[JAI MA KALI]
                    THE CALLOW MONKEYS
                 ========================
   Once upon a time there lived a king who owned a beautiful garth. An experienced gardener was employed to maintain and look after the garth carefully.The gardener was very serious and devoted to his job.He pampered the various plants and loved the garden to the hilt.
 Now the gardener was unable to enjoy a holiday as he was fully occupied all the time in performing the various chores related to gardening. Besides,he was apprehensive to leave the garden even for an hour at a time unattended lest it might be extirpated by the animals.
     After a few days mingled into eternity,a fair was held in the city.It attracted the people to visit it and every Tom,Dick And Harry praised and talked about the fair.The gardener ,too, longed to visit the fair but the gardening shackled his feet to go anywhere leaving the garth.
  One day, one of his chums urged him,"My dear pal,come with me to the fair.you don't realise what are you missing.Don't be a chump."
   But the gardener whimpered,"If I go,who will water my plants?"
 The conversations between the two were within the earshot of a monkey.He felt pity at the plight of the gardener and wanted to help him.He skedaddled to the gardener and chattered,"Don't lose heart.I am at your beck and call.I will look after the garden while you are gone.
    The gardener was cock-a-hoop to hear this.He let out a yowl of joy and trooped out for the fair with his buddy.The monkey spent sometime in gawping admirably at the pretty plants.Then he summoned his barrel of monkeys and gibbered to them,"Hi pals,I need your help in watering these plants this evening."The other monkeys nodded in consent.
 Evening came.The monkeys skedaddled forth and jostled each other to fill the water cans.But they were as green as grass for this job.So they asked the incharge,"How much water has to be put on each plant?"
   The incharge monkey was also a callow monkey vis-a-vis gardening.Gardening was all Greek and Latin to him. He scratched his head for few seconds,then blurted out,"The amount of water depends on the size of the roots."
 To ascertain the size of the roots,the monkeys began to pull up the plants.The larger roots were given more water and the smaller ones less.
   By the time the job was completed,the beautiful and adorable garth was turned into a pathetic mess. The entire garden was fully extirpated.
  When the gardener returned,he was aghast and shell-shocked to see the pitiable plight of his beloved garth.He tore his hair in utter despair and burst into uncontrollable tears.
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       ======DEVENDRA  SRIVASTAVA===
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MORAL------A CALLOW PERSON WILL BUNGLE THE THINGS.
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THE PERSPICACIOUS PARROIS

                                            [JAI MA KALI]
                  THE PERSPICACIOUS PARROTS
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     Once upon a time a pair of prepossessing parrots dwelt in a nest on a conifer in a dense woodland.They loved travelling and sitting cooped up in the nest was most galling to them.They would make frequent jaunts far and wide and visit new places.
     One day it so happened that they flew into the garden of the king.The king's flunkeys managed to trap them and brought them before the king. The king was highly impressed to see the amazingly attractive parrots.He enjoined his factotums to keep the birds in a special golden cage.The parrots were pampered a lot and fed on the best scrumptious viands of their choice.
  The news of the birds spread like wild fire.People from the far off areas flocked to the palace to see the parrots.Even the royal guests would tarry for a moment to look admiringly at the birds.
        Days were rolling by comfortably until one day the lackeys of the king brought to the palace a very huge black ape.People had not seen such a big ape before.Soon the people's attention drifted to the ape.He became the bull's eye of the people. Crowd of people flocked to the palace to have a look at the beast and would burst into peals of laughter at his pranks and antics.
    Now the pair of parrots felt humiliated,neg-
lected,dejected and rejected.They were even not properly fed and looked after.One of the birds regrettably cooed,"We are now unwanted and being treated as 'persona non grata'.Let us skedaddle from here and fly to somewhere else."
   The other parrot who was a tad wiser than of the two ,chirped,"My dear chum,don't be disheartened and take it amiss.Have patience.People would soon be fed up with the antics of the ape and realise our true worth."
    Over the period of time the ape grew vainglorious and started misbehaving with the people. He became a rogue.His mischief started soaring higher and higher .At last ,the king became furious .He commanded his vassals to drive away the ape back to the forest.
     Now the people once again started paying due attention to the parrots.

 MORAL:  HAVE PATIENCE.A PERSON'S TRUE WORTH WOULD ALWAYS BE RECOGNISED.
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        [DEVENDRA  SRIVASTAVA]
      

THE OVER--PAMPERED PACHYDERM

                                                    JAI MA KALI

     THE OVER--PAMPERED PACHYDERM
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        Once upon a time a sage by taking to rigorous religious life at the foot of the Himalayas,cultivated great wisdom and learning. His popularity spread far and wide like an inferno and soon oodles of people became his pursuivants.
        One of his minions had a pet mastodon.He loved his pet so much that he was always at his beck and call,fulfilled all his whims and fancies, pampered him beyond the point of absurdity.Consequently,the elephant became chippy and recalcitrant and was irreparably spoilt.
       The sagacious sage noticing this,one day advised the owner,"By mollycoddling your pet beyond limits,you are spoiling the pachyderm.I warn you,mend your ways otherwise one day your beloved behemoth will annihilate you."
   But the owner phoo-phooed the advice and continued to spoil the pachyderm untrammeled.
  One day,the sage and all his acolytes including the owner of the elephant,went out on some errand.Finding itself alone and no one to attend to him,the behemoth flew into unbridled fury.In a steaming rage,it started extirpating all that lay in its path.
   When the owner returned,he tried to pacify the pet with delicious viands.But the elephant was not mollified.It let out an ear-splitting trumpet in fury and lifted the owner with its tusk and flung him down and ruthlessly trod upon him and killed him. After which it scooted into the jungle.
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MORAL---------
      If you spare the rod,you will spoil the child.
      In the end he will turn on you too.
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WHAT A WITTY WISH !

                                                            JAI MA KALI
                                 **************
         WHAT  A  WITTY  WISH !
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      Once upon a time,three gullible farmers occupied a tiny piece of land situated by the side of a woodland.They toiled and moiled in their field from dawn to dusk daily like a Trojan.They earned sufficient to make both ends meet
          Ironically,some yeggs took shelter in the forest.Though they did not inflict any harm upon these peasants,yet they regularly committed heists in the nearby villages.After plundering and looting,they would decamp with the booty safely.
         One day when they raided the village to pillage,the villagers chased to apprehend them.The brigands,as usual scooted away.But on reaching the suburbia of the forest,the villagers saw the three farmers plowing.
 At once one trilled,"These are the bandits disguising themselves to hoodwink us."
  The villagers seized them and took them captive.They were produced before the king.The helpless and hapless farmers pleaded their innocence,but the king turned a deaf ear to their entreaties and protests and ordered them to be imprisoned.
  Thereafter,a woman would visit daily the palace,wailing and moaning for the mercy for the innocent prisoners.The guards would ruthlessly shoo her away.Finally one day feeling pity,they took her to the king.
 Here,the poor woman narrated her story,of how the prisoners were guiltless and begged for their release.
 The king asked her,"What is your relation with the prisoners?"
 "One is my spouse,one is my son and one is my only brother."
   After brooding a bit,the king said,"In that case,I can set free only one.Tell whom you wish to be released."
 "Your Majesty,"blurted out the lady,"I can always find another hubby;and so have another son.But as my parents have already departed for their heavenly abode,i can not have another brother.So,please release my brother to me."
  The king let out a yowl of joy.He was pleased to the hilt with this intelligent and witty wish.As a reward,he set free all the three.The woman joyfully quit the palace with her family.
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MORAL OF THE STORY------A WITTY ANSWER MAY ALTER THE SITUATION QUITE A BIT.
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                   ****DEVENDRA  SRIVASTAVA*****
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THY CHIPPY QUAILS

                                           JAI MA KALI
                                          **************
                    THE CHIPPY QUAILS
                    @@@@@@@@@@@
   Once upon a time,a large number of quails dwelt in a certain forest.They were a happy lot.Their leader was a very intelligent and prudent bird.They were passing their days blithely.
 As the ill luck would have it,a nimrod used to come daily into the forest and by mimicking the sound of the quail,entice the birds,then spread his net over the gullible birds and incarcerated them and carried them home.
 This became a daily routine.Consequently,the number of the quails started dwindling by leaps and bounds.This made their leader chew the cud to find a remedy for grappling with the problem.He advised his flock:
"Dear chums,henceforth,when the hunter spreads his net and you are snared,then grip a portion of the net by your beaks.Then soaring upwards simultaneously,deposit the net on a thorny bush.While the hunter gets engrossed in realising the net from the bush,all of you flee instantaneously."
 The quails followed this advice seriously.Next time when they were trapped,they lifted the net all together and flew with it to a thorny bush.When the hunter arrived and released the net from the bush,all the birds made made god their escape in the twinkling of an eye.Thus the quails managed to save themselves for a long time.However as the time passed,they grew a tad lethargic and became vainglorious and thought themselves to be invincible.
 One day ,as they were entrapped in the net,a quail by accident trampled upon the foot of another quail.The two began wrangling and soon other also joined in and there was an open warfare .A veritable bedlam was let loose.
Their leader seeing this trilled to himself,"If the pugnacious birds continue this way,they might not be able to escape the net.In sheer desperation,he jettisoned the forest lock,stock and barrel to seek shelter elsewhere.
Then shortly after the hunter spread his net,a large number of the quails were trapped.But instead of flying with the net to a thorny bush,the quails indulged into fueds.
"Why don't you lift the net?"yelled one at another.
"Why don't you?"retorded the other with ire.
 AS it continued, the hunter arrived and it was too late for the quails to escape.
 The hunter made a good catch that day and his spouse let out a yowl of joy to see the catch.
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 MORAL: WHEN UNITY FAILS,DISASTER PREVAILS.
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              ----DEVENDRA SRIVASTAVA
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THE MALCONTENT BOVINE

                                           JAI MA KALI
                                          @@@@@@@@
            THE  MALCONTENT  BOVINE
           ===========================
 Once an opulent peasant had a pair of sturdy oxen.One was named'Big Red Ox' and the other who was a tad younger,'Little Red Ox.'
  The two were real brothers.The peasant made them toil and moil from dawn to dusk in his field.They had to lug the plow and do other related works.In return for their services,they received only straw and dry grass to chow down.
    The farmer had a beautiful young daughter of marriageable age.Her marriage was settled and she was to tie the nuptial knot with the son of a croesus,a resident of a nearby town.To kill the fatted calf for the celebration of the wedding and entertain the wedding guests,the peasant copped a pig,which he fed on healthy and scrumptious viands in order to fatten it.
   Seeing the swine being so nicely treated,Little Red Ox one day whimpered to his brother:
  "Respected brother,do you observe how the peasant pampers the pig and fleeces us ruthlessly?The bloody hog does nothing,yet he is given the 'creme de la cr'me'victuals to chomp on.We labor the whole day without any grudge but the master offers us only straw and dry grass to masticate."
    "Oh,calm down.don't envy that hog.His situation is not at all enviable.He will be slaughtered very shortly to feed those wedding guests.The luscious cates it receives are being given with an ulterior motive."consoled Big Red Ox.
     However, Little Red Ox was not mollified.He continued to sizzle with anguish and envy.
   Then one day he was aghast to see the hapless and helpless pig yanked out and ruthlessly butchered.He realised the truth that in spite of poor vittles he received,his situation was far far better.
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MORAL----Better to chew plain fare and live long,than gobble up grand fare and get butchered.
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                   ----DEVENDRA  SRIVASTAVA
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CATARRHINE VS. CACODEMON

                  (JAI MA KALI)
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      CATARRHINE VS. CACODEMON
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  Once a troop of catarrhines lived in a dense forest.Their leader was very intelligent.He knew every nook and cranny of the jungle very well like the palm of his hand as he had seen the light of the earth there.He was also well aware of the fact that the forest was infested with horrible cacodemons and trees bearing highly venomous fruits.So he cautioned his troop of these things:
"Make it a point to consult me prior to nibbling at any thing or quaffing water,"he counseled,"Otherwise you might come to grievous harm."
   Thus,the platyrrhines followed their leader implicitly and unflinchingly.
    One day some catarrhines gallivanted quite far from their habitat.The sweltering heat at that time made their throats parch and they badly needed water to drink.Searching high and low for a lake or river,they spotted a large lake of cool aqua.They trooped there blithely and were about to enter the lake to swill,one platyrrhine suddenly gibbered:
"Have you forgotten the warning of our leader?We must consult him first."
  "Yes,"assented some in chorus.
 As the leader was not there at that time,the others were adamant to swill the water.At this,a frightful argument arose among themselves.Blows were exchanged and some of them got badly battered. 
 Fortunately,their leader arrived there in the nick of time before the situation went out of control.He dashed to examine the lake.
 The wise leader noticed that there were footprints entering the lake but none came out again.So he claimed that a cacodemon lived in the water.He cautioned his troop not to go near the lake.
  At that very moment,a cacodemon emerged out of the water and burst into peals of laughter to know how thirsty the catarrhines were.He threw the gauntlet to them;
 "Just dare to quaff water from the lake,I will gormandize all of you in the twinkling of an eye."
 The leader felt humiliated and offended.He chewed the cud for a way to drink water without getting close to the lake.An idea struck him.He put together a number of hollow reeds,like a straw and slid one end into the water.The other end he popped in his mouth and from a safe distance sucked up the water.
 All the other platyrrhines swigged the water one by one.They jeered the the cacodemon as he looked on helplessly and powerless,yammering with unbridled fury as unless they entered the lake he could not gobble up them.

MORAL------THERE IS ALWAYS A WAY TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED GOAL.
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                  -------DEVENDRA SRIVASTAVA.