Ravina Sewani

A rich man was very fond of travelling. Most of the times he remained away from his house. Occasionally, when he came home, he gathered around him the young people of the locality. He would tell them the wonderful experiences of his wandering life.Often he would ask them, “Have you seen the Eiffel Tower of Paris?” “Have you seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa?” “Have you seen the Taj Mahal of Agra?” “Have you seen the Qutub Minar of Delhi?”Every time the young people would say ‘No’ and the traveller would say, “You people always remain at home. You are missing the charm of life.”One day the young people asked him, “Have you ever visited the junk shop in the city? Come, let’s pay a visit to it.”When they visited the junk shop, the rich man was surprised to find many valuable articles in the shop which were missing from his own house. He asked, “How come my belongings are here?”The young people retorted. “You hardly remain at home. So you are losing the hard-earned wealth of your father.” Moral:Don’t get carried away with the worldly affairs so much that you forget to look after your belongings.

This is a classic story from Vikas books.

The Rich Man and his Travels

Once, there lived a water bearer (one who carries water) in a beautiful town. The water bearer had 2 large pots, in which, he used to fill the water from the stream and deliver it to his master’s house. One of the pots that he had was cracked. So every day while returning from the stream, the cracked would lose half the water and would only be able to provide half water at the master’s house. Whereas the perfect pot was very proud of himself for doing its work perfectly.The cracked pot would lose water every day and this went on for 2 years. One day, the cracked pot felt ashamed about itself and apologised to its water bearer saying, “I am sorry for not being able to deliver full water. Because of me, you do not get credits for your efforts.”&nbsp;The water bearer felt sorry for the pot and told him, “While we return back from the stream today, look at the beautiful and colourful flowers along the path.” So that day, while returning, the cracked pot admired the flowers and the flowers cheered him up. But when they reached at the master’s house, it still felt sad for losing the water and so apologised again.&nbsp;The bearer then told the pot, “I have known about your crack since day one and so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path. Every day, for 2 years, you have been watering these flowers. Because of you, I was able to pick beautiful flowers and decorate my master’s table. If you did not water the flowers, my master would never have a beautiful table.” On hearing this, the cracked pot was filled with joy and understood that everyone has flaws. If we can accept our flaws and still do better in lives, they do not really better. Moral:Every person has unique flaws.&nbsp;We’re all cracked pots.&nbsp;Nothing in this world is a waste.&nbsp;We should never feel useless because of our flaws. Sometimes these flaws are a blessing in disguise.

This is a story of water and flower.Moral(s) of the story: confidence

The cracked pot

An old woman had two servants. Every day the woman would wake up as soon as her cock started crowing. Then she would rouse the servants as well and ask them to begin the day's work.The servants did not like to get up early in the morning. All the time they were thinking what to do to have longer and undisturbed sleep in the morning.One day one servant said to the other, "Let us kill the cock. If there is no cock, there will be no crowing. If there is no crowing, the mistress won't wake up early in the morning. If she does not wake up early in the morning, she will not disturb our quiet sleep."The other servant agreed. So the next day they killed the cock. Now that there was no cock, the old woman would not know the exact time. She would wake up even earlier than before. Once she was out of her bed, she would not let her servants remain in bed.The cock was gone. But the servants had a harder time than before. Moral:A wrong remedy is worse than the disease.

This is a classic story from Vikas books.This is a story of hen.Moral(s) of the story: foolishness

The old woman and the servant

Pallavi Hota

Mahabharata is an ancient Indian epic about the brothers, Pandavas and kauravas. It describes the battle between them in the Kurukshetra war for the throne of Hastinapura. It is an epic tale that combines war, religion, philosophy and Hindu history. Following is a story from The Mahabharata.Sri Krishna and Arjuna once were guests of a widow. The widow had no children, nobody. She was all alone. But she had a cow. This cow was her only means of support. She used to sell milk, and by selling milk she used to sustain her life. At the same time she was a great devotee of Sri Krishna.When Sri Krishna and Arjuna visited her in disguise, she was so happy to see the two divine guests. She fed them with whatever she had in her house. Sri Krishna was extremely pleased with her surrendering attitude and her devotion. On their way back, Arjuna said to Krishna, ìYou were so pleased with her. Why didn't you grant her a boon? Why didn't you tell her that she would be prosperous soon, now that you are pleased with her?îìI have already granted her the boon that her cow must die tomorrow, replied Krishna. ìWhat? Her only means of support? She has only the cow, and nothing else. Without the cow how can she live on earth? asked Arjuna. Krishna answered, You don't understand me, Arjuna. She always thinks of the cow. The cow has to be fed, has to be milked, has to be bathed and so forth.ìI want her only to think of me, and when the cow is gone, she will think of me all the time, twenty-four hours. Then soon the time will be right for me to take her away from this world, and after a few years I will give her a better and more fulfilling incarnation. When she has nobody on earth, not even the cow, she will try and spend all her time, day and night, devoting herself to me. Otherwise, this way she will linger on earth and constantly think of the cow and not of me.

This is a story of Arjun and Krishna.

Krishna, Arjuna, the widow and her cow

Bible is the collection of 66 books written by different authors describing the God's action and purpose with all creations. Bible contains life stories of Jesus. The bible gives the messages God has desired for us to understand. Following is a story from “The Bible”. John was the blessed one to have the truth revealed to him. In his words ìOn the day the Savior was nailed to the cross, I was there. I saw him die in pain and agony. But soon he was alive again! He was, after all, the Living One!Then the angels also showed me many more wondrous things. I saw the Holy City, the beautiful Jerusalem, waiting for all believers.I also saw the new Heaven and Earth, waiting for God's children. God spoke to me and said ëI am the Alpha and Omega. I am everything. I built all this for my children ñ for you. Whoever believes in me will never go thirsty. To the hungry I will give food. This beautiful new world is now all yours!So, John wrote down everything God told him and gave us this beautiful book called the Holy Bible! Moral:The Bible is God's word.

This is a story of Bible and John.

The New Heaven And Earth

Once a goat was grazing on the grassy slope of a hill. It decided to taste the grass on the hills across. A narrow log served as a bridge across the stream. While crossing the bridge, it saw another goat coming from the other side. The bridge was so narrow that only one animal could cross the bridge at a time.The first goat said to the other, "Let me pass first." "You let me pass first", shouted the other goat. They started arguing and finally got into a terrible fight. They lost their balance and fell into the stream.The other grazing goats witnessed this and learnt a lesson. After few days, two other goats encountered the same problem.&nbsp;One goat said to the other, "I'll sit down and you can step over my body and pass." The other goat replied, "Thank you. Next time, I'll sit down and let you cross first."Thus both of them were able to cross the bridge safely.Moral: Wisdom is better than weapons of war.

This is a story of goat and jataka tales.Moral(s) of the story: cooperation, foolishness, understanding and wisdom

Two Silly Goats

King Vikram was given the duty of bringing Betal to a tantric. Betal traditionally means ‘evil spirit’. Each time Vikram tried to capture Betal, it told him a story that ended with a riddle. If Vikram could not answer the question correctly, Betal agreed to remain in captivity. But, if the king knew the answer and still kept quiet, his head would burst into a thousand pieces. And if King Vikram spoke, Betal would escape and return to his tree.Once upon a time, there lived a rich Brahmin by the name of Vishnuswamin, who was performing a huge sacrificial rite. He had three sons and each was extremely particular about three specific things. The eldest was particular about food, the second about women and the third about beds.Vishsnuswamin wanted a tortoise for his sacrifice. So, he sent his three sons to get one. They did find one, but each of them refused to touch it and bring it back home, as each claimed to be as particular as the other.A fierce quarrel broke out amongst them and they approached the king and requested him to decide who among them was the most particular. The king decided to test them all. He invited the first one to a very special feast prepared very exquisitely. But the first son refused to touch the food claiming that he smelt burnt corpses in the rice. On investigation, the king found that the rice was procured from a field near a cremation ground. The king was truly impressed.He then decided to test the second son by sending an extremely beautiful woman to him. But the second son sent her away saying that she smelt like a goat. On investigation, the king found that she had been fed goat milk in her childhood. The king was impressed by the second’s son’s fine taste in women.Then he decided to test the third son, by letting him sleep in a bed with seven huge mattresses. In the middle of the night, the third son awoke with a lot of pain and a red bruise on his shoulder. It was found that there was a strand of hair in the bed below the seven mattresses.The king was extremely impressed by the sensitivity of the third son as well. He could not decide who amongst the three was best, but employed them in his court and decided to use the special skills of the young men in his own interest.Betaal then asked King Vikram, “Who among the three was the most particular? Vikram replied instantly, “The third son! The bruise on his shoulder was a definite evidence of his sensitivity, while the other two sons could have obtained information from elsewhere too.”As soon as Vikram had finished his answer, Betaal flew back to the tree.

This is a classic story from Vikram betal.

The Three Special Brahmins

Shina Utavani

Lord Ganesha had a younger brother named Karthikeya. One day they were playing in the forest. Lord Shiva and Parvati received a special fruit from gods. Lord Shiva decided to share the fruit with Parvati. But then, they realized that the fruit can be eaten by one person only. No one was ready to eat the fruit alone.At the same time, Karthikeya and Ganesha entered and asked them what was special about the fruit. Lord Shiva told them that the fruit was of immorality and supreme knowledge. To choose who will get the fruit, Parvati and Lord Shiva said that the first one who will revolve around the world three times and come back will get the fruit.Karthikeya took his vehicle, peacock and went off to take three rounds of the world. Ganesha was worried about winning the race as his vehicle, Mouse did not have wings. Later, he took a decision based on his wisdom. He asked his parents’ permission to revolve around them as he felt that his parents were his universe. Lord Shiva and Parvati were impressed by his decision. They allowed Lord Ganeshato revolve around them three times and won the race. Finally, Ganesh got the fruit. Moral:Use wisdom at the right time and the right place. Respect your parents; there can be no one as important as them in your life.

This is a story of Ganesh, Kartikey, mouse and peacock.Moral(s) of the story: knowledge and wisdom

Lord Ganesha And Karthikeya

Yesha Desai

A river was very tired of her work. She had to constantly move around and could never catch a break. She was very envious of the mountain who always stayed at one single place. The mountain never had to move or work hard, unlike the river.The river was doped with pollution, used by fish and humans and other animals. They never let her rest. And after she was done flowing, she had to give herself to the sea. How was that fair to her when the mountain always slept?She often mocked the mountain whenever she passed by it. She thought that the mountain deserved to know that he was living such an easy life when she had to work so hard.Everytime the river was mean to him, the mountain just sighed. She never understood his work and there was no point in explaining.The river got to travel to new places, meet new people, make new friends while he just had to stay still at one place and bear the cold winds from the north. The river was worshipped by humans whereas the mountain could only silently weep as the trees that grew on him were cut down.He just wished that the river was grateful of her life instead of insulting him all the time.The mountain did not pay much heed to the river’s words and never answered back. One particular winter, the Northern winds were stronger than ever before. The mountain was shivering, he felt like he was dying. It was too cold.But he had to stay strong because he was the only one between the human population and the cold winds that would freeze them.The mountain suffered the cold for them and protected them. The river saw this and she was embarrassed for the way she had treated him. She apologised and they soon became friends. Moral:We must not judge others’ lives and their problems, especially when we don’t know anything about it.

This is a story of mountain, river and water.Moral(s) of the story: judgemental

general dyer stories

Stories help in improving a child's imagination. Here are a few interesting ones for you to narrate to your child.