A wild horse became envious
of the zebras which are naturally blessed with beautiful black stripes all over
their body. The horse spent sleepless nights meditating about a method to get
decorated with beautiful stripes like a zebra. He sought the advice of a monkey
who was the best scholar, artist and beautician of the forest. The monkey led
the horse to a place where a wildfire had just burnt down several trees. Using
the pieces of charcoal from the burnt wood, the monkey painted fine stripes on
the body of the horse. The happy horse thanked the monkey and joined a group of
zebras who accepted him without a doubt.
As they were grazing together, a heavy
rainfall occurred. The 'painted zebra' was in great trouble. The stripes of
charcoal dissolved in the rain and created a dirty mess. The stripes lost their
outline. The zebras rejected him. The horse ran away with a disfigured body. He
came to his own relatives who were reluctant to accept him seeing his weird
appearance. Dejected and depressed, he approached the monkey who created the
stripes and requested him to end his misery. The monkey led him to a stream and
washed his body, rubbing hard with the husk of a coconut. Having restored his
natural appearance, the horse watched his appearance in the still water. He
said to himself, "I am really beautiful!"
Every creature is
blessed with a unique form and appearance. We must be ready to accept the gifts
of God instead of worrying about our appearance. Comparing our features with
those of others and trying to imitate others creates unnecessary worry. Let us
look at the less privileged brothers and thank God for His generous gifts. That
is the path to peace and progress.
Charm is deceptive and beauty may disappear. We usually use outward aids such as hair-style, dressing, jewellery and cosmetics to appear beautiful. But our real beauty is in our true inner self, our mind and soul, which is of the greatest value in God's
sight.
.....................................................................................................................
© 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 and Neil John,
Maniparambil, Ooriyakunnath, Kunnumbhagom, Kanjirappally, Kottayam-686507,
Kerala, India.
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