WISDOM STORIES
By
VIKRAM KARVE
Here are a few apocryphal Mulla Nasrudin stories I heard somewhere. Read them, have a laugh, carry them with you and let the stories perambulate in your mind till get the true meaning.
ART OF LIVING
Mulla Nasrudin started ‘Art of Living’ classes.
An eager-beaver man-in-a-hurry came to learn The Art of Living and asked Nasrudin, “How long will I take to master the ‘Art of Living’?”
“One year,” said Nasrudin, the teacher, to the prospective student, “If you put in a reasonable amount of effort and practice for two hours every day it will take you one year to master the ‘Art of Living’.”
“One year! That’s too long. I can’t afford to waste one year. I want fast results. I will put in maximum effort, burn the midnight oil and, instead of two, I will practice eight hours every day!” the enthusiastic man-in-a-hurry said.
“In that case it will take you ten years!” Mulla Nasrudin said calmly and walked away.
OBLIGATIONS
Once Mulla Nasrudin fell into the sea and was rescued by a man.
Every time the man met him he reminded Nasrudin of his good deed and how Nasrudin should be grateful to him for being alive.
This went on and on, and one day as he saw the man approach, Nasrudin jumped into the sea and began drowning.
“What’s wrong with you, Nasrudin? Why did you jump into the sea? Don’t worry I am coming to save you!” the man shouted as he prepared to dive into the water.
“No. No! Please don’t save me. Let me drown,” Nasrudin pleaded, “It is better for me to drown in the sea than drown under your obligations.”
LITERACY
A co-worker noticed that Mulla Nasrudin was not only computer illiterate, but he didn’t know how to use a mobile phone and was generally quite clueless as far as the latest high-tech gadgets were concerned.
The co-worker kept needling Nasrudin: “In today’s high-tech world you have to be technology-savvy to survive. If you don’t know how to use technology your life is half-wasted.”
The man kept on making fun of the hapless Nasrudin who maintained a stoic silence.
One day when they went for a picnic and were boating in the lake.
“Do you know how to swim?” Nasrudin asked the co-worker.
“No,” the co-worker answered.
“Then your life is fully-wasted, since this boat is sinking,” Nasrudin said, and jumped into the water and swam ashore.
PROOF OF THE PUDDING
Once upon a time, Mulla Nasrudin was taking a walk on the sea shore and saw a group of people lighting a fire near a boat. Thinking that they were arsonists about to set fire to the boat, Nasrudin rushed there and shouted, “Stop it. Why are you burning the boat?”
“Cool down Mulla, we are not burning our boat,” a seaman said, “We are making hot tar to cover the cracks and perturbations on the underside of the boat and make the surface smooth. That makes the boat go faster.”
Mulla Nasrudin rushed straight home and took one good look at the underside of his donkey. He then tied up his donkey, made a bonfire and melted some tar in a pan. As soon as he brought the red hot smoking tar near the underside of the donkey, the petrified animal broke loose, ran like the wind and disappeared over the horizon at top speed.
“It works all right!” exclaimed Mulla Nasrudin looking appreciatively at the molten tar and wondering where to apply it next.
VIKRAM KARVE
vikramkarve@sify.com
http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
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