Abhyudaya 2007 - See the Big Picture! Theme for IFMR's National Level Management Festival.

Unruffled by his friends’ malicious laughter,
The disciple pulled back the sling and took another aim.
What began as a pastime for plucking fruits from a tree,
Had transformed into a mocking game.

Six times he had tried, to bring down the fruit,
As it precariously hung at a branch on the tree.
While others had required a single attempt at similar fruits,
He had missed half a dozen times to the audience’s glee.

This time he was determined, to knock down the nasty fruit,
And glance back at the gang with a triumphant smile.
With a final prayer to God, he let go of the stone,
Hoping the rock would salvage his sinking profile.

The stone seared through the air, leaves and branches,
Rising higher and higher with determined spirit.
But on approaching the fruit, it suddenly stopped short,
Plummeting down the entire summit.

All the other disciples burst into peals of laughter,
As the belligerent stone touched the monastery floor.
The crowd gradually dispersed mocking at the disciple,
He felt a lump in his throat as his eyes turned sore.

Sitting at the tree embraced in loneliness,
The crumbled disciple pitifully cried.
He looked up at the heavens and shouted back to God,
“You have not blessed me, although I have tried?”

As he said these words he saw a hermit stand before him,
Looking down at him with smiling eyes.
Gently the old hermit pointed at the fruit,
Waiting for the disciple to soon realize.

As the disciple looked up into the tree’s foliage,
He saw a tiny fledgling nibbling at the fruit.
“By not dislodging the fruit from its position my son,
You have fed an innocent creature.” the hermit rebuked.

“We all get carried away by our own myopic perceptions,
Ignoring reality that looms at large.

We stay confined within a droplet of water,
When the gates of the dam have already discharged.”

“Always see the big picture my son!
That is one universal rule you must always comply.
Cause what the caterpillar calls the end of life
The Master calls a butterfly!”

--Nitin Varma

08 January 2007