Birbal's Khichri

On a cold winter day, Akbar and Birbal took a walk along the lake. A thought came into Birbal's mind that a man would do anything for money. He expressed his feelings to Akbar. The Emperor then put his fingers into the lake and immediately removed it because he shivered with cold.

Akbar said," I don't think a man would spend an entire night in the cold water of this lake for money."

Birbal replied,"I am sure I can find such a person."

Akbar then challenged Birbal to find such a person and said he would reward that person with a thousand gold coins.

Birbal searched far and wide until he found a poor man who was desperate enough to accept the challenge. The poor man entered the lake and Akbar had guards posted near him to make sure that he really did as promised.

The next morning the guards took the poor man to Akbar. The Emperor asked the poor man if he had indeed spent the night in the lake. The poor man replied that he did. Akbar then asked the poor man how he managed to spend the night in the lake. The poor man replied that there was a street lamp nearby and he kept his attention there on the lamp and away from the cold. Akbar then said that there would be no reward as the poor man had spent the night in the lake by the warmth of the street lamp. The poor man went to Birbal for help.

The next day, Birbal did not go to Court. Wondering where he was, Akbar sent a messenger to his home. The messenger came back saying that Birbal would come to Court once his Khichri was cooked. The Emperor waited for hours but Birbal did not come. Finally, Akbar decided to go to Birbal's house and see what he was up to.

He found Birbal sitting on the floor near some burning twigs and a utensil filled with kichri hanging five feet above the fire. The Emperor and his attendants couldn't help but laugh

Akbar then asked Birbal, "How can the khichri be cooked if it is so far away from the fire?"

Birbal answered, "The same way the poor man received heat from a street lamp that was more than a furlong away."

The Emperor realised his mistake and gave the poor man his reward.

Management Moral: Example is more effective than argument in any communication. If you have to explain your point of view in a presentation, it will meet with much better understanding if you use dramatic examples than if you use long-winding arguments to support it. There's a difference between making mistakes for our convenience. Our faulty behaviour becomes even more deplorable when we know that our "convenient mistakes" trample on the well-being and basic comfort of others and yet we stubbornly hold on to our behaviour pattern and have no scruples about causing misery to others as our own convenience comes first.

The Effects of Your Actions

One day Akbar was simply chatting with his friends. He had around him the very best, wisest, most creative people chosen from every part of the country. They were speaking, Akbar all of the sudden slapped Birbal for no apparent reason. Now one could slap the Emperor back, but the slap had to go somewhere.

So Birbal slapped the person who was standing right next to him.

Everybody thought, "This is strange!"

There was no reason in the first place for Akbar's slap.

Suddenly, as if some madness had seized Akbar, he has slapped poor Birbal. And the victim also reacted strangely. Rather than asking, "Why have you slapped me?" he simply slapped the man by his side! and that man, thinking perhaps this was the norm at the Court, slapped the next person. In a chain reaction, the slap went all around the Court.

That night, Akbar's wife slapped him! and he asked, "Why are you slapping me?"

She said," What a question - a Game is a Game."

He asked, "Who told you that this is a game?"

We have been hearing the whole day long that a great game has begun in the Court. The only rule is that you cannot hit the person back, you have to find somebody else to slap. And somebody has slapped me, so your slap has come back to you. The game is now complete!"

Management Moral:  All kinds of fashions, fads and practices have strange unexpected beginnings. A small gesture can have snowballing consequences. In this big world, thousands of insane games are going on in which we are all participants. The slap (or for that matter a good deed) is going to come back to you sooner or later. Good deeds will bring you its rewards, however, unexpected, and your misdeeds will eventually get you the punishment you desire.

Perhaps you have forgotten when you started it all. The world is big, it takes time to return. But everything comes back to its sources - that is one of the fundamental rules of life.

The Golden Gallows

One day Akbar came to Court in a very bad mood. Unlike his true self, that day he snapped at several courtiers. The courtiers were apprehensive and sat quietly, till the Emperor left the Court.

Later when Birbal met Akbar in private, he asked him the reason for his anger. "Oh Birbal, do not ask! It is my son-in-law. The scoundrel is really annoying," Akbar was furious once again.

Birbal tried to calm him down, "Your Majesty, if you tell me what has happened, may be we could find a solution to the problem."

"Birbal, it has been a year since I saw my daughter. My son-in-law does not send her here to see us," complained Akbar.

"That is not such a big problem. I will send somebody right away to bring Your Majesty's daughter here," assured Birbal.

"You think I haven't already done that? My son-in-law is a stubborn man! He refuses to sent my daughter to me. I simply detest such son-in-law. Now there is something you must do for me, Birbal. Please arrange to put up gallows in the open grounds of the city. I will send all the son-in-laws in my kingdom to the gallows", announced Akbar, seething with rage.

Birbal couldn't believe his ears. How could the Emperor go to this extreme! He tried to pacify Akbar, but to no avail.

For the first time the situation was truly out of his hands. Birbal couldn't think of anything to stop Akbar. So he went to the city grounds and made arrangements for the gallows.

After a week the gallows were ready and Birbal took Akbar on an inspection tour. Akbar was quite pleased, "And now I can eliminate all the son-in-laws in my kingdom. What a relief!"

After a while, Akbar noticed a set of golden and silver gallows. "Birbal, may I ask for whom those special gallows are meant for?"

Birbal replied plainly, "The golden gallows are for you, Your Majesty. And the silver one is for me."

Bewildered, Akbar said, "I didn't ask you to do any such things. Why should we go to the gallows?"

Birbal replied, "Your Majesty, you wish to send all the son-in-laws in this kingdom to the gallows. Both of us are also the son-in-law of somebody. How can we exclude ourselves? Since you are the Emperor I arranged for a grand golden gallows for you. The silver one is for me, your Majesty. Don't you think it is appropriate?"

Akbar was amused and impressed by Birbal's wisdom. "What would I ever do without you Birbal," so saying he laughed. He realised his mistake and revoked the order.

Management Moral: When you categorise people in haste and anger, make sure you don't fall into the same category. If we put ourselves in the shoes of the people under us on whom we pass judgement and rephrase it. The result of generalising the judgement we pass on one person, as applicable to a whole class of people, can be very damaging. In order to always be just, vividly imagine yourself in the shoes of your victim.