Every Bit Matters, by Parag Singla
In olden times, there was a kingdom by the name Smrudhpuri. The people in the kingdom were very happy. There was no dearth of material pleasures of any kind in the kingdom. But as they say, the only thing permanent in the nature is Change. So was the case with Smrudhpuri. An acute famine struck the kingdom. Even the richest persons came on streets, begging.
In these pressing times, the king, Subudhi, did not know what to do. He tried all measures but in vain. One day the king was traveling through a jungle. There he found an old sanayasin. His face was glowing with the energy of the tapas. The king mentioned his plight to the sanaysin and requested him to do something for his kingdom. The sanyasin said “Oh, king, there is only one way to come out of this. There is a deep well in the middle of your capital city which has dried up because of the draught. On the night of coming amavasya, if the people in your kingdom can put enough milk into the well to fill it up to the brim, then your kingdom will be saved.” Before the king could say anything, the sanyasin disappeared. But the king at least saw a ray of hope. The next day he made an announcement in the kingdom, asking each family to put one bowl full of milk into the well on the upcoming amavasya night. Trusting his people, the king thought that the end to all the plight of his people was imminent.
The fateful night finally arrived. So dark was the night that nothing could be seen clearly. But people in the kingdom did come forward and each family brought forth one bowl full of milk and put it into the well in the darkness of the night. In early hours next morning, as the first rays of the Sun fell on the ground, the king eagerly set out towards the well, hoping that his wishes had been fulfilled. But as he reached the spot and looked into the well, to his utter surprise, the whole well was filled with water!
There was not a single drop of milk in it. Each family in the kingdom had put one bowl full of water into the well, thinking that their contribution was not important as others were already contributing their bit. But Alas! each one of them thought so, contributing only water.And as you might have guessed, the kingdom perished – only for the lack of one bowl of milk per family! So, next time, when you get an opportunity, make sure to put your bowl of milk into the well. It does make a big difference!
Parag Singla is a PhD student in the Computer Science Department at the University of Washington, Seattle. You can reach him at parag@cs.washington.edu
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