“Ankur, you look so tensed. What’s the matter?”
“Oh! Rishi. You have come at the right time. One of my friend has to complete his project. The target date is fast approaching and there is a lot of work to do. I promised to help him. But am not sure, if I can. Can you help me?”
“I am reminded of the story of the cool and relaxed monkey.”
“Sorry Rishi, I have no time for stories now.”
“But, I thought you wanted my help.”
“This is unfair, Rishi.”
“Honestly, I am trying to help you.”
“OK. Tell me the story” asked Ankur.
Once upon a time, there lived a monkey on a tree that bore juicy apples near the banks of a river. One fine day, a hungry crocodile swam up to that tree looking for food. He saw the monkey on the tree and asked if the monkey can offer something to eat.
The kind monkey offered him a few apples. The crocodile enjoyed them very much and asked the monkey “can I come again for some more”. The generous monkey happily agreed.
The crocodile returned the next day. And from that day their friendship grew. They started discussing everything under the sky, like all friends do. The crocodile told the monkey about his wife living on the other side of the river. The kind monkey offered him some extra apples to take home to his wife. The crocodile’s wife loved the apples and made her husband promise to get her some every day.
Meanwhile, the friendship between the monkey and the crocodile deepened. The crocodile’s wife started getting jealous. She wanted to put an end to this friendship. The crocodile’s wife thought to herself that if the monkey lived on a diet of sweet apples, his flesh would be very sweet. So she asked the crocodile to invite the monkey to their house.
The crocodile did not like the idea and refused. But the wife was determined to eat the monkey’s flesh. So she thought of a plan and pretended to be very ill. She told the crocodile that the doctor said that she would recover only if she ate a monkey’s heart. If her husband wanted to save her life, he must bring her his friend’s heart.
The crocodile was now in a dilemma. He could not decide what to do. The crocodile’s wife pleaded to save her life, as without her the crocodile would become very lonely. Finally the crocodile decided to invite the monkey home. He offered the monkey a ride on his back across the river to his wife. The monkey happily agreed. As they reached the middle of the river, the crocodile began to sink. The frightened monkey asked, “What’s happening?”
The crocodile said “Sorry friend. My wife is ill and the only cure is a monkey’s heart. So I will have to kill you, to save my wife”
The monkey was shocked. He couldn’t believe that his good friend would do this. He had to act quickly to save his life. He knew getting tensed is not an option. In a relaxed tone, he said “What a wonderful opportunity you have given me my friend, to save your wife’s life. I am very happy and glad you chose me for this job.” He waited for a moment and acted as if he has forgotten something. He said, “Oh! I have left my heart on the tree. Can you please ride back to the tree, so that I can bring my heart and give it to your sick wife?”
The crocodile felt bad for cheating such a good friend. He expressed surprise and ignorance that monkeys can keep their hearts separately. The clever monkey said, “We are given this ability, to keep our hearts safe while jumping from one tree to another.”
The crocodile who didn’t understand the monkey’s plan, swam back to the tree. The monkey ran up the tree to safety.
He told the crocodile “ Oh foolish crocodile. My heart is very much with me. I will never trust you again or give you fruit from my tree. Go away and don’t come back again.”
“Hmmm… Ok. Now I get the message. You mean to say, I need to stay relaxed and alert to help my friend. If I get tensed, I will only spoil the work further”, said Ankur.
Rishi smiled.
Ankur thanked Rishi for the timely advice and flew away singing happily…
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