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