Dont change the world

Very nice story. We should think rationally before making decisions despite if you have the authority to do so. No matter the level of your status, always listen to what the man at the bottom has to say, he may be the one to come up with the best idea.

Thank you Mr. Aras.

Dhehisan ... good story ... it is also known for discovery of leather shoes ...well said ... fully described by Mr. Rao .... some of the issues raised by Narayanan also appreciated .... 

who is brave & wise ????
a man who has a multitude of advisors survives ..and is a real practitioner ..
a person who thinks , he is his own advisor . may god bless him with wisdom ...

I would like to give a contrary opinion , somewhat on the lines of Mr. Rao.

Let us consider the facts :

1.  The country was prosperous , implying that money for projects was not a problem.
2.  The king travelled to a distant area of his country for the first time , and his feet pained because the path was rough and stony. The king became aware that one part of his country was still not developed , and he decided to do something about it.
3.  The servant who is described as 'wise' , instead of recommending the correct decision , which would have benefited the many , recommended a selfish decision which would benefit only one man !
4.  The king , going by the norm of relying on one's advisers' , agreed to the wrong decision.

Imagine when this is applied in the Indian context ; a politician goes to a remote part of a village and asks for drinking water. When he is told that there is no drinking water available , he asks his 'adviser' for a solution. His 'adviser' instead of telling him that he should use the village development funds at his disposal to start a drinking water project in the village , 'advises' him to bring his own bottled water the next time he travels to such remote villages !

Thanks Dhesihan for your wonderful insight and thanks to Mr.Rao for his wonderful way of expressing it. Well said..

the world changes / is changing every darn moment ... 

everything is dynamic ... no static euphoria / comments please ..

Thanks for the commends Mr Rao, Mr Makrand and dear Azhar. 

Mr. Rao, brilliant assessment from the perspective of some students who are on the platform. Dheshan, amazing story and good timing.. Its time for a CHANGE!! :))

The moral of this story is “listen to a brave and wise before you take any decision and then you will gain and make the world happier" and not "Better to change ourselves, our heart and not the world". It is a good story no doubt and thanks for starting a story like this. No one changed heart in this story; the king only listened to a good idea given to him by his servant/subject and saw the financial benefit in the idea. Also kings suggestion of laying leather on Road is not for reforming the world. He thought of all those feet’s of his countrymen, who need to walk daily and must have felt for them. He did not think of financial burden on him for covering the Road and the resultant taxes he has to levy on his subjects for raising the money required for the project and also the number of animals he may have to kill for the purpose, he did not even think how impractical his idea would be, but thought of his peoples welfare only at that time. The story stops there however, but I wonder how a good hearted king like him did not think of a project for providing shoes to all his subjects and make better use of dead animals hide and skin. His suggestion on laying leather on all Roads thus should not be thought of as changing the whole world it does not convey that meaning at all. The king did not change his attitude and his thinking of providing leather cover on road relates to a good intention about the welfare of citizens not just his own welfare. And there could be many other lessons to be learnt in this story.
Now coming to the saying “Better to change ourselves, our heart and not the world". It only means try to learn to adjust to the democratic view instead of trying to impose your views on the world. This is good as far as the democratic views are good for many and may be few people have to scarifies or there is no harm in adjusting to the societies view even if it is difficult for you to follow. But look at what is happening in our own country today. By trying to adjust the country is becoming corrupt and dishonest. A good idea even if it is not palatable to many and tough to follow initially is good for the country and need to be followed. We make rules but a large majority of people do not like you follow the rules. Compare our traffic rules and see how many people follow traffic rule in this country with that in any developed countries like the US or Europe. Study our building byelaws and see how many residences are built according to the rule. Not following the rule and adjusting to the whole world today has resulted in increased population density in urban areas, increased traffic problems and as a result increased motor fuel consumption, difficulty in reaching the patients or accident or firefighting vehicles to the required spots and also more pollution and global warming. Are we living peacefully in urban areas and at what cost and how? So instead of running away try to change the world for good adjust and compromise where required, it may be difficult and look tough in the beginning but in the long run you will gain and you will be leaving a better India to your future off springs.

Very true... trying to change the world to our own liking is impossible but changing ourselves to suit the world we live in is easier.