𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢 𝐑𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲?

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢 𝐑𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲?

Here’s one of them.

A king drew a line and said,

“Make it shorter… without touching it.”

The court went silent.

Then the witty minister—whether you call him Birbal or Tenali Rama—stepped forward. He drew a longer line next to it.

“Now… look again.”

—

This happened to me recently.

I was trying to “fix” a stressful situation.

Overthinking it. Replaying it.

Trying to reduce it.

Like shrinking a line… without touching it.

And then it hit me.

What if I don’t fight the stress at all?

What if I just expand something else?

A deeper breath.

A longer pause.

A slightly wider perspective.

Because the mind has a strange habit- it magnifies what we keep staring at.

But the moment something larger enters our awareness,

the old problem… quietly shrinks.

No force.

No struggle.

Just a shift.

Maybe calmness is not about removing stress.

Maybe it’s about drawing a longer line beside it.

𝐓𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲.

Don’t solve everything.

Just expand your presence by 1%.

And watch what happens.

𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐰 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞.

*****

 

Now, let’s come back to the question.

Why do Birbal and Tenali Rama tell the same story?

The story is the vehicle.

Birbal and Tenali Rama are just drivers from different regions.

These stories aren’t really about Birbal or Tenali Rama.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮:

Your ability to pause

To see differently

To respond with awareness instead of reaction

The wit in those stories…

is actually a metaphor for the presence of mind.

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞?

*****

 

 

#SuswasaSpace #MicroPractices #StillnessWithin

 

How much effort is required to be in Stillness?

 I once thought stillness needed effort.

Time. Technique. Discipline.

Then I noticed something simple…
The pause after exhalation is naturally longer than the pause after inhalation.

I stayed there.
And realised:
👉 Stillness does not need to be created.
👉 It is already available… in the gap.
 
Today, in my micro-practice sessions, we don’t chase calm.

We simply notice:
Inhale…
Exhale…
And that tiny pause after.
 
𝐓𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰:
Don’t change your breath.
Just observe the moment after it leaves.

How much effort is required to be in stillness?
Maybe… less than we think.
*****

#SuswasaSpace #Stillness #MicroPractices #SelfAwareness

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐊 𝐌𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐊 𝐌𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓

Most of us have done this.

You keep a vessel of milk on the stove.

Low flame.

“Just two minutes,” you tell yourself.

Meanwhile, you start doing small things.

Reply to a message.

Pick up a call.

Arrange something on the table.

Maybe glance at the news.

You believe you are managing everything well.

Until suddenly…

That burning smell.

The milk has spilled.

The bottom of the vessel is burnt.

And the smell spreads through the entire house.

Burnout works exactly like this.

Small stresses keep heating inside us:

• One difficult conversation

• One unresolved task

• One more deadline

• One more responsibility

Instead of pausing, we add more activity.

More work.

More scrolling.

More distractions like snacking, smoking, and even hitting the Gym!

Just like doing more things while the milk is heating.

For a while, nothing seems wrong.

Until one day…

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬.

Exhaustion.

Irritation.

Sleep problems.

Loss of joy.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

The lesson from the kitchen is simple.

When milk is on the stove, you stay present.

You watch it.

You adjust the flame.

You switch it off at the right time.

Stress also needs that same attention, not distraction.

Sometimes the most powerful stress management practice is simply this:

Pause.

Notice what is heating inside you.

And lower the flame before it burns.

*****

#suswasaSpace - Micro-practices for calm in busy lives.