The story of the five fingers

Once the five fingers, which normally shared a warm friendship, got into a serious argument. Of course, the subject is the same old one that has been plaguing all living things since the dawn of Time - namely who is the biggest of them all. The Thumb responded first with a contemptuous look on its face and with a perceptible sneer wondering why there should be an argument at all about it. “Without me”, the thumb said, “you guys are powerless. Try doing anything without my support and you will know!” The middle finger laughed out aloud at this statement and said “You pygmy! I am the tallest here and strategically placed at the middle. Haven’t you seen that in any group photo, the most important person occupies the middle seat? Do I need to say anything more?”

The ring finger listened to all this with a disinterested yawn. He looked around him with the kind of authority that only the affluent could afford to exhibit and, flaunting his expensive diamond ring set in platinum, said, “You guys seem to forget that I give you all the status that you enjoy. All of you get noticed only because of me!” The mercurial index finger was furious at this preposterous statement. “Status, my foot” he thundered. “Don’t you guys know that when our man is roused to fury, he uses me to put his adversary in his place? And when someone seeks his direction, he uses me again to show him the right path to take. I am the symbol of his power and authority”, he said. All fingers now turned to the little finger to hear what he had to say. The poor fellow who was listening to all others had now shrunk to half of his size with shame and remorse. He could feel the look of ridicule around and he started crying.

Next morning, the owner of the fingers went to a temple and stood before the Lord in prayer with folded hands. As the ringing of bells and drums reached a crescendo, the Lord appeared before the little finger and smiled at him. “The other fingers may be big in their own way but you are the closest to me when your man stands before me with folded hands. Do you want to be bigger than that?” He asked the little finger smilingly. The little finger’s heart overflowed with joy and when he wept this time, it was with tears of joy!

Guess who told me this story? My five year old grand daughter Kithu alias Kriti! She told me that she heard this story at lunch time from the mother of one of her classmates. I was truly amazed that there existed mothers in this fast world who could find time to teach their children to feel important on a moral basis and not on material basis through such wonderful stories. Most of us, in our desire to ensure a glorious future for our wards, keep telling them how to go about it without simultaneously building in them a strong moral foundation. It is like building an awesome edifice without a proper foundation. It is bound to collapse sooner or later like the Twin Tower in the hands of the terrorists.

Of all the human faculties, the most important is the awareness of one’s place in society. Be it in IL, or the Organisation that we work for or the neighborhood where we live in, all of us should feel basically important and useful. In the Grand Scheme of Things, no one is less important than the other. The moment one starts wondering if he is as important or useful as the other, the results of such a train of thought will be disastrous. In a well known global fraternity of which I am a member and very passionate about, there is a beautiful thought which says that ‘the highest is he who performs his part best but not he who fills the most exalted position’. It goes on further to say that the flowers of the field proclaim the glory of God as much as the stars of the firmament.

The manufacturers of the world’s most expensive cars like the Maybach will not put in one single nail in it that will be of no use to the performance of the car. If that be so, how could we imagine that God would have created this Universe and put us up there without any purpose? If we realise the importance of our own role in the scheme of things, we would feel no conflict with the importance of others’ roles. Let us all remember the golden words of Nathaniel Hawthorne:
“Every individual has a place to fill in the world, and is important in some respect, whether he chooses to be so or not”

This is true not only of the world but of IndusLadies too!

Dear Cheeniya
Wow an apt topic at present I think. My grandmother use to tell us this story reminding us unity is diversity..................each an every person is important in the family the way each and every finger is important to close your fist and make it strong.
Yes where ever you are you should know your importance and don't go to do those things that others do or you are the one who will fall. Each and every person is percious in they own unique way.
Another well written topic...............

Hi cheeniya,


its good story even my mother use to tell us at bed times . she use to tell us that u should not think what other person is giving are given and give u but u should be with themm all the time and together with everyone instead of searching for our positions and places. thank u for reminding this once again and it is necessary now-a-days to tell some more stories like this in future.


madhu

hello sri

chundu viral vishayam
ithanai periya kathaya?
kettathundu intha kathay...
naakku mooku kannu
enru kathaigalum undu...
yarai vida yaar periyavar...?
thodarum engum..

isai vaasikkum karuvigalil
chunduviralukku idamillai...
viyarthu viruvirukka
ketta kelvikku bathil marakka
aabath paanthavan chunduvirale...
athai mattum kaatti vittu
oda vendiyathu thaan....toilet thedi
palli vittu
allathu koottam vittu....

panivu endru varum pozhuthu
kattai viral, aal kaatti, nadu viral, mothira viral endru anaithukkum irukkum panivu
chundu viralukku illai...
vendumaanal sothithu paarungal
mitchathai madakki kattai viralayo...
kattai viralai madakki michathayo thoda mudiyum
chundu viralai adutha kai uthavaamal kattai viralai
pazhakkamillamal thoda mudiyaathu....
adutha viralgal ellam panivaai kuninthu nirkum...
iru kai endhi
pandam ethuvum niraya pera
kai korka...chundu viral irandum sernthe uthava...
alla alla kidaikkum porul...
kaathu mooku kodaya kattaivirala mudiyum...?
kadavulukkum athuve pakkathil....

sathya

Sir
I remembered one poem line we learned in highschool:
"They also serve who only stand and wait"

Dear Chenniya Sir,

The topic itself is beautiful and your style and flow of words makes this a timely master piece. I would have loved this story even more had I heard it in Krithi's words, from a child's perspective.

One of my favorite blogger is a person called Trevor Romain. He writes for children and he has a similar story about the importance of every person in this universe - Trevor's Blog: Small Is Big

I am reminded of a lady in my family who would always say that without her, the family will collapse. She controlled everything, right from what the family members ate to what clothes they wore and where they worked and whom they chose as their life partner. Till her last breath, she believed that without her, things would come to a stop. She's dead now. But her family is running and it is running fine. There was a place for her, but she thought the rest of the world was nothing.

Dear Cheeniya sir,

What an inspiring story - thank you for reminding it. I will share it with my 5year old. If only people were to remember this in every sphere of lives, it would be so much easier. In relationships especially if somebody wants to feel important like the rest of the fingers, if we choose to be the little finger, I am sure no harm is done. Infact I was thinking about all the relationship problems people face and honestly was thinking life should be much more meaningful than these bickerings - a little background to this is the sudden and sad demise of Tim Russert, his meteoric rise, my son's questions about death and people dying early, his perspective and ofcourse the news that the space shuttle landed and a crew of 8-10 staying in space for 95days and landing safely back on earth! Sometimes these events put things in perspective but more often than not these little stories that we have heard in childhood but have forgotten is what makes us wake up, look around and start afresh.

Once again, thanks for sharing.

dear sri,
nice bond i see here again with your grand daughter how wonderful is that relation for her to tell and for you to patiently hear it out to bring it here in your own style.

man can convey so many things with these hands and with each finger a wonderful meaning, each finger also rules its owner with its contribution,thumb shows the man's refined nature of diplomacy or orthodox approach to life, the first finger is of jupiter shows about his status and connection in life, the center finger tell all about his melancholics attitude if it rules man is the worst his own enemy as he can never think good of others,but with a star there he could be the highest philosophical the third finger is the finger of the heart and cheerful ness comes from there, with out which man will may be not smile at all and it is the little finger the business finger of a man, one can make out how shrewd he would tackle people with, if it is a little bent he would lie through his teeth to get his work done, if it is a tiny one and bending towards the ring finger, it will give the quality of dreamy approach to an otherwise very shrewd transaction.

while reading this i dont know why i got reminded of kalidasa, and how he used his fingers to escape a predicament which otherwise would had gone hay wire and there would had been no darshan of mother to him...

one subject from you can produce so many different dimension of thought in many...bravo young man keep going...sunkan

Dear Sri
Very well said and thanks for sharing the story .. I had not heard of it before. I agree with your lines that in the Grand Scheme of things no one is less important than the other. It is natural for a person to wonder if they are useful or not if they are worthy or not especially when they face difficult times and are more downtrodden than others. It is at those times, that one has to come up out of self annointed misery and motivate oneself further.

Cheeniya Sir!
Hats off to you! Excellent way to end the raging war in your unique style! Age does matter!
Love,
Malathi