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Consistency Pays (A moral story) By- Shah Pravinchandra Kasturchand I am a B.Com. graduate from Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai, of 1957 batch. I have worked in diverse capacities like Teacher, Accountant, Sole Proprietor, Building Contractor etc...all for sustaining life. All the time heart remained attached to WORDS. I have a feel and confident one that writing, mainly poems, is my religion. The other side is my ignorance of academic side of English Literature as such, literary dignitories of present time and their contribution to literature. I am sorry for this but this does not come in my way. I have little to cling to from them and therefore I am more dependent on self alone. My companions are my friends who read me and feed back me. I express my sincere thanks to them. Shah Pravinchandr is facilitating sawf with material for building a children section. He invites all others interested to join his efforts.

Once upon a time, there lived a Brahmin in a small village on the outskirts of a dense jungle. The Brahmin was a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva. He would start his morning chorus only after bowing his head before the Lord. To do so he visited a Shiva temple situated in the midst of the dense jungle. Since the temple was located in the midst of the jungle, hardly any devotee ever visited it.

Early every morning, the Brahmin would set out into the jungle, reach the temple, bow his head before Lord Shiva to seek his blessings, place a silver rupee coin before the Lord and return. This was a daily ritual, to bow his head and place a silver rupee coin, which he had performed for several years.

Now in this very village, there also lived a thief. The thief would follow the Brahmin to the jungle every day in the morning without the Brahmin ever getting to know about it. He would hide himself till the Brahmin left the temple. He would then enter the temple, bow his head before the Lord, seek his blessings, pick up the silver rupee coin, and then leave the temple. This was the thief's daily ritual, to bow his head and steal the silver coin and he too had performed it for several years.

Both the Brahmin and the thief were steadfast in performing their daily ritual. In a manner of speaking, both were consistent in their devotion; the Brahmin to place a silver coin and the thief to steal it.

One day it so happened that there was incessant rain and the whole village was almost submerged. The earth and the sky became one and in this situation the Brahmin could not visit the temple. However, the thief was not prepared to stay at home. He thought the Brahmin must have visited and placed the silver coin. He, therefore, started towards the temple. He saw that the temple had almost sunk under the rainwater. He swam to the temple, bowed his head to the statue under water, and searched for his silver coin.

Now it was the turn of Lord to decide what to do. The Brahmin had failed but the thief had not failed. Lord Shiva was delighted and stealthily placed a silver coin for the thief to steal away. The thief found his silver coin.

The moral of the story, therefore, is that if you follow a path consistently and without fail and against all odds, even God has to help you to find your due.

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