Another Goha !

Goha ran inside his home and said to his wife, " The King spoke to me today !!"
"What did he say? "
"Get our of my way, you idiot !"

Goha and the shoes

Goha was a generous and kind hearted, popular man. He was also target of continous practical jokes from his friends.
Once Goha's friends decided that they'd go over to his house pretending that he had invited them for lunch. On seeing his friends, he welcomed them, but was embarrassed when they told him that they were here for the lunch invitation! Goha ran inside to inform his wife of this. The wife exclaimed, "But Goha! There is no food in the house and no money too !! How could you not have informed me before!!? How can we have guests in the house waiting for the meal which will never come!".
Goha then appraised his wife, of his supposed mistake. The wife, more world wise knew immediately Goha to be innocent and saw through the trick his friends were playing. She told Goha the same who came up with a trick of his own !
He went outside, and collected all the shoes which his friends had removed outside the home before entering, sold those for money, bought food with that. Goha's wife prepared succulent dishes and desserts.
The friends who had been waiting for a long time now, ate and ate and ate until none could eat any more. Only then when they decided to leave, no one could find their shoes !!
"Where are our shoes", they asked of Goha, who then replied cheerfully "In your stomachs, dear friends !!"

Tell me a story!

Once upon a time a monkey used to live on a tree on a river bank. The crocodile who lived in the river became friends with the monkey. The crocodile would give rides to the monkey in water and the monkey would give the fruits of the tree to the crocodile. One time, the wife of the croc said to him, "I feel like eating the heart of that monkey. Hmm.. It must be so yummy ! I just have to have that. Dear husband, why dont you get it for me? I have seen you giving rides to that little thing" When the crocodile retorted saying that the monkey was his friend, the wife got very angry and threatened to throw him out of the house.
Somehow the wife's threat won the moral battle over friendship in the crocodile's brain, and he went to the river bank and invited his friend, the monkey to come for his daily ride around the river.
The monkey, who by this time had come to trust his friend, didnt question when crocodile, instead of taking him back to the tree, steered towards his own home in the middle of the river.
After reaching in the Crocodile's home, the wife told the monkey that she was about to eat his heart. The monkey felt betrayed and hurt and very afraid, but did not lose his cool, and he said, "Oh ! Why didnt you tell me earlier, dear friend?? If I'd have known that your wife wanted to eat my heart, I would've brought it with me!"
The wife exclaimed, " What!! You left it home !!? "
The monkey, having realised that it was working, gained confidence and said, " Of Course !! My heart is so precious. I never carry it with me!. But since dear croc is my friend, you can surely have it! " .
The croc carried monkey back to his tree, and the monkey having learnt his lesson of trust, never looked back.


I love stories !
Apart from providing entertainment, they are the best learning tools invented by humankind. Just like a seed travels in the flesh of the fruit, a message needs a story to wrap it in its delicate folds, giving every member of the audiance the freedom to digest the message according to their power, strength and capability. Stories just give a bigger message than anything else.
These days when parents are busy and grandparents are away, the more common media of stories are books and movies.
I've personally always preferred books over movies. Books, because they give you the liberty to imagine, and create a world of your own in the framework of what is provided already! Movies- only some of them really hit home. Those are the movies for which we tolerate the rest of them.

Stories are part of us from even before we are born. The mystical connection, between us and the different stories cannot be understood in a day or a month or sometimes in lifetimes. Stories of love, friendship, morals, humanity, patriotism, kindness, wisdom, smartness, loyalty, truthfulness, bravery, faith, belief make us what we are, who we are. Stories have always been our tradition- The jatak kathayein, panchatantra, ramayan, mahabharat... these are the stories that surpass all dimesions of imaginations.
These stories should not be lost. These stories should not be seen, but read, and even better- be told and listened to.. this is our culture. This is our tradition.
These are what have made us what we are and tell us how we reached here. And we are on the verge of losing it all. Losing ourselves.

To be or not to be.

Once upon a time there was, Abul, who was a servant in household of a wealthy merchant in Tanger in Morocco. One day, Abul came back from his daily visits to the suk, utterly petrified, pale faced and shivering with fear. Seeing this disturbed state of his usualy jovial attendant, the master enquired the cause of his dispair.
Abul replied " Master, I saw her!!.. I saw death herself !! Her face was white and she looked at me with the widest eyes. She has come for me, master!! I want to disappear from here. I want to run away form here!! "
The kind merchant gave Abul two of his fastest horses and money and bid him farewell.
Abul rode as fast as only a man escaping death can ride for two whole days and only then did he reach the coastal town of Safi. There, as he entered the stable to tie his tired horses, he saw her standing there, smiling, waiting for him. Abul asked, " How did you find me here!! " and she answered, " Dear friend, I was surprised to see you in two days ago in Tanjer! I feared you will be late for our appointment for today, right here. Now!"

One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it.