A fisherman set
up a stall to sell fresh fish to tourists visiting a fishing harbour. In front
of his new stall, he placed a large board displaying the words, ‘FRESH FISH SOLD HERE’ to attract
prospective buyers. Several customers came to buy fish from his stall.
One of his customers made a
suggestion, “The board is large and readable. But it is too long. The word ‘HERE’ is unnecessary as the board is
quite close to the stall. It may be deleted to make the board short and sweet.”
The seller found that the suggestion was logical. So he erased the last word.
Now the board read, ‘FRESH FISH SOLD’.
Later another
customer gave a novel suggestion: “The word, ‘SOLD’ is not needed on the board as fishes are displayed here for
sale and not for exhibition.” The seller agreed and deleted the word, ‘sold.’
Now the board read ‘FRESH FISH.’
Some time later, a
new customer examined the board and gave his opinion, “The word ‘FRESH’ need not be displayed publicly
as you sell only fresh fish and not rotten fish. It is an insult to other
sellers in this area.” The seller readily agreed and modified the board. It now
had only one word, ‘FISH.’
Another person
visited the stall after sunset. He said, “The smell of your fish can be felt
all around this stall. I had no difficulty to locate it though your board was
not clearly visible in the dim light. It is not essential to place the board, ‘FISH’ here.” The seller accepted the
suggestion and removed the last letter from the board.
The next day, his
business was dull. New customers could not identify the stall easily as the
board was blank. They went to other stalls in the area. The fisherman’s fate
was the result of responding to every suggestion from others. People are lavish
in showering advices and critical comments. We must apply our wisdom to
identify the relevant, reasonable and acceptable advices.
We must have
correct concepts and convictions about values and principles of life. Then
nobody can mislead us.
...................................................................................................................................
© By Dr. Babu Philip,
Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue,
Kochi-682016, Kerala, India, Prof. Mrs. Rajamma Babu,
Former Professor, St. Dominic's College, Kanjirappally and Leo. S. John,
Maniparambil, Ooriyakunnath, Kunnumbhagom, Kanjirappally, Kottayam-686507, Kerala , India
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