To assess Pandavas what they learnt under his guidance, their guru Drona sent Dharma Raja to a village amidst a thick forest across the mountains. A horde of tigers was attacking the villagers and their cattle. People were terrorised and prepared to vacate their hamlets.
Dharma Raja waited patiently till the predators' next attack; chased the tigers into the woods and killed their leader. On his return, his guru complimented: “Good work”.
Within a month, the beasts came again, this time in a bigger group. Drona sent Bheema the warrior, who is second to none in mace wielding (Gatha-aayudham). The mace is the best weapon to crush opponents, break their armor, wreck chariots and kill elephants, but lacks quick reflexes. Hence he could not fight the bunch of fast and sharp wild cats. Arjuna was rushed to meet the crisis. With his expertise with arrows he killed almost all of them and rescued his brother. The guru complimented him “Very good work”.
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The problem did not end there. After a couple of months of peace, the attack was more brutal and wild. Now the last two, Nakula and Sahadeva were sent. They had done all the homework before going there, studied the village topography, involved the villagers to dig trenches and assisted them to construct strong fencings. They taught the villagers the skill of fighting the wild animals. On return, the guru said, “Best and outstanding work”.
Crisis management
This story provides three clues for trouble administration. Cutting branches does not solve the problem unless you destroy the root cause. Asking a child to improve concentration by studying two hours more does not help unless the reasons for lack of attention (like excess TV watching, friends and internet chat) are traced and eliminated.
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Secondly your weapon, however sharp it may be, must suit to fight the situation. A famous Chinese quote says, “When life gives you a lemon, make lemonade”. Asking a student good in mathematics to study medicine is like sending Bheema to fight the tigers. Final lesson from the above story is: Half of the problem is solved, if it is seen in the correct direction.
Winners
The following winners of the riddle “which bird/animal you wish to be for a day” should send their postal address to receive the gifts: pinky_mapink@yahoo.co.in, abhishekpadm@yahoo.com, abhishiktha.mandalika@gmail.com, bj.sneha@yahoo.com, rupesh.mynampati@yahoo.com, swati_swathy@yahoo.co.in.
yandamoori@hotmail.com