On a dark night, a caravan stayed in the desert Sarai (man-made inn /large tent). The caravan had 100 camel. The herders tied the camels with ropes and pegs (khuti). But they found that one camel was left untied. They were somehow missing one rope and one peg. It was midnight and the shops were closed by then, so there was no way of getting a rope or peg at that hour. They went to the owner of the Sarai, woke him up and requested if he could spare a peg and a rope as they had misplaced one. They said that they could tie 99 of their camels, but the 100th one remained untied, it was a dark night and there was a possibility that the camel may wander off. The old man said “don’t be worried, I do not have any peg or rope but you guys are crazy that despite being camel herders for many years, you have not learned anything. Just go, dig the peg, tie the rope and tell the camel to sleep.”
Those irritated men said “are you crazy? If we had any peg or rope then why would we come to you? Which peg do we dig? With which rope do we tie the camel?
The old man laughed and said “You can just dig an imaginary peg and tie the camel with an imaginary rope. Go and act as if you are digging the peg and mimic as if you are tying a rope around the camel’s neck. It’s a dark night, one could mislead even men, this is just an animal. Go and do as I have said, tell the camel to sleep and it will. I have often seen my guests lose their ropes and pegs, but they have always managed without them, so trust me.”
No one trusted the old man but they had no option so they went and did what the old man had suggested; dug a whole, inserted the peg which was not there — only the sound of digging was heard. The camel sat down as he heard the sound of digging as per everyday’s routine, they acted as if they were tying the rope around his neck, the rope which was not there. The camel went to sleep.
They were very confused and surprised, but they too slept. They got up early as the caravan had to travel in the morning. They removed the ropes of those 99 camels, removed the pegs and the camels got up. As the 100th camel was not actually tied, they didn’t bother to remove it’s peg or untie his rope; they expected him to get up, but the camel didn’t get up. They pushed him and tried all possible ways to make him get up, but in vein. They were shocked that last night it was understandable but even in bright daylight, the camel was not getting up! They kept on pushing but the camel didn’t budge.
They went in and asked the old man if he did any magic on the camel that he was refusing to get up.
The old man simply asked “Did you remove the peg? Untie the rope?” But the men said “we would, provided there were a peg or a rope. There were none.”
Old man said, “do exactly what you did at night — remove the peg, untie the rope.”
They were helpless so without further argument, they went and made some noise as if they were removing the peg; the camel stood up. They untied the invisible rope and camel was ready to go.
They all went back to the old man, thanked him and said “you were truly great, you have deep knowledge and insight about camels. The old man smiled and said, “no no, I did not find an answer of this situation by studying camels, I was able to suggest this by knowing the human mind and behaviour.”
Man is tied up with such pegs which are non-existent and with such ropes which are not there. Throughout his life he remains stuck with it and keeps screaming ‘I can’t get up…I am tied down with my limitations, circumstances, responsibilities….I am feeling weak….helpless……dependent….how do I free myself? I have no resources. I am not from IIT, I am not from IIM. I have an idea but no funding, I am a finance guy, can’t do marketing, I am a techie, can’t understand balance sheet, I am SME from Tier II city, so much of competition all around…how can I grow global? I need freedom, AAAAhhhhhhhh.” He screams….and without moving from his position, he says “how do I unplug these pegs and untie these ropes? “
The best way is to observe and see if those pegs are there, if those pegs are real? or is it just an illusion, an imagination. Once you see the obvious, then there is no need to untie or uproot…some have been successful but in fact, WE ALL CAN BE.
(inspired by Osho)
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किसी दिन ज़िंदगानी में करिश्मा क्यूँ नहीं होता ?
मैं हर दिन जाग तो जाता हूँ ज़िंदा क्यूँ नहीं होता ?? — Rajesh Reddy
Kisi din zindagani me karishma kyun nahin hota?
Mein har din jaag jata hun, zinda kyun nahin hota? — Rajesh Reddy
Why do miracles not happen in my life some day?
I wake up every day, but why do I not feel alive?