Wisdom Story Hub

 Long ago, in the village of Silbaripuram, most households suffered from hunger. Wages for work were very low. Moreover, the main farmlands were under the control of the royal palace, and the rest belonged to a few landlords. Ramu, a daily wage laborer, was always living in poverty. His family consisted of his wife and four children. When they ate their meals, there was never any fish or meat. Their curries were usually just chili powder and chutney. Ramu often found work on the land of his neighbor, Cheeran, a fishmonger. One day, Cheeran told Ramu, "I will be away for a week. My assistant will look after the fish shop. You can take home any leftover fish that doesn't get sold." Ramu was in the habit of obeying his boss's words. When he told his wife and children about this, they were overjoyed. His wife said, "It's been ages since we had fish curry!" But Ramu said nothing. He did as Cheeran had told him. But in the evening, he brought a basket of lefto...

 Once upon a time, the eastern side of Silbaripuram was a dense forest. However, the western side was a town filled with houses and people. One day, while a crow was searching for food in the forest, a rival spotted cuckoo mocked him. "You only eat rotten and dirty food from the garbage. I only eat fruits. Look at how beautiful my feathers are. Your black appearance is ugly!" This hurt the crow deeply. He decided to ask other birds for their opinion. When he asked the sandpiper, it replied: "I am beautiful enough. But because of my heavy body, I have to walk on the ground to hunt for food, and I live in fear of being attacked by monitor lizards and humans. You don't have these problems." He then saw a heron, which was more beautiful. It said: "My beautiful white feathers are a threat to my life. Humans can aim from very far away and shoot me down with a slingshot. No one will hunt you." When he saw the sparrow, it said: "If I build a beautiful nes...

 Once upon a time, in the land of Silbaripuram, a man named Ravunni would go to the riverside every morning to fish. Even if he caught more than one fish in his net, he would only keep one and shake the rest back into the water! One day, a stranger passing by was astonished to see this. He asked Ravunni, "What foolishness are you doing? Why did you give up the four larger fish that were in your net, especially when they were bigger than the one you're holding?" Ravunni said calmly, "This one is plenty for today's fish curry." The stranger scoffed, "Hey, why don't you sell the other fish in the market and start a fish business?" Ravunni asked, "And then what?" The stranger replied, "Gradually, with the profits from the business, you can buy a big house and some land." Ravunni asked again, "And then what?" The stranger laughed, "Man, you can then live a very comfortable life and relax for the rest of your days!...

 Today, one of the biggest challenges the world's population faces is living a life with reduced peace of mind. In 1930, Russian biochemist  Boris P. Tokin  proved through research that trees and shrubs release an antibiotic called  Phytoncides . Since this is an organic volatile compound, it is produced by trees and plants to ward off bacteria, fungi, and insects that may harm them. If we get the smell of trees in our nose while walking through an area, it means Phytoncides are present. What is its benefit for humans? When we inhale it, the production of stress hormones like  Cortisol and Adrenaline , which cause tension, is blocked or reduced. Consequently, we gain peace of mind. Our Immune system gets strengthened. Natural Killer cells (NK cells) increase. The country that has utilized this concept the most is Japan. Humans benefit through a practice called  Shin-rin-yoku  or forest bathing. This involves creating an artificial forest and walking or...

 When Bijesh got off the bus at the junction near his house after work, there was a grocery shop he used to go to for buying household items. Karunan, a regular customer there, would usually have a rolled-up magazine in his hand. Even though the popularity of magazines has reduced these days, he would buy the weeklies the very day they arrived at the shop and tuck the rolled-up copy under his arm. Bijesh usually exchanged a few pleasantries with him. Once, Bijesh asked, "In this age of TV and phones, do you still read the weekly magazine regularly?" He replied, "Watching TV only adds to my tension. My wife watches all the serials. But I don't go near that side. But I've always loved monthly and weekly magazines since childhood." Just then, Bijesh raised a reasonable doubt, "One weekly magazine will be finished within a few hours, won't it? What do you do for the rest of the week?" Karunan replied with a smile, "I manage that. I read the fi...

 Once, Hodja was walking towards a distant place. After travelling for some distance, he saw a man sitting in the shade of a tree by the roadside. Since his face seemed sad for some reason, Hodja asked him for the reason. The man replied, "I am a wealthy man. But the money in this cloth bag does not give me any happiness. So, I am going to a neighbouring country in search of peace and happiness." Immediately, Hodja’s wit sprang into action. Hodja snatched the bag and ran away quickly. The man followed him. After running for quite some distance, Hodja left the bag on the path and hid behind a tree. The exhausted wealthy man, who had been running far behind, picked up the bag lying on the road, hugged it to his chest happily and said, "Hooray! I got the money for my journey back!" Immediately, Hodja came out from behind the tree and walked towards him. He said, "You need money for everything. Didn't those few moments when you lost it allow you to experience a...

 Long ago, in the land of Silbaripuram, there lived a man named Purushothaman. Once, when people saw him carrying heavy loads to the market by himself, they said, "So sad! Look at his misery." Later, he bought a donkey to carry the loads. Seeing the donkey carrying the bags, the people said, "How lucky! He is finally relieved." However, after a few days, another donkey started following his donkey. When the villagers learned that Purushothaman had got another donkey for free, they said again, "What great luck he has!" But the new donkey was completely wild and untamed. When it kicked Purushothaman's son, the boy’s leg was broken. Hearing this, the neighbors said, "What a pity! That donkey brought nothing but bad luck into this house." Around that time, the royal drums sounded, announcing the recruitment of guards for the palace. Because of his broken leg, the son could not go. The moment the villagers heard this, they said, "Purushu'...

 In the kingdom of Silbaripuram, there were many small and large rocky terrains and hillsides. It was common for goats to wander through these slopes and rocks to graze on the vegetation. Whenever foxes from the forest approached through the valleys, the goats would quickly escape by leaping up into the high mountain ridges. One day, a nomad arrived in that land. Watching the goats effortlessly climb the steep rocks, he thought, "If only I could tame and raise one of them!" He began offering the goats their favorite leaves, and eventually, one goat grew fond of the nomad. Seeing this, the other goats scolded it: "Why do we need a human to find us food?" But the goat ignored them and muttered to itself, "This man is kind. I can get great food without having to do any hard work." Months passed, and the goat grew quite fat. It completely forgot how to climb the hills and rocks. However, because the nomad was always by its side, the foxes remained disappointed...