Two Friends

It was the first day of the year.  The students were excited to be in the new class. Manoj was one of the students in the class.  He, like all others, had been promoted to the 9th grade.  He was a very intelligent and hardworking student. In the class, he used to sit in the first row and was attentive in all his classes.  His friend Ramesh, though intelligent, was playful and mischievous in class.  He was an average student.

Soon, the class teacher entered the class and the students stood up to greet her.  She was a young lady who looked kindly at the students.  After the introduction was over, the teacher started with the lessons right away.  The first class of the day was Maths.  Maths was Manoj’s favourite subject. Manoj would solve the problems faster than anyone else.  He knew almost all the formulae and knew when to apply them.  The teacher was happy to see such an intelligent boy in class.  She praised Manoj in front of everybody.

Ramesh, however, did not concentrate in class.  He spent most of his time daydreaming.  He formed a group of friends who were like him.  He would play with those friends in the evening when Manoj would be studying.  Soon, his studies were affected.  The teacher noticed that Ramesh was not performing well and pointed it out to him.  But, Ramesh did not listen. 

Soon, the term exams came.  Manoj stood first in almost all the subjects.  The teachers were proud of him.  Ramesh did not perform well.  He failed in many subjects.  The class teacher, who had earlier warned Ramesh was angry at him.  The teacher scolded him in front of the whole class.  Ramesh was sullen and depressed for over a week. 

Manoj tried to help his friend.  He talked to Ramesh.  He offered to sit with him and help him in the difficult topics.  But Ramesh was not interested.  He went back to his playful ways and loitered about with his friends.

His performance fell even worse in the next exam.  Gradually, Ramesh began to feel jealous of Manoj.  He hated to see all the teachers praise him.  All the boys in class looked up to him as a leader.  He felt left out of the class.  Soon, the friendship between Manoj and Ramesh grew cold.  Manoj noticed the change in his friend and tried to sort out the issues.  But Ramesh did not respond.  He was happy with his new set of friends – boys like him who did not study well and played all the time.

Ramesh grew even more jealous of Manoj when he was made the class leader.  All the students clapped when the teacher made the announcement but not Ramesh.  Ramesh felt angry at the teacher and his classmates.  He felt all the more angry and alone when he failed in all the subjects in the next exam.  The teacher and the school principal were disappointed at his performance.

Ramesh came to school the next day with a long face.  All his classmates began to avoid him.  He felt all the more jealous of Manoj when someone praised him.  One day an evil idea came to his mind.  Rahul was a boy who sat next to Manoj.   Rahul’s was from a rich family.   Ramesh decided to put his wicked plan into action.  The next day was Wednesday.  Every Wednesday, the boys had a session on physical education.  They would have to go to the playground to perform some exercises.

The next day, the boys left the class to go to the play ground.  Ramesh, deliberately, waited until the other boys had gone.  He then crept across the classroom to where Rahul was sitting.  Ramesh had planned to take Rahul’s wallet and to hide it in Manoj’s schoolbag.  When Rahul would find his bag missing, he would tell the teacher, a search would be organized and the wallet would be found in Manoj’s bag.  Manoj would be called a thief, humiliated and shunned by everyone.  That was what Ramesh wanted.

 Ramesh crept across the classroom.  He checked to see if anyone was looking.  He opened Rahul’s bag and took out his wallet.  He then went to Manoj’s bag opened it and was about to put it in his bag when Manoj entered the class room.  The sports teacher had asked him to fetch a register from the cupboard.    Manoj was shocked to see what had been done.  He was angry.  Ramesh was shocked that he had been exposed.  He knew that Manoj was the class leader and could haul him up before the school teacher and the principal.  His future would be ruined if the school were to expel him.

Ramesh broke into tears and confessed to everything he had planned.  He begged Manoj to forgive him and not to tell anyone of what he had seen.  Manoj embraced Ramesh.  “I have always thought of you as my friend”, he said, “I forgive you”.  Ramesh felt ashamed of himself.  He put the wallet back in Rahul’s bag.   Manoj made Ramesh sit with him the front bench and helped him in his studies.  Soon, Ramesh’s grades began to improve.  Ramesh came to admire Manoj even more and the two boys became good friends once again.

Children, this story tells us about the damage jealousy can cause to friendship.  We should always love our friends and be happy at their successes.  This story also teaches us to be forgiving when our friends wrong us.

The Two Fishes

Once upon a time there was a pond called Sukhsagar.  The pond was small.  It was home to two fish.  One was called Sahasrabuddhi and the other Dharmabuddhi.  The two fish had lived there for a long time.  They fed on the green algae which grew on the pond floor.    The pond was home to numerous fishes and other small animals like crabs and shrimps.  The fishes lived a calm and quiet life.  There were no predators to threaten them.

The pond was thus a safe place where all its inhabitants led their own quiet lives.  The pond was not far from a nearby village.  Every now and then, people would come from the village to the pond.  Little boys would come over to swim in its calm waters.  Sometimes, women would bring their laundry to wash in the pond.

It so happened that one day a couple of fishermen were passing by the pond.  They had been fishing in another pond a few miles away.  The pond caught their attention on their way home.  The two of them had been talking about the pond.  Said one to another, “This is a small pond. But, why don’t we dredge the pond and take what’s in it?”. “Not a bad idea”, said the other,” We may find at least a few fish and some crabs”.

Sahasrabuddhi, the fish had overheard this conversation.    He was alarmed.  He hurried swam down to Dharmabuddhi who was relaxing in the floor of the pond amidst some water plants.  Dharmabuddhi was a fish who lived for the day.  He did not think much about the future or anything else.  He loved to feed and relax.  He was also a bit lazy by nature.

When Sahasrabuddhi came down and narrated what he had just heard.  He could scarcely contain himself.  “Alas! We are doomed.” he cried,” We will be caught and cooked for food by those wicked men.  We must leave this pond at once”.  Dharmabuddhi, ever the lazy one, did not even move.  “Perhaps, you did not hear them properly.  Perhaps, they did not mean what they said”, he said with an air of dismissal.

Sahasrabuddhi tried to convince his friend by to no avail.  Dharmabuddhi would not listen. “You can leave if you want.  I am not coming.   I know special tricky water movements with which I can fool the most expert of fishermen”, he bragged.

Saharasrabuddhi left his friend in the pond floor and rose to the surface.  It was late in the evening.  The sun was setting and the creatures of the pond were settling down for the night.  He thought deeply of what he could do to save himself.

Suddenly, he remembered that the pond had a small channel which led to another pond a few hundred feet away.  He had been there once a long time back.  But the channel had water only when the level of water in the pond was high.  He felt sad as he remembered this for it was almost summer.  The pond level had been falling for quite some time.  He went to sleep with a heavy heart.

The next morning, at the break of dawn, he went to see if the channel had water he could swim through.  The water in the channel had been reduced to a trickle.    He wondered if he would be able to escape.  He was sad to leave his friend behind.   He entered the channel and with great difficulty he managed to push himself through it.     He was almost flat on his side.  The sharp stones in the channel tore into his soft body.  He went on for a long time.  He was almost at the point of despair.  He wondered if there was really water on the other side.  Finally, he felt that he was going faster.  The channel grew deeper and finally he was in the new pond.  Sahasrabuddhi felt relieved.  He was anxious about his friend and feared for his safety.

He was right.  That very next day, the fishermen came to the pond with a few of their friends.  They were carrying big nets with them.   The cast the net on the pond and let it sink to the bottom.  Dharmabuddhi was relaxing in his favorite haunt oblivious to the danger.  He was startled to see the net fall around him.  He looked for a way out but there was none.  He also tried his tricky swimming movements he was so proud of.  He was sure that he could slither out of the net’s reach.    But they were of no avail.  The net soon fell on him and he was entangled in its cords.

Soon, the fishermen began to lift the net.  Dharmabuddhi regretted not listening to his friend.  But, it was too late.  He was drawn up along with the net and met his sad end.

Children, this story with a sad ending tells us to be alert to any signs of danger.  When we hear of any threat we need to act quickly and save ourselves and others.  If we are complacent and slothful, we will pay a heavy price.