THE ANCIENT AND THE MODERN PANCHTANTRA

THE ANCIENT PANCHTANTRA

One day a poor woodcutter went to cut wood from trees of the forest. While cutting the wood, he lost the grip on his axe and the axe fell down into the river flowing down the tree. The tried cutter tried to search his axe for long time but the axe vanished in deep water. The axe was the only support of this poor woodcutter and he had lost that too. The woodcutter sat on the bank of the river and began crying. Hearing his cry the god mercury felt pity over him. The God appeared before him and promised him to bring his axe back. The God Mercury dived into the river water. After few moments when the God returned gold axe was in his hand. He asked the woodcutter, “Is this your axe?” “No it’s not mine,” replied the woodcutter still sobbing. Mercury dived again and returned with a silver axe in his hand. He said, “This is certainly your axe.” “No it’s not my axe. My axe was made of iron,” replied the woodcutter firmly. The God Mercury entered into the water again and in the next moment he returned with a crude iron axe. “Yes, this is mine,” screamed the woodcutter with happiness. Impressed with the poor woodcutter’s honesty, Mercury presented him both the gold and the silver axe as his reward for honesty.

The Moral of the story: Honesty is the best policy.

THE MODERN PANCHTANTRA

Once upon a time, there was a software engineer who used to develop Programs on his Pentium machine, sitting under a tree on the banks of a River. He used to earn his bread by selling those programs in the Sunday Market. One day, while he was working, his machine tumbled off the table And fell in the river. Encouraged by the Panchatantra story of his Childhood (the honest woodcutter)

He started praying to the River Goddess. The River Goddess wanted to test Him and so appeared only after one month of rigorous prayers. The engineer Told her that he had lost his computer in the river. As usual, the Goddess wanted to test his honesty. She showed him a match Box and asked,” Is this your computer?“Disappointed by the Goddess’ lack of computer awareness, the engineer Replied, "No" She next showed him a pocket-sized calculator and asked if That was his. Annoyed, the engineer said "No, not at all!!" Finally, she Came up with his own Pentium machine and asked if it was his. The engineer, left with no option, sighed and said "Yes. “The River Goddess was happy with His honesty. She was about to give him all three items, but before she Could make the offer, the engineer asked her, "Don't you know that you're Supposed to show me some better computers before bringing up my own? "The River Goddess, angered at this, replied, "I know that, you stupid donkey! The first two things I showed you were the Trillennium and the Billennium, The latest computers from IBM!". So saying, she disappeared with the Pentium!!

The Moral of the story: If you're not up-to-date with technology trends, it's better to keep quite and let people think you're a genius than to open your Mouth and remove all doubt.

--------------------Anonymous