The fourth young man.

                A wise king was once travelling around his kingdom in disguise. He was accompanied only by his charioteer. While travelling he was getting acquainted with the ground conditions of his kingdom.

                In due course, he was crossing an uninhabitated stretch of land, where his chariot got stuck in loose soil or mud, the more the charioteer tried to make his way out of the mud, the more the wheel sank deeper into it.

                Finally the King had to disembark and try to push the chariot out of the mud, but with little success. Both the King and his charioteer had by now begun sweating profusely, due to the efforts put in to get the chariot out.            

                Even after much effort and time they were unable to make much headway in the task at hand. It was getting late now and soon it would become dark and both the King and charioteer were getting anxious about what they would be doing if night were to fall before they could get out of this situation. As the surroundings were uninhabitated and there was fear of wild animals also.    

                The king noticed that two people were coming out of the nearby forest and coming towards him at a rapid pace, suddenly he started feeling a lot easier and hailed out to the duo to come and help him take the chariot out of the mud. But to his surprise the men were not very keen to help him out, they were more eager to return home before nightfall. The King was very disappointed, and was fast beginning to lose hope that he would be able to get out before nightfall.

                But not long after, he saw a group of four young men coming his way. The King called out to them and pleaded to them to help him out. The foursome agreed and joined the King & his charioteer in taking the chariot out of the mud. With some effort they were successful in pulling out the chariot out of the mud.

                The King was very pleased and thanked the four young men profusely. The four asked the King who he was and what he was doing in this lonely stretch at that time.

                 The King felt so indebted to these young men that he decided to reveal his identity to them, the young men were also very pleased to meet the King in person, but the King was a bit uncomfortable that he could not reward these young men as he was not carrying any valuables with him, not even the jewellery that he normally wore.

                So the King asked the four to come down to his palace some time, so that he could thank them properly for their kind act. An then he took leave of the four friends and hurried towards the next stop in his itinery.

                The four friends were very excited with the King’s invitation. And they immediately started preparations for their visit to the capital and the King’s palace.

                 After a few days they started their journey to the capital to visit the King. Upon their arrival, they were given a grand welcome by the King, who introduced them to all his courtiers and gave the seats close to his throne, the four friends were feeling overwhelmed by the reception given to them, after refreshments and conversation the King told the four friends, in front of his court, that he would grant each one of them ONE wish, and that they could ask for anything. The four friends were in disbelief as to their good fortune.

                The first young man told the King that there was no road to his house, and asked the King if a road could be constructed.

                The King readily granted this wish and ordered that work on the road be started immediately.

                Now it was the turn of the second young man, who told the King that the house that he and his family lived in was in a state of disrepair, and asked the King if he could be helped out in this matter.

The King immediately ordered that a new house be built for the young man.

                 The third young man told the King that he was an eligible bachelor and was in search for a suitable bride, he asked the King if he could help him in his search.

                The King immediately ordered that a bride be searched for him.

                Now it was the turn of the fourth young man, he was in a fix, he also did not have a proper house, there was no road to his house and was not married.

                So what did he ask for?                                                                                                                       

                He told the King that he was satisfied with whatever he had and had nothing in particular to ask for, but he would really be happy if the King stayed with him at his house for a month.

Moral: We are like the first three young men, we keep asking GOD, we want this, if we got that it would be so nice.

But we should be like the fourth young man, by asking for the King himself he got whatever the other three had wished for, If the King stayed at his house, there would naturally be road to it, and naturally it had to be a good house if the King were to stay in it, and if he were to stay for a month then it would be having all other comforts…………….

At the polling centre, a young lad of about 16 years of age was voting on behalf of a 72 year old woman, perhaps this was exactly what the politicians meant when they said “ The Indian voter has matured ”, I thought.

The presiding officer was already looking too bored of his task, not even half an hour into the polling p...rocess, and was looking sideways for the Indian version of ‘Nectar’ a cup of over boiled tea- ‘chaai’.

He had left home four days back to take up his duties for the election, no one had bothered about his food and accommodation, he was dependent upon the workers of the various political parties, who were deputed on the polling centre, for refreshments and tea.

It would be another day or two before he would get back home.
Now it was my turn to cast my vote, at 7:30 am, as the officer looked up for my name in the list, he told me" your vote has already been cast" ( only half an hour into voting).

“How can somebody else cast my vote?” I asked

“I do not know, but I can’t do anything about it” he said.

Having been a victim of many such electoral creativity, I was also adamant to have my way, I knew there was a way to cast my vote and get the earlier one cancelled.
With a heavy heart the presiding officer came out with a form, and asked me to fill that up and submit, after which I could vote for MYSELF.

How these geniuses would cancel the earlier vote and endorse the present one, is a mystery I am yet to unravel.