The Miser Old Woman ( Indian Folktale)

                                                                                

Once upon a time an old woman lived in a village. She was  wealthy but was very clever and miser. She lived alone in an old hut and never allowed anyone to enter her hut. Though she was getting weaker day by day due to old age but did not have any servant or other helping hand and used to do all the household work by herself.
She had only one thing in her mind.....
'' If I allow someone to enter my house the person will steal away  all my money and I will get poor.'' 
                                             

One day a young man from other village came to the old woman's village and he heard about that woman from the villagers.
The young man thought that how good it would be for him if he succeeded in getting a good share of the old woman's wealth by any means.
Next day he went to old woman's house and knocked the door .
''Who is there'' ? ,asked the woman. 
''I am a relative of yours" ,the young man replied.
 ''Why have you come here?'' ,old woman asked again .
 I heard that you are living alone and it is not good for you to live alone in this old age so I decided to stay here and  look after you.
The woman did not allow him to come in but he started to live in the compound of the house.
Many days passed like that and one day the old woman got sick and she called the young man in the house as she had no one else to look after her.
The young man served the woman like her own child, she became so pleased with him that she allowed him to stay with her.
After some time the illness of the woman worsened.

                                             
Now she knew that she was going to die soon , she called the young man and said to him, '' Son, I want to tell you my last wish , that when my body will be placed on the pyre please burn my pillow with my body."
Two days later, the woman died. The young man did exactly what the  woman had asked him to do. He burnt the huge pillow with her.
After completing the funeral and rituals he rushed to the old woman's hut and started searching madly for the money.
He searched here, 
he searched there,
he searched everywhere.
But the young man didn't find a single penny.
So where was the money? Well, it was in the pillow which was burnt with the old woman.
 Ah ! all the efforts of the young man failed.
                                                                      Indian folktale
                                                                      Re-told by-Aunt Mary

        You might also like another beautiful Indian folktale 
                          The crazy old woman and the sky

Humbleness ( Poem)

                         
                          ''It is believed that humbleness....
                          is a sign of wisdom and greatness..
                          and a person with lack of humility..
                          is just an example of absurdity..
                         better for us to be a wise one,
                         rather than being a foolish person.''

                                                     -Aunt Mary  

                                                                         
                                              

Mommy I want to stay with you ! ( Short Story )

The little three years old girl was going to school for the first time. It was her first time when she was getting apart from her mother. School was not very far away from her home , it was at walking distance. The little girl's mother was walking, holding her daughter in her arms. The girl was continuously crying and telling her mother, '' Mommy I don't want to go to school.I just want to stay with you.''

"But my dear , you will have a lot of fun there, you know, there are toys and swings in the school.", said the mother.

Girl did not stop crying, ''No I don't want to play with toys I want to be with you."
 

Mother again tried  to calm down the child, ''You know baby, there are many children like you , you can play with them."

Girl started crying more, "No, mommy no I don't want to go there I have to stay with you."

They reached the school, the little girl did not want to leave her mother at any cost ,she was crying and only crying. Somehow the class teacher succeeded in making the little girl calm and convinced her to go to the class.

Mother returned home with a very heavy heart.Though she was busy with her household chores but her heart wasn't in them, it was with her daughter. She was watching the clock again and again and she could not wait to get her daughter back after the school.
At last the time came when her daughter's school was over.
The restless mother reached the school and picked her little daughter. The girl hugged her mother tightly. On the way to home the little girl said to her mom.....
''Mommy I will not go to the school again''. 
"Why baby, wasn't the school good ?", Mother asked .
"It was good , but I don't want to go there again."
"Were the children in your class bad ?", Mommy asked .
''No they were also good, but I will not go to school!", replied the little child.
She held her mom's face in her small hands and said with teary eyes "I don't want to go any where!",  I just want to stay with you!"

Do you know who is the girl in the story? Well my youngest daughter is the little girl of this story and the mother is obviously me.
My  daughter is 14 years old teenage girl now and she studies in 9th standard . This is a sweet and emotional memory of her childhood and as a mother I can't forget those moments.

                            A very very happy Mother's day!!
                                                                                                       -Aunt Mary
                                                                                          

    

Some interesting facts about '' LAUGHING BUDDHA''

                                                 
 You all must be familiar with the statue of  fat, smiling and happy  "Laughing Buddha''. It is believed that if someone keeps and displays the statue of laughing Buddha at home or at business place, it brings luck and prosperity for them. Laughing Buddha is also known as ''happy man''

In this post I am sharing some interesting facts about laughing Buddha.
1. Most People believe that Laughing Buddha is the statue of Lord  Gautam Buddha, the  founder of Buddhism but the fact is that the character of laughing Buddha is believed to be based on ancient Buddhist Chinese monk who lived in an old cave more than 1000 years ago. 

                                                           

2. Laughing Buddha is known as '' Hotei'' in Japan and Pu-Tai in China.

                                               
3.According to a legend,if anyone rubs the belly of Laughing Buddha it brings good fortune, cheerfulness and wealth.

                                                
4.There is a belief that Laughing Buddha is so happy because his tolerance level is very high and he doesn't hold any grudge or hatred against  anyone. 

                                                 
5. In China people also believe that Laughing Buddha is the protector of children as well as the poor and the week. He carries a bag full of sweets and toys for children and he is often pictured with children.

                                                
What I like about Laughing Buddha is that he always smiles and laughs and inspires us to be happy and cheerful all the time.

                                                                     

                                          

                                                

The Shooting Star ( Poem )

Look  there , in the sky,
A shooting star saying goodbye,

It's coming down,falling from height,
Leaving behind a streak of light,

We for a while, can see that line,
For some more time,can feel star's shine.
                                                                 -Aunt Mary
                                                              

A Young man's wish (Chinese folktale)

Once there was an old man who lived in a cave. The old man was so intelligent and knowledgeable .People believed that the old man got some magical powers and he was able to solve their problems. 

One day a young man came to visit the old man. 
"What is the purpose of your visit ",asked the old man.
''O my respected elder , I have a wish ,will you please grant my wish?" , said the young man.
''What is your wish ?", the old man asked.
"Sir, I want to help the needy people for my whole life.I want to serve the human kind."

"Oh! that is very noble wish, I am giving you a magic box it will help you to make your wish come true'', said the old man.
''Thank you so much sir, I am really grateful to you.", the happy young man said.
''But keep in mind , that you must open this box only after reaching home'', the old man warned the man. 

On the way to home out of curiosity the young man opened the magic box. And guess what ? He immediately turned into a coconut tree. 
But his wish still came true as the coconut tree is very useful and has a lot of benefits for human kind.
                                               Chinese Folktale
                                           Re-told by-Aunt Mary

Stay Away From Unnecessary Criticism

This had happened with me a few years ago when I met a person who made my condition serious by her behavior. She was my neighbor and the wife of my husband's senior colleague.We lived in the same building. I do not want to disclose her name so I will call her Mrs.X  here. The lady was suffering from a disease called 'Humiliating other people by unnecessary criticism'. Though I could not recognize her disease in the beginning and took her and her criticism seriously and in a very genuine way. 

I remember that it was a small get together of ladies at my house.I   served the sweets and snacks which I had made after long hours of devoted cooking. While everyone was enjoying eating the items I
cooked and liked them a lot, dear Mrs.X asked after having four or five of them, '' Have you made these Laddoos (Indian sweet) with rice flour!? It is not having the taste of Laddoo.''(with a facial expression of 'you have made a huge mistake!')  

I was feeling very bad that I served such bad Laddoos for my distinguished guest and was filled with guilt though I didn't make the laddoos with rice flour. This was the first time when I was victimized by Mrs.X.
One day she met me at the school where my kids studied .She was there to get the admission form for her niece. I went to school to pickup my youngest daughter ,I was just five minutes late because I had to withdraw some cash and as the A.T.M machine was not working well , I got late by a few minutes. 'And that was my horrible  mistake.'
''You should have come on time, you are late, it will leave a negative impact on your daughter. She will never understand the importance of time in future.'', said Mrs.X .

 "How bad I was as a mother , I was ruining my own child!'' , I was catching the disease!
  

My next encounter with the respected lady was when we met at a wedding, This time I had made the mistake of  appreciating the beauty of the bride, ''Look at her, she is looking stunning!'' I said to Mrs.X , pointing out towards the bride . 
''I don't think so...", Mrs.X said , "Look at her hair , what has she done  with it! , it is looking like she has got a mountain on her head!" .
This time I really felt bad , I felt bad for the poor bride because she was really looking beautiful.

After that meeting I realized that Mrs.X had a habit to criticize other people in order to demean them. Later I came to know from my friends that Mrs.X behaved in this way with everybody and that is why people who knew her well didn't take her seriously. After that I had many encounters with Mrs.X but I was determined not to take her criticism seriously. 

Now when I remember those encounters with Mrs.X , a smile comes on my face remembering how foolish I was that I became a victim of a person like Mrs.X.

So my friends, one thing we must have in our minds that healthy criticism is good for us and we should welcome it. But unnecessary criticism is not worthy of being accepted.   
                                           - Aunt Mary