Shon Mehta

  The Girl Who Asked Why: A Story on Gender Equality & Intellectual Freedom This story happened really long time back, but it is still very  relevant .  Girls were taught to cook, to take care of the family, and then married off. Studying was off-limits to girls.  In those times, there lived a girl. She was a little different.  She always had  lots of questions in her mind.  When she was little, her mother wanted her to learn cooking. The girl asked her mother, “Why should I learn to cook?” Mother said, “So that you can feed yourself when required.” The girl asked her mother, “Why should I learn to cook?” Mother said, “So that you can feed yourself when required.” The girl said “Fair enough”, and learned to cook. After some time, her mother wanted to teach her household work. The girl again asked, “Why?” Mother said “So that you can be self-dependent.” The  girl said “Fair enough!”, and she learned the household ...

  A man went to meet a monk. “I need your help.” “What is it?” the monk asked. “I spent all my life helping others. I tried to do good, as much as I could. But then, just once, I did a bad deed. Now everyone has forgotten my good deeds, and they think that I am a bad person." The monk thought for a while, and then picked a large vessel and started pouring water in it by using a small mug. Every time monk poured a mug of clear water in the vessel, he said “See, you did a good deed.” After ten-fifteen mugs, suddenly the monk picked some mud and dropped it into the water, saying “See, now you did a bad deed.” Water in the vessel was now all muddy. “You did good, you did good again. But then, you did bad, and suddenly you were never any good.” Said the monk. The man understood. He was disappointed. “So, there is no solution. Everyone is going to think I am a bad person, forever. Just because of my one act.” The monk did not  answer. He kept pouring more water in th...

Ti Li  was proud of his helpful nature. He helped people, whenever he felt they needed any. It didn't matter for Ti Li, if they asked for the help or not. As Ti Li was a wealthy man, he could afford doing so. One day, while travelling through the village, Ti Li saw a curious sight.  A man was swimming across a water stream, to get to the small island with fruit trees. The man reached the island and collected the fruits from one of the trees in a bag. Then, he swam back with the bag. Ti Li watched in amazement at the tremendous effort man was going through. Ti Li felt pity for the man, and decided to surprise him. Overnight, Ti Li hired construction workers, and built a small bridge between the island and the village. Next day Ti Li went to the bridge. The same man was sitting near the bridge, with despair on his face. Ti Li was very surprised. "Why you look sad. Look at the bridge. It has saved your effort. Now every time, you don't need to swim to get to the island."...

 

  Once, a little boy decided to go into the jungle to gather fruits for his family. On his way, he had a hard time navigating the rough terrain, and fell into a trench. After a lot of effort, he managed to climb out of it. From then on, he started avoiding that path to the jungle and always took a longer route instead. Many years passed, and the little boy grew into a young man. One day, a friend decided to join him on his trip to the jungle. As usual, the young man picked the longer route. Surprised, his friend asked, "Why are we going this way?" The young man replied, "The other path is too difficult. I was hurt badly once, and have always avoided it since." His friend said, "Let's give it another try." The young man relented. As they proceeded along the shorter path, they encountered a few hurdles but crossed them easily and reached the jungle much quicker. "Wasn't too hard, was it?" the friend said. The young man looked confused. ...