Thursday, June 10, 2010

CAN WE PLEASE EVERYONE?

Once an elderly washerman went to cattle fair with his grandson. There he bought a sturdy looking donkey. On the way back to their village they lead the donkey while walking little ahead.

Some persons passed them from opposite direction and muttered, “ Look at these fools. They are walking while they have a good donkey to ride.” So the old man told his young grandson to ride the donkey while he lead them.

Little ahead they met another group of persons who said, “ How disrespectful of this lad, he is riding in comfort while making old man walk.” So young boy got down from donkey and made his grandfather ride.

Again some passers by commented, “ This old man is so selfish and heartless, he is riding in comfort making young boy walk.” So old man asked his grandson to also sit on the donkey alongwith him.

When they had gone some distance, they heard some persons passing by saying, “ Oh! How cruel these persons are. They are both riding the poor donkey without any care for it.”

So, remember it is not easy to please everyone. One should do what conscience allows.

21 comments:

Sakshi said...

Thank you Uncle J and you know why.

ash89 said...

Thats a great story. It truly is impossible to please everyone.

Ramit Grover said...

Ha! Good one. Thanks for sharing.

Ellen said...

Hi Jack,

Yes, the wisdom in this post is a gem. Somebody long ago told me a similar story narrated with his own unique cultural flavor. The message still rings true whatever the time, clime, and rhyme.

You're a huge well of wisdom from which so many grateful hearts quench their thirst with. God bless you.

Rashi said...

so very true Uncle J.you just can't do that...thats how life tries telling every now n then...

and many Thanks for the B'day wishes. It feels nice :)

Take gud care..

Killer Drama said...

yeah! exactly.. you just can't please the entire world. there will always be people who will find some fault or the other and comment/judge

so its better to do what the heart says is right. alwaysbetter!

Manish said...

Apologies Jack , for being little bit critical and therefore diagnostic on this oft-told story.I intend to being a new end to it now. :-

Points of observation are that all the passers-by were correct within their moral rights to have remarked what they saw. And the bigger point, of logic-derivation, is that it is truely foolish to walk on foot while there is a donkey alongside.
Every man, even when he has difficulties pleasing all the people, should bear the burden of striving to please everyone. We cannot live life in isolation doing only what pleases to us.
Therefore a need to explore some middle path , or a new path is nessacitated.
What can be done in the example is that the entire episode should be popularied in the fabric of the society so that slowly everyone begins to appreciate the challenge and start accepting the terms of adjusted life-leading.
I mean, once people appreciate the problem in a more objective way, the old man can arrange to turn-by-turn ride the donkey as also take in-between rest so as to rest the donkey also while on their way. That way , the target can be achieved, that of avoiding the extreme foolishness of having a donkey alongside and still walking on foot.!

I work on ships and have often faced ths problem with my captains and my juniors. In the the example-story which u wrote, how do u know the feelings of that young boy who might be of the opinion that neither the old father is himself riding, noe letting him ride the donkey! Therefore, there is still one unconvincied party who will continue to press the old man to take some measures. A balanced evaluation is necessary.

Misty Michelle said...

I LOVE this! It is so true. Stay true to yourself and love the people around you.. thats the best you can do :)

Jack said...

SAKSHI :

You are always welcome. There is no need to be formal or shy in asking. Take care


ASH :

It is not an easy task to please everyone. So one should not keep in mind just to plaeas others but do what is right as per own conscience. Take care


T B G :

Nice to see you back. I will visit you soon. Take care


ELLEN :

I am so grateful for your supportive views. All I try is to see if someone is benefitted by sharing my experiences. It is so nice of some youngsters to bestow so much of affection by addressing me as Uncle. Take care


RASHI :

As I said one should not worry about what others would think or say but do his or her duty as per own conscience. Hope you liked e-card. Take care


C D :

If you follow what you say here, you will never have any problems in your life. Take care


MANU :

I am so grateful that you devoted so much of time to analyse it and give your valuable views. I agree that they could take turns for riding or give adequate rest to donkey but how would the people know that as everytime it is different set of persons who meet and see what is going on. So they will comment on what they see and not what was being done. And if the young boy wanted to ride, I am sure he would have told his grandfather. If we try to please all, we end up pleasing none. One should not do anything with this in mind that would the seniors or juniors be pleased with his or her actions. One should carry out his duties with clear conscience that he or she has done what was the best as per situation and his or her capabilities. Take care

Jack said...

MISTY :

Your views came up when I was replying to others. So here I am with you now. I feel so glad to see you here. And for such supportive views in such a simple but expressive language. Hope you have read my older post too. I look forward to your views on those also. Take care

Pramoda Meduri said...

:) hi uncle, thats an apt example i'd say..suits the title alot..
one shall do what he wants and loves by applying commonsense.. own decisions always help, and one shall notm ind whats the feedback would be...

nice post..and thanks for sharing..:)

Maria said...

tx or sharing this nice peice..so true!

Jack said...

PRAMODA :

True,one should do his or her duty truthfully without worrying about what others will say. Take care


MARIA :

I do feel we should be free from this stress about what will others say if we do not do something wrong but our duty with proper application of mind. Take care

BROKEN STAR (bck agn) said...

really nice story...nd soooooo true...u can't plz every1...thnks 4 sharin jack sir..tak cre

Komal Ali said...

First of all thanks so much for dropping by at my blog :) I'd love to have someone like you read my blog, Mr. J!

Coming to the post, I've learned it the hard way. My grandparents told me this story a million times when I was a kid, and I didn't really pay attention to its meaning. I was too engrossed in the barbies perhaps.

Now, when I've grown into an 18 years old lady, I've come to realize how true it is. All my efforts to please everyone go in vain. It's just NOT possible to make all them happy at the same time.

Take care :)

PS:- I'd love your comments, suggestions, ideas, or just anything.

Jack said...

B S :

I feel that if anyone is benefited by my ramblings, I would have achieved something worthwhile in my life. Take care


KOMAL :

Welcome to my space. Looking forward to hear you views on my older posts too. When we are young, our interests are different and it is only later that we realise we missed so much of learning from our elders when we fail in difficult situations which we could have avoided had we heeded to them. I can see from your writings, you are sensible and will do well in life. Take care

Jack said...

B S :

I feel that if anyone is benefited by my ramblings, I would have achieved something worthwhile in my life. Take care


KOMAL :

Welcome to my space. Looking forward to hear you views on my older posts too. When we are young, our interests are different and it is only later that we realise we missed so much of learning from our elders when we fail in difficult situations which we could have avoided had we heeded to them. I can see from your writings, you are sensible and will do well in life. Take care

Ritika said...

It is not possible to please everyone.. and I truly believe in this, neither we have to, nor we can!!

jack uncle, u r a pleasure to read..!~

Jack said...

RITIKA :

I am so glad to see you here. I always maintain that one should follow own conscience and do what one feels is righ without worrying about what will people think or say. Did you get driving licence or not? If not, I will be happy to do whatever I can without bribes to see that you get it. You can reach me on my id in profile.

Take care

Ritika said...

I havnt got that till nw, totally pissed.. don't even feel like going der..!! :((

Jack said...

RITIKA :

Please do not have any formalities, if you wish I will try to do something but without bribing.

Take care