A bowl of rice

I was reading a story to my son and realized that I was reading this story after years. It is an interesting story which I am sure you would have read and when I read it after gap of decades, it struck me hard.

The story is about Kubera – the lord of wealth and family of gods – Shiva, Parvati and their son Ganesha. One fine day Kubera decided to show off his wealth to Shiva and Parvati. So, he invited them for lunch. The almighty Shiva exactly knew why he was invited and refused politely – “Why don’t you take little Ganesha instead – he really relishes good food!”. Little disappointed Kubera agreed. Riding on his golden chariot along with Ganesha, Kubera thought ‘Hmmmm…. Actually it is good that little Ganesha is coming over. Being a child, he will get impressed even more!’……… As they reached home, Kubera offered the best seat in the dining hall to Ganesha and beckoned his servants to bring over the food. Little Ganesha started devouring the food as it was brought and his appetite surprised Kubera – ‘Hmmm – lord Shiva was right, little Ganesha really likes the food’………. As Ganesha went on for over an hour, there was a panic in the kitchen. The Head cook whispered in the ears of Kubera “Master not only the cooked food, but even the supplies are over”. As they chatted Ganesha yelled “where is the food, I am hungry”. When he realized that the food was over, he got really annoyed “That’s not fair, I’ll now start eating everything that I see” and he took a bite of the golden plate! Kubera was extremely scared and ran to Shiva and Parvati to narrate the whole story. As they heard him patiently Parvati brought over a small bowl of rice “Take this and give it to Ganesha. He will be alright” Little worried with the small size of the rice bowl, Kubera reached his palace. Ganesha was extremely angry by then and he was living up to his promise! Little scared by the scene, Kubera politely offered the little bowl of rice cooked by Parvati. Ganesha took the bowl and started eating. By the time he finished the bowl he felt very heavy and full – so much so that he just could manage to eat the last morsel in the bowl.

I had read this story as a lesson taught to pompous Kubera. But as I read it after the years, it had a whole new dimension. We all have a Kubera in us – it’s the ambition. Of course ambition is good and drives us to achieve great heights – gets us our place of honor…… But there comes a point where ambition also drives us over that thin line that separates honor from pride……. As the pride takes over the joy of belittling someone overtakes the contentment of achievements…….. Pride knows no boundaries and often invites self-destruction as Kubera found out……. It took only a small bowl of rice cooked by Parvati to calm down the storm invited by Kubera’s pride ……. It was those few morsels of rice cooked with pure love that could calm down the un-satiated hunger ……. As our ambition drives us hard, we all need to find our little bowls of rice …….. it could be that little daily chat with the family…… banter with old friends …… solace of a book or a melody …… Our little bowl of rice always reminds us the importance of peace, contentment in midst of a raging competition fought by our ambition……