Once upon a time, in a village far away, there lived six blind men. One day the villagers were very excited, and when they asked what was happening they told them, "Hey, there is an elephant in the village today!" They had no idea what an elephant was, and so they decided, "Even though we will not be able to see it, we can feel it. Let's go." So, they all went to where the elephant was, and each of them touched it: "Hey, the elephant is a pillar," said the first man, touching its leg. "Oh, no! it is like a rope," said the second man, who was touching the tail. "Oh, no! it is ... read more

Emperor Akbar was in the habit of putting riddles and puzzles to his courtiers. He often asked questions which were strange and witty. It took much wisdom to answer these questions. Once he asked a very strange question. The courtiers were dumb folded by his question. Akbar glanced at his courtiers. As he looked, one by one the heads began to hang low in search of an answer. It was at this moment that Birbal entered the courtyard. Birbal who knew the nature of the emperor quickly grasped the situation and asked, "May I know the question so that I can try for an answer". Akbar said, ... read more

WAYS TO CUT DOWN WEIGHT Joy was fed up of his increasing weight. All the time he kept thinking of the ways to reduce his weight. One day he went to a shopkeeper and said, I have come to know about a book that tells how to reduce weight. Please give me a copy of that book. The shopkeeper said, Sir, the last copy of that book got sold just a few minutes back. But I have another book that tells how to gain weight. Joy said, I don't need that. I want to reduce weight, not increase it. The shopkeeper replied, So what? Just do the reverse of what is written in the book.

FEAR OF GOD Once there were two brothers who were very naughty. Always they were up to some mischief. One day, their mother asked a priest to talk to her sons and put the fear of god in them so that they would mend their ways. The priest asked her to send her sons to him one by one. Firstly, the younger brother went to the priest and sat by his side. The priest asked him in a commanding voice, Where is God? The boy didn't react. When the priest asked again, the boy ran to his elder brother and said, Do you know God is missing and everybody thinks that we are responsible for this.

Akram was sitting under a tree in the pasture near to the camps. He was counting the stars, which looked like diamonds twinkling in the darkness. Every night, Akram enjoyed making different shapes out of them: As a child, one of his favourite pastimes had been to sit outside at night with his grandfather, where together they enjoyed describing the different shapes that each constellation made. These memories were now the essence of his life, and it was one reason he liked this area of pastureland so much; it provided the perfect gateway to those precious childhood memories. He was a shepher ... read more