bear overheard his screams and felt as if something is wrong. He ran and came out. He saw the man with the bag passing by. He could make out that the screaming sound is coming from the bag. He immediately called papa bear who ran towards the man and jumped on to him from behind.
The man dropped the bag out of fear. The little monkey came out and ran to the baby bear. On finding his friend’s company the little monkey took a sigh of relief! And, that selfish man quickly ran out of the jungle fearing to get killed by a giant-sized bear!
Thus baby bear stood as a loyal friend for baby monkey and saved him at the time of need!
Moral of the story: You may have many friends in life but finding a truly loyal friend is like finding a treasure.
The precious red stone
Once there was a small village called Badalpur. Badalpur had a big river flowing through it. The river carried fresh clean water which was the primary source of water for villagers. The villagers used the river water for washing and drinking for years together.
Though, life in Badalpur was peaceful, yet the village was called the poor man’s village. The villagers of Badalpur had an effortless living with limited resources. Badalpur’s king was very kind and gentle. He would spend most of his wealth in helping the poor and the needy.
Due to the king’s generous nature, his riches were reduced. His friends and fellow kings of other villages would often make fun of him by calling him ‘a poor king.’ But, the king kept serving his village with his generous, honest, and humble nature.
God was watching the humility of this king from above. One day, the almighty decided to bless the king. The king was returning from a long tour, and on his way back, he had to cross the river.
So, he stepped down in the river along with his guards, who were guarding him against all the sides. Suddenly the king noticed some sparkle under the water. He asked one of his guards to check what is sparkling under the water.
The guard bent down to pull out a red stone from the water. The stone had a bright red colour and had a great shine. The king was amazed to see such a stone which was a rarity to find.
The king brought the stone to his palace and asked his advisors to find out about it. The king’s advisors told the king that the red stone is highly precious. It is used across the world to make beautiful artefacts and decorative items.
The king ordered his helpers to take out all the red stone from the bed of the river. The red stones were formed underneath the rocks present in the river. Soon, the village Badalpur emerged as a hub for precious red stones.
This new development changed the village for the better. The humble king became one of the wealthiest kings around. Badalpur became a big trading town which intern improved the living standards of all its residents.
Moral of the story: The purest qualities of generosity, kindness, compassion, honesty never gets unnoticed. Nature rewards you all goodies in all forms which are beyond your imagination when you act with the right intent.
