K. R. Sethuraman
6 Glamour versus Value The Stag at the Pool: A stag felt a sense of pride whenever he saw the reflection of his fine antlers on the surface of a pool. However, he felt ashamed at his slender legs. One day a lion attacked him, but the speed of his legs was more than a match
for that of the lion. Unfortunately, his antlers were caught in the branches of a dense forest and the lion pounced on him. The stag thought, "I despised my legs but
they almost saved my life. I glorified my horns and they have ruined me."
A) Palani, a rich elderly farmer was status-conscious and proud of his wealth. He
always consumed the best in the market, be it food, liquor, smoke or materials for a
comfortable living. One of his grouses was that the village lacked specialist doctors. He often used to taunt his family doctor, "Look at the great specialists available in the city.
We only have GPs like you in this village.� The family doctor used to say nothing in reply.
One night, while returning home after attending a wedding reception, Palani
developed retching, vomiting and stomach ache. He blamed the oily food served at the
reception for his current predicament. He ordered his driver to go to the city's top gastroenterology unit for emergency treatment. He was admitted for observation and
management. Emergency endoscopy was done and some medicines were given to him for symptom relief.
He went home the next day and had a massive attack with no chest pain but
stomach ache. His family doctor came to attend on him. When he recounted the
problems of the previous night, the doctor asked him, "Did you not tell the city doctors 20
