Ways of life

A person with a depressed face asks a sage
"Haven't thou gone through a flaw?
I'm the only one filled with problems all over my head"
continues the man with rage.

As calm and serene as he is,
The sage replies with a kind face,
"Each and every person has a problem
No matter where he or she is"

"Prove me this oh dear sage,
If you think that your evidence is right,
I've got a few friends, who don't have any worries,
And we are of the same age"

"They have worries , they have flaws,
Maybe a quarrel or a dispute,
Or a case of bad health ,
Or bigger things like getting cheated from a bank or a business loss"

"Try to get a grain of rice from the house which has no problems" says the sage.
"That's a piece of cake for me Oh dear sage; I'll get you two pounds"
In a minute or two, he set off
to get a grain of rice from the nearby village.
He went to the first hut and asked a man for a grain of rice
Equally depressed as he was, he walked away sadly,
His brother comes and tells him the truth of his brother's sadness,
That all their grains were destroyed by the rains

He then goes to a farmer's hut
and asks him for the same
But to his disappointment, the farmer replies and tells "I cannot find the key of the storage room
and the door of the room is shut."

"The rice in our hut is empty and all the sacks of rice are in the storage room,
I'm helpless as the key is lost
But never mind, I'll try to get a sack of rice by noon"
Said the farmer and went to his room

The man then goes to a washerwoman's house,
"Don't you have any problem ma'am? I need a grain of rice." He asks.
"Sorry young man, I cannot afford to give you", She replies
"As every single bit was eaten up by a mouse"

He goes to all the houses and asks them for the same
But comes back depressed out of the houses
And could not keep up his word
As he did not get a grain of rice to his name.

He goes back to the sage and tells him what happened
The sage in a calm face, starts explaining,
"Life is full of problems and sorrows, but you must learn to face them in a calm way"
The man understands and thanks the sage and feels that a raw mango has now ripened.

The man then could face problems in the right way
With coolness, intellect and calmness
He kept the sage's words in his mind throughout his life
A lesson learnt forever to stay.