Etiquette and Table Manners

ETIQUETTE and GOOD MANNERS

[A Story]

By

VIKRAM KARVE


Once a renowned philosopher was traveling through the wise Mulla Nasrudin’s village and he asked Mulla Nasrudin if he knew of any good place to eat.

Nasrudin suggested an eatery and the scholar, hungry for conversation, invited Mulla Nasrudin to join him for the meal.

Much obliged, Mulla Nasrudin accompanied the scholar to the restaurant, where they asked the waiter about the special dish of the day.

“Fish! Fresh Fried Fish !” replied the waiter.

“Bring us two,” they answered.

A few minutes later, the waiter brought out a large platter with two fried fish on it, one large fried fish and one small fish which was quite a bit smaller than the larger one.

Without hesitating, Mulla Nasrudin took the larger of the fish and put in on his own plate.

The scholar, giving Nasrudin a look of intense disbelief, proceeded to tell him that what he had just done was not only blatantly selfish, but that it violated the principles of almost every known moral, religious, and ethical systems and started to deliver a moral lecture and pontificated on the subject of etiquette for a long time.

Mulla Nasrudin calmly listened to the philosopher’s long winded extempore lecture patiently and when the scholar had finally exhausted his speech, Nasrudin asked the visitor, “Well, Sir, please tell me, what would you have done?”

“I being a conscientious and cultured human being would have taken the smaller fish for myself,” pontificated the scholar taking a high moral ground.

“Good. Here you are,” Mulla Nasrudin said, and placed the smaller fish on the scholar’s plate.


Tell me, Dear Reader, what is the moral of the story, the wisdom hidden in this tale?


VIKRAM KARVE

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

vikramkarve@sify.com

Creative Writing

ART OF CREATIVE WRITING

[Food for Thought]

By

VIKRAM KARVE



A distinguished and renowned author started Creative Writing classes.

An eager-beaver man-in-a-hurry came to join and asked the author, “How long will I take to master the ‘Art of Creative Writing’?”

“If you put in a reasonable amount of effort, read for about two hours every day and write 500 words every night before you sleep, it will take you one year to learn the ‘Art of Creative Writing’,” said the author to the prospective student.

“One year! That is too long. I want fast results. I will put in maximum effort, read for eight hours everyday, burn the midnight oil and write 5000 words every night!” the enthusiastic budding writer-in-a-hurry said.

“In that case it will take you ten years,” the eminent author said calmly and walked away.


VIKRAM KARVE

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

vikramkarve@sify.com

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Happy Eating

Vikram Karve