PANCHATANTRA - COMMUNICATION

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The students assembled around Vishnu Sarma in the evening and posed their queiry of the day….

Sir! We pondered over the matter, but still can’t understand - when the ‘buy for more…sell for less’ principle is so good why is it not implemented more in practice and more importantly why there is a resistance even now to implement it by opening out retail sector to large companies?

Well , this is not one question. It has several dimensions. But for to day let us dwell upon one dimension of it…that is how to communicate a thing for acceptance. Even here we restrict ourselves to one way of doing it…that is to get acceptance from a higher authority…again drawing from the stories in our old classics.

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There was a king who got an idea that if he plants cash yielding trees like tamarind trees
along the high-ways in his kingdom , it would fetch a lot of revenue. Being the ruler ,as is the practice with many of our present day rulers, he summoned his ministers to implement it immediately. The minister for health , a doctor by profession, was shocked on hearing this, but could not dare to oppose it openly as it was the king’s idea and had overwhelming support from all other yes men, including the powerful finance minister. He struck upon an idea and looking at the king exclaimed ‘ Sir! There is a more pressing problem of immense importance to all of us in this kingdom! You look like taking ill very soon…within a few days’. The king could not believe his ears , but since the matter concerned him and he had some faith in the doctor, asked him ‘ how do you say that ,I feel perfectly alright’. The doctor replied ‘ That is the problem sir! I can’t put my finger on it ,but I am fairly certain about it. But, I can give a suggestion. You may kindly consult the renowned expert in the neighboring state capital. Since it will take about 2 weeks for you to go there, I would suggest that you may take the following steps in the mean time to reduce the incidence of the sickness.'

While on the journey ,please try to go along routes lined with tamarind trees, take rest under the same trees , use firewood from the tamarind trees,use the tamarind sticks to brush your teeth and use tamarind liberally in the food.

The king accepted the advice and set upon the journey, foreclosing the meeting without any final directive.

The king in a few days of the journey, started feeling the symptoms of sickness and was really amazed at the correctness of the forecast of his doctor when he fell really sick by the time he met the expert.

The king informed the expert of his doctor’s forecast , advice and handed over the letter given by the doctor to the expert on the case. The expert read the letter ,smiled and told the king ‘Yes. He was right. But you need not worry. I shall cure you and it is a simple remedy. Just relax and go back to your place. You should be healthy by the time you reach home. While on return just follow these steps.

During the journey ,please go along routes lined with neem trees, take rest under the same trees , use firewood from the neem trees, brush with neem stick and don’t use tamarind in the food.

The king was surprised, but kept faith in the expert’s advice and was overjoyed when he returned home with  complete recovery and excellent health.

He immediately summoned the meeting of his ministers ,narrated his experience and complimented the health minister.

Then the minister opened out informing the king ‘Sir! I owe you an apology. You were not sick at all. I did all this to show the ill effects of planting tamarind trees along highways to earn revenue. I beg you to change your decision.’

The king understood, rewarded the minister and ordered planting of neem trees along the highways.

So, you understand the need for proper communication, however good the idea may be. A mere protest at the initial meeting might not have helped matters.

Vishnu Sarma continued - Incidentally, you might have noted a recent campaign and plantation programme for neem trees by big companies. So once again, is it a question of lack of knowledge or deficiency in implementation?

It was getting dark and the students got up to go to their homes pondering over the moral.