Doing what is easier
I would like to recount an interesting story from Indian folklore which most of us might have heard or read about.
The story is about Birbal was one of the most popular figures in Indian history. Birbal was a minister at Akbar's court and was regarded as a close friend of Akbar because of his wisdom, wit, and subtle humor. One day Akbar asked Birbal to get him ten fools from his kingdom and Birbal set about doing that. I would like to narrate one of the ten stories which I think is quite remarkable:
One evening Birbal was coming back to the palace when it was very dark. He saw a man searching for something under a street lamp, and stopped to help him.
'What have you lost?' asked Birbal.
'A ring from my finger.' said the man.
Birbal started looking for the ring, and after a few minutes as they could find nothing, Birbal naturally asked: 'Are you sure you dropped it here?'
'No,' was the answer. 'I dropped it over there, but it's dark there and light here. I am searching where I can see.'
Birbal of course put him on the list and took him to Akbar.
I have found this to be a remarkable story. At the outset the man Birbal meets appears to be simple village idiot, but if you look closer to how he acted you might recall quite a few incidents where any of your acquaintances or better still, you yourself might have acted like him. You might think it is outrageous to suggest that we would have acted like him. But think about it, if we are missing some item would we not look at the most easily accessible place first. I have seen so many of my fellow workers make the mistake of looking for problems in lines of code which they understand even if the problem is not occurring in that segment of the application. It is interesting that there are so many of the old tales that are still relevant in the current time. Some wise-man rightly said that foolish behavior is resilient and it adapts well to the changing times.
The story is about Birbal was one of the most popular figures in Indian history. Birbal was a minister at Akbar's court and was regarded as a close friend of Akbar because of his wisdom, wit, and subtle humor. One day Akbar asked Birbal to get him ten fools from his kingdom and Birbal set about doing that. I would like to narrate one of the ten stories which I think is quite remarkable:
One evening Birbal was coming back to the palace when it was very dark. He saw a man searching for something under a street lamp, and stopped to help him.
'What have you lost?' asked Birbal.
'A ring from my finger.' said the man.
Birbal started looking for the ring, and after a few minutes as they could find nothing, Birbal naturally asked: 'Are you sure you dropped it here?'
'No,' was the answer. 'I dropped it over there, but it's dark there and light here. I am searching where I can see.'
Birbal of course put him on the list and took him to Akbar.
I have found this to be a remarkable story. At the outset the man Birbal meets appears to be simple village idiot, but if you look closer to how he acted you might recall quite a few incidents where any of your acquaintances or better still, you yourself might have acted like him. You might think it is outrageous to suggest that we would have acted like him. But think about it, if we are missing some item would we not look at the most easily accessible place first. I have seen so many of my fellow workers make the mistake of looking for problems in lines of code which they understand even if the problem is not occurring in that segment of the application. It is interesting that there are so many of the old tales that are still relevant in the current time. Some wise-man rightly said that foolish behavior is resilient and it adapts well to the changing times.
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