Remembering the relevance of what Kumari Balakrishnan taught

रे रे चातक सावधानामनसा मित्र क्षणम् श्रूयताम्
अम्बॊदा बहवॊहि सन्ति गगने सर्वेपि नैताद्रुश:
कॆचित् व्रुष्टिभिरार्द्रयन्ति वसुधा, गर्जन्ति केचित् व्रुथा
यम् यम् पश्यसि तस्य तस्य पुरतो मा ब्रूहि दीनम् वच:

Thus taught Kumari Balakrishnan while we were in Class 8th of the MCC in 1977. This shloka means something like this:

A mythical bird called the chataka drinks water in a peculiar way because it has a hole in its throat. If it drinks water the conventional way, the water spills out of this hole. So it waits for the rains, and then, when it rains, it flies upside down so that water enters through its throat and becomes useful to quench its thirst. Now this bird, when it is thirsty, runs from cloud to cloud begging for it to rain, so that it can satisfy its thirst. The poet advises the chataka thus: Hey chataka bird! listen to me with a cool mind for a moment. There are many clouds in the sky. Some drench the Earth with showers, but some some thunder in vain. So oh chataka, do not detail your grief before each and every one you meet without knowing their nature.

What a great piece indeed! If only all of us understand everything that our teachers teach us and follow them verbatim!! Wouldn't this be a heaven on earth? But we dont. We write posts like "A dilemma and a request for advice " and get upset when guys stop visiting our blogs! In 2007 "Jo jeeta woh Sikandar, jo Haara woh Bandar"