Birbal explains :How to tell 'your strengths and weakness'

        INTERVIEW-PART.6 

               Birbal was back from an important meeting with Akbar. He was very tired. Unexpectedly there was a guest waiting for him at the house. Birbal’s wife announced the evening menu and further informed “A boy has come here five hours ago. He is still waiting. So I gave him some food  and then snacks.”

“Who is it? Did you tell anything?”

“No. Finish your snacks and then go” curtly came the order. Birbal washed his face and chanted his evening prayers very quietly. He ate the tasty refreshments and went to the guest room to meet the newcomer.

“Birbalji, salaam alayukkum. I am Naushad. You have to help me. The interview is due in five days for the post of junior ministers. Please train me, Sir. My entire family will be thankful to you.”

Birbal, at that moment, understood that this was the young man recommended by Khan.

“What do you want, my son?”

“Please teach me how to attend an interview? My aim is to join our King’s court.”

“you are the nephew of Khan. Isn’t it? Then you are like my own son. Don’t worry. I will train you this week for the interview successfully. First let me know your strengths and weakness. This will help me a lot to shape you.”

“Oh…It is really difficult to tell my weakness. I know horse riding. I am an expert in archery. I can manage an elephant in wars. But one thing which I can call my weakness is: I am very much uncomfortable with questions like this. But I know I can’t obviously announce this as my weakness. How can I manage, then?”

Listening to this, Khan, the courtier entered “If you want a job, face the questions? Else go back to your village. Do you know what type of questions we have to face everyday?

Let me tell you, my son. Birbal and I visited Persia last month. We had been never there before.  Do you know what happened there?”

He narrated:

‘There were eight people on the throne. All were almost identical. One among them was the genuine king. A minister welcomed Birbal and us telling “Birbal, you have to find out the real King.”

Birbal immediately told “Sure I will abide by the King’s order. But one thing

surprises me. In our country if somebody sits on the throne, he will be immediately beheaded.” Saying this Birbal started looking at all the eight.

 Then he bowed to the seventh person and submissively requested “Your majesty, my salutations!”

The seventh man who was the authentic king stood astonished and replied “Welcome, Birbal, the wisest. How did you uncover the truth?”

“It was easy. All of you were very still and statue like in your posture. But the one magic word –beheaded- changed things. Except yours, all the seven pairs of eyes began showing restlessness with a shadow of fear, though, otherwise unmoving. On the other hand, your eyes were fearless, peaceful and looking amused.”

“Great, you won.” was the happy response of the Persian King.’

Khan finished the story.

“Now think Naushad, it is the presence of mind which saved us. Birbal did not hate or fear questions. But he used them to sharpen his thinking further. He looked for solutions. That should be the attitude.”

Birbal interfered “So, Naushad, listen. If I were you, my answer for ‘strengths and weakness’ would be: I have proficiency in horse riding, martial arts and Persian language. I have won several contests in these areas. My weakness is fear for the great and respected people..not about battle field. Now in front of all people like you, I am afraid to speak. However I will surely overcome this negative quality.”

Khan encouragingly told “Naushad, Look at your words. Compare. How the same sentence is  cleverly changed by Birbal!”

“Naushad, sometimes you need not tell your negative side  if it has nothing to do with your job. If it is serious enough to affect directly the day to day duties of the office, you must accept them and tell them how you will try to overcome those faults. Persistence never fails. We can change if we think so and start changing.”

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Note on ‘Ago and Before’:

Ago     : From now; Example:- I heard a police siren five minutes ago. ( From this minute 5 minutes ago)

                   We can use it to explain a time from the point  ‘now’ that is present moment.

Before: usually used to explain a past from past. ‘Last night’ is past.

              Last night I met our ex-president.

             (PAST)

              Before that I never had a chance to meet him.

              (Before last night-goes into past-beyond last night) means: Before last night I never met
                        ex-president.

What is the difference between “I am a teacher and I am working as a teacher’ ?

What would be your reaction if you had a chance of meeting with Birbal, Akbar, Tenali and Mullah eating pizza at the Seaview Hotel? Shocking? Unbelievable! But I had such an experience. Were they ghosts or Artists?

Wait.

Let me unfold my experience.

‘At the Seaview Hotel, there was Tenali Raman. Next to him was the wise Mullah. Akbar the Great and Birbal were as usual in serious discussion sitting opposite to each other.

I was astonished at this sight. What were these people doing? Where had they come from? Were they not dead? Was it my own imagination? Were they cinema actors directly from a shooting spot? No answers.

I watched them with a new interest. A bearer came and served them  pizza. By now I was convinced that these people might be drama actors or cine artists. I tried to move towards them. But I could not. Something drew me back. But I introduced myself shouting “Hey, I am Saketram. I am working as a teacher in English. What are you doing?”

A swift retort came “I am sitting here.” Reply seemed to have come from Akbar.Though I had doubts about my presence of mind, still I could feel the teasing tone

“What are you doing? Tell me.” This time I throw the question to Mullah. We could never expect a reasonable answer from this man of irony. What I expected was, just, what was his job.

 Mullah smiled at me “My dear friend, Open your eyes. I am talking to Tenali Raman.”


 Confused and irritated, I turned to Birbal.. “What are you doing?”

 “We are all sleeping? Don’t you see?” It was a pure sneer. There was a mockery in his tone.

I started doubting “How a sleeping man could tell that he is sleeping!” They were all actually sitting around a conference table. I felt let down like a fool when my simple question was not attended to.’

“Open your eyes and see!” someone familiar shouted at me in a high pitch. I brought my hands to my eyes but there were nothing except two hollow holes. Where were those eyes with which I had seen all these grand persona of History? With those hollow holes I began looking for my eyes around me so that I could have them back in my socket. (Don’t look for logic) Suddenly I could see nothing. It was complete darkness. I shuddered. I was horrified; terrified; scared and alarmed!

A soothing chill air along with a drizzle from the far…far away window attempted to bring me out of this bewilderment.

At last, with great difficulty I opened my eyes. My wife was spraying water on my face. The sight brought me back to my senses.I think that i was sleeping and dreaming. I became very alert.

She shouted “Are you dreaming? Blabbering something about Birbal. Don’t read too much in the night.If something goes wrong, don’t expect me to come to any Mental Hospital accompanying you.” As usual she never cared for my reply and promptly moved to attend her kitchen chores.

It was an immense relief to know that my meeting with Tenali, Akbar, Birbal and Mullah

was only a dream. I was really happy to have my eyes and sight back.( If you had such disorderly dreams, you might also feel the same relief)

I thought over the dream; Took notes to share them with you.

Actually my intention was to know their jobs by asking “What are you doing?” That is how most people ask.

If you ask me “what are you doing?”  My natural reply is “I am working as a teacher.”

But it is wrong.

When one wants to know about the occupation or job, the standard question should be:

                     What do you do?   (Not: what are you doing?)

And I realized that is why our old friends had answered: “I am sitting; I am talking to Tenali etc…" which frustrated me endlessly at that point in time. 

Well, what can I say; Akbar, Birbal, Tenali and Mullah drove home their point even in my dreams!

Note:

What are you doing? (A Present Continuous question)

You have to tell what you are doing now.

That was how those wise old people answered; they reported what they were doing at that point of time:

  I am sitting;

  We are eating;

   I am talking to Tenali etc. (All are true at that point of time)

The two main points of present progressive are:

1.      It tells about actions going on now.

2.      The action should be temporary in nature with a start and end.

Examples:

I am working as a clerk in a bank. (Means: work is temporary)

I am reading now. (Started a little ago and soon will finish)

He is eating pizza.

Next time when you would like to know anyone’s job, please ask “What do you do?”. 

When you are asked, reply “I am a banker. (Permanent)

He is a teacher; she is an analyst; I am a business man.”
Do not use Present continuous.

When to tell ?What to tell? How to tell? A Tenali guide

Delhi Sultan gave a grand welcome to the peace group led by King Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagar. War is devastating! The kings understood this. So they called for a meeting of friendship. Everybody was happy. Poets, intellectuals, ministers and singers formed the group for peace. Both the Kings enjoyed the company of these aesthetic people. On listening to Mahabharat from Vijaynagar group, Adil Sha, Delhi’s sultan, requested the poets to rewrite Mahabharat. It should project him as hero. On listening to this strange wish, everybody got shocked. If King Krishna Devaraya’s council would fail to rewrite Mahabharat, there might be a war again resulting in loss and complete annihilation of peace and happiness of common people on all sides.

Krishna Devaraya called an emergency meeting of the ministers and asked for a solution. Nobody could offer any convincing suggestion.

Tenali Raman stood up “Your majesty, I can take up the matter to Sultan. But I will not tell anybody,  what I am going to discuss with Sultan. This is the only condition.”

There were skeptic murmurs among the ministers. One of the ministers emphatically rebuked “Tenali, Do you know to whom you are going to talk? Do you have any faint idea about the mood of Sultan Adil Sha? This is not our court. No Jokes! We need to tackle the problem.” The final words were really very harsh.

“Then.., Okay..Maharaj, I withdraw my proposal.” Tenali Raman went back.

“Is there anybody to stop this nonsense?” King raised his voice. But the reply was a stony silence. Again after a few minutes, the king turned and spoke to Tenali “ Rama, we cannot and should not recreate Mahabharat. It is sacred to us. Delhi badsha’s unintentional request has landed us in trouble.  I accept your condition. But convince the  Sultan about our inability.”

Next day sultan started asking King Krishna about his becoming ‘Dharnmaraja of Mahabharat’.

Tenali Raman, very cleverly, began “ Maharaj, Our writers are at it in our building. However, because you are going to be the hero of this new story, I expect you to give some suggestions.”

“ Come on, Tenali Ram, the joyous friend of King Krishna. Ask me. I am here to explain anything to you; I just want to listen to the new epic with my name in it.”

“Sure, Sultan, but I need a personal meeting with you.”

“It is granted, my dear friend. Let us go in to the room near by.” Sultan moved very elatedly and quickly too.

Raman followed and watched till all the doors were closed.

“My dear friend, you are like our Birbal in wisdom… Throw out your wild thoughts to me.”

“Sir, I have a strange query. Nobody knows what it is. Do not mistake me. I am here to protect the honor of your Majesty.”

“Mmmmm.. go on. I’ll clear those doubts in a wink of time” Words flew very confidently.

“Sir , you are right. You are the hero Dharmaraja in the new story. Your friends are Bima, Arjun and other brothers. But who is Draupathi? You know..all the five brothers were married to one lady.” This reply came like a boom from a canon. The thought of Draupathi being wife of five people, suddenly, sent shock waves in the mind of Sultan. His face went pale being awakened to the stark truth. He took some time to think. In a low voice he asked “Rama, Have you discussed this with anyone?”

“No, maharaj”

“ Then, keep quiet. No new Mahabharat. Forget about it. I shudder at the thought of being Dharma or sharing life with other four.”

After a thoughtful mood “ Rama, I have to thank you that you did not open the subject publicly in the court. Neither did you discuss this point with anybody. This is much descent of you. Thank god! Let us go to the court...”

The court was in an expectation and wondering what might be the outcome.

“My dear friends, let us move on to next phase of discussion. Rewriting epic is just a small and a trivial point. Forget it. King Krishna, you have a very clever thinking individual in Rama. You are lucky and blessed to have such a great counsel in your court”

After successful talks, the delegation returned. Tenali Raman was showered with open compliments from both the kings in the court. Sultan Adil Sha praised “ King Krishna, you have several great experts around you. I envy you. Above all you are complemented with Tenali Rama. He is like a single bright rose which dwarfs other flowers in our Moghul garden.”

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Note:

Tenali did not open the subject very openly! A counsel or a member of any team is to have this quality: Don’t openly discuss a negative point which you have to discuss in person. Call the person and have an open discussion with him.

But like the kings in the story, let us openly praise the deeds, achievements, greatness and wisdom of people. This will motivate your team

Usage:

Compliment = praise;     Complement= an addition, a perfection and completion.

 President Obama heaped compliments on the Asian contribution to the growth of The united States. 

A sweet ice cream is a good complement to a satisfying meal. 

Interview part-5:About 'a few and few'- Thru Birbal and friends

After, Akbar left the place, one of the ministers came to Birbal.There was an expression of helplessness and shock on his face.

"Birbal, what is this nonsense called group discussion? Did you have any such discussion before joining this council of ministers? Think...why are you confusing the selection? Now i have a problem. I have promised a relative and made recommendations to Sha-in-sha. How will he get through?"

"Noushad, don't worry. Ask him to practice, gather things; let him seek knowledge.  Bring him to watch our meetings. If he has real stuff, he can end up as assistant to anybody here."

Another minister having grievances against Birbal  (he was also  a bald headed man) tried to corner him.

 “Hey, Birbal, okay, you have won this round. But you must answer these three questions because people say that you are the most brilliant among all of us."

“Let me shoot the first question: How many stars are in the sky?"

Birbal understood the atmosphere and could feel the animosity around him.

 With all the ease and confidence he asked "Let me have the other two. I'll prefer to answer everything in one go."  He decided that his answers should make everybody laugh and then nobody should dare any such foolish question in this court.

The minister fired the next ones “Which is the centre of the earth? Please note question number three: If you break this jar from China, how many pieces will it break into?" He looked at the ministers around him triumphantly. There was a satisfactory smile gleaming across his face.

Within seconds came the booming reply from Birbal “Dear Friend, The total number of stars is equal to the amount of sand in this cup. Open your palms. Receive this sand. Please count them. My equations are correct. When you complete the count you will accept my reply." The entire gathering had hearty laugh.

Birbal continued his AK47 of words “The centre of earth is there, where is the king's throne. Do you see it? If you doubt it, naturally you should have one, please take your measurements from that point. Go east.  Then, come back. Start from the same point, go towards west. Meanwhile, let your assistants move from the same point towards south and north. Do not forget to count the number of steps. When you finish these, surely you will understand the truth in my reply."

"Next one...ehrr... This jar if dropped would break into a few pieces. Let me explain. There are two possibilities. If I drop with little force, the pieces can be easily counted. That is equal to the few hairs on your head. If you break it, then we may get more pieces, that are as many numbers of pieces as your heart getting broken now on listening to this retort."

Suddenly a clap attracted them behind. Akbar emerged from the entrance.

“Real good answers and well said, Birbal."

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Note:

If you wonder why one should ask 'the number of stars and numbers of broken pieces of jars or number of steps you come up  the stairs’ ,  there is a reason behind it.

So don't get irritated.

 These are  called stress questions. They test your immediate response, patience and endurance. They don't look for your correct response. But they assess the speed of your thinking; It is a test on your attitude and  aptitude. It is a test on how you manage the situation.

FEW:

‘Few and little’ without 'a' : There is little water; There is nearly no water. It does not mean ‘no water’.

   There are few people= There are people but nearly zero. But it is not zero.

 For example: 

 It is a conference hall of 1000 people. However, only ten people are there in that big hall. Now we can say that there are few people.

"Few and little " are to be used in negative sense.

 Now imagine, there are fifty people. Now you can say “A few people” are there. 'A few people' means more than nothing. It  should be used in a positive sense.