Story: The Clever King

Arich girl named Seeta lived in a small town called Ambikapur. Due to a great emergency, Seeta had to visit her mother in a distant town. In a large pot, Seeta put all her jewellery and filled the other half of the pot with olives and sent it to her friend Indira. Seeta didn’t tell Indira about the enormous wealth in the pot. She just told Indira to keep the pot safely as it was delicate and precious. On returning to Ambikapur after two years, Seeta immediately went to Indira’s house to fetch her pot. But on opening the pot, Seeta saw all her jewellery was gone! Infuriated, Seeta went to the court and accused indira of stealing her gold.

STORY

After an hour, the king ruled that Indira had indeed stolen Seeta’s gold! The ministers enquired how the king was so sure, the king said, “Seeta told me she had filled half the pot with her jewellery and the other half with olives at the time she left the pot with Indira, two years back! But when we opened the pot today, the olives were still raw! If Indira didn’t open the pot, the olives would have perished by now! Isn’t it simple?”

Distant: Far away Accuse: Blame

Crimes can’t be hidden for too long!

PICTURE STORY

A Tourist visited Ladakh for a trip. This is a conversation between the tourist and his local driver named Jigmet.

Tourist: What do you plan on doing after the tourist season has ended? How will you earn money? Jigmet: I plan on going to Siachen. There I will join the army as a loader.

Tourist: You mean you’ll join the army as a Jawan? Jigmet: No. This is a contract job. I cannot join the army as I’m already past the age limit.

Tourist: How will you go there? Jigmet: First, I will travel 265kms to Siachen Base camp, where my medical check-up will be done to see if I am fit enough. Then if I pass, the army will issue uniforms, shoes, warm clothing, helmet, etc. After that, we’ll climb mountains for 15 days to reach Siachen as there is no motorable road. We’ll work there for 3 months.

Tourist: What work will you do? Jigmet: I’ll work as a loader. I’ll carry the supplies airdropped in Siachen for the soldiers, from one chowki to another, on my back.

Tourist: Why doesn’t the army use any animals or vehicles for transporting? Jigmet: Siachen is a glacier, so usual vehicles will not work there and ice scooters make a lot of noise which attracts enemy attention and that can be dangerous. Animals cannot survive the cold as we are at an altitude of 18875 ft with -5O degrees C in winter. We go out quietly at night around 2 am and pick up loads and bring them back to the barracks.

Tourist: Aren’t you scared of getting hurt? Jigmet: We get paid 18OOO rupees per month. Since all expenses are taken care of, we can save upto 5OOO rupees in these three months. I need the money for my family, especially my daughter’s education.

Jigmet: Many of my friends have died by falling into the vast crevasses, or due to frostbite. Some have even been shot down by enemy bullets. But it is all worth it because I get to serve the army and my country, which is the best reward of all. It makes me feel proud to be an Indian.