A Grim Tale

Long time ago, in a remote village in ancient India lived a highway robber named Buddhu. Buddhu was a fierce guy and killed anyone who resisted him. He spared no one.

Old lady: Kind Sir I am an old lady. This money is for the treatment of my son who is dying of a disease that will be called Cancer in the next centuries to come.
Buddhu: Thank you granny. I will take the money anyway! Methinks only prayer will cure your son now!

See how cruel he is!!

He looted people day in and day out and led a contented life with his ill begotten wealth. One day he spotted a Monk walking on the road. He jumped in front of the Monk and asked him for his money. The Monk gave him the alms he had gathered by begging and blessed the robber. The robber was taken aback. No one had blessed him before.

"Why did you bless me?" he asked the monk.
"So that you may succeed in all you do!" said the monk smiling serenely.
"But why would you bless someone who robbed you?" asked Buddhu bewildered.
"Because I hold no grudge against you. You did what you had to do to earn your livelihood" said the monk calmly.

Buddhu felt a strange feeling inside of him. He had never felt it before. He went home and narrated the incident to his old mother. His mother smiled and explained that what he felt inside was an emotion.

"What is an emotion ma" he asked blankly.
"It is a feeling" said his mother. "You were moved by the Monk’s kindness" she explained.

The next day Buddhu left for work early. It was the temple festival day and people would start walking towards the temple early. They would be loaded with cash for the festival. Soon he spotted a young couple coming down the road. Buddhu waited till they were near the tree he was hiding on and jumped down in front of them. He liked to surprise his victims. He was a man of style and panache. The young couple clutched at each other startled.

"Give me all your money” snarled Buddhu in a fearsome voice. The young man handed him the bag of cash and Buddhu left them alone. Buddhu counted the money. It was quite a lot. But he felt no elation...strangely. Every time he robbed people he got a heady feeling. But today he did not. The startled faces of the young couple haunted him. He felt like a bully snatching a bottle of milk from a baby. He decided to call it a day and left for home early.

In the night he tossed and turned but could not sleep. The faces of his victims flashed by in his mind like an unending Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 presentation. It was quite horrible. During the presentation the Windows rebooted 17 times. This made him feel worse as the presentation restarted from Slide One. (He did not know how to use the Page Down key you see to fast forward the presentation.) Computers were not invented then and he was sort of stuck that way.

Soon it was dawn. And with the dawn dawned a new man. (Pardon the melodrama.) Buddhu had undergone a miraculous transformation in the night due to the PPT Presentation. He decided that if he were to be born in the 21st Century he will stick to Linux …sorry that should read – Buddhu decided that he would lay down the tools of his bloody trade and become a regular victim err citizen. He conveyed to his mother his decision and she was overcome with mixed emotions.

After breakfast he took the farming implements from the back yard and left for the fields to tend to their crop. He had decided to return to his father’s and ancestor’s profession of farming. On the way he saw several of his victims. They ran away helter skelter in fear. Buddhu reached the fields and placed his lunch under a tree and started work after a prayer to his ancestors. He asked them for forgiveness for having abandoned the family trade and propitiated the Earth goddess to give him a good crop.

By afternoon small groups of people were watching him quizzically. He toiled on ignoring them and the harsh sun. By evening a sizable crowd of people had gathered by the fields. By night they had thrashed him to pulp.

Moral of the story:

1. That Monk was a smart cookie!
2. Buddhu was an idiot.
3. Only fools believe such stories dished out in generous measures in school text books.
4. I never got top marks for this question in school -“What is the moral of the story?”
5. Do not trust ppt presentations.
6. Do not trust people who advice you to change your career. They are merely making sure that you clear the corporate ladder for them.
7. I bet you all thought that Buddhu would turn a new leaf *snicker*

Gotcha big time all of you tee hee. Have a nice week anyways! :p

p.s. more 'moral of the story' welcome. I can never get enough.