The incident described in this
write-up relates to the construction of The Great Sun Temple of Konark. The
site for construction of the temple was finally selected. It was at the confluence
of the river Chandrabhaga and the Eastern Sea, later named as the Bay of Bengal.
The king ordered the most capable Chief Minister -
Sibei Santra to supervise the
construction himself. He was free to spend as much money as required from the
king’s treasury for the specific purpose. About 1200 reputed artisans were
employed for the purpose. The
foundation of the construction was to come up
from the deep sea. After a few days the king enquired about
the progress of the
project. The Minister could not give a satisfactory answer. The king expressed
displeasure over the delay and said, “A considerable time has elapsed but a simple
ditch could not be filled”,
and warned, “If the ditch is not filled within a
specified time you will have to face the consequences.”
The minister felt helpless. He
had applied the best of his knowledge and experience but to no avail. He was
not able to imagine where the huge volume of stone boulder had gone? The
helpless minister acknowledged defeat. To avoid punishment he thought of absconding
himself from the kingdom. All through the day he was running to cross the
border. He was tired and hungry. The fear of being noticed by the subjects was
making him more scared. After the sun-set, an untimely cloud of rain and storm
broke in. The tired minister had no alternative other than seeking help from
some residents of the near-by village. He knocked at the door of the nearest
house. An old lady opened the door. The minister very politely requested the
lady if she may permit him to take shelter on the out side verandah. The lady
guessed the stranger to be a man from a high-profile family. She asked him to
come inside the room. The minister expressed profound gratitude and entered the
room. The lady said “My child, you appear to be hungry. I have nothing much to offer you. Would you
like to take a little Jau, (a sort of sweet pudding dish made out of a cereal)?
She went in and brought some hot Jau in a plate. The minister, being hungry and
nervous, put his fingers in the middle of the dish and got burnt. The lady said
“What have you done? You are also behaving like Sibei Santra, the minister of
the king. You start eating the hot dish from the sides first, giving enough
time for the interior to cool down. Sibei Santra is doing the same mistake as
you did”. The minister got startled when he heard his name. He said “My dear
aunty, do you know Sibei Santra?” The old lady said, “No. I simply know that
the king has entrusted him the job for laying the foundation for construction
of the Sun temple. He was just dumping stones in the deep sea which were
carried away by the under water current of the sea”. The minister asked her,
“Is it? What should he have done?” The lady replied “It’s simple. He should have
set the stones from one edge only, and carried on the filling gradually into
the water body.” The minister got up and very respectfully touched the feet of
the old lady. He expressed his profound gratitude for such a piece of costly
lesson. The Minister went back to the king and apologized. He narrated the full
story and requested him to grant one more chance to complete the construction.
The minister was much more
capable and more powerful than any of our present-day Members of Parliament
(M.P) or Legislative Assembly (M.L.A). He had absolutely no hesitation to
listen carefully to an old village lady unlike the present day politicians who
do not feel like replying to the letter of a citizen, who, together with
similar citizens, have elected him to the of status of the day. The elected
representatives fail to understand that after their term of membership is over,
they will go back to the same status where from they came. They should further go
through the story narrated below:
A man was going on a desolate
track. The sun had just set. The moon rose on the sky, but was not very bright.
He was passing through a grave yard. It so appeared to him that a head popped
out of the grave, gave a smile and said “I was what you are to day”. The head
entered back to the grave.
The man continued walking and
after a few more steps, saw another head popping out of another grave. The head
gave a smile and said, “You will be one day what I am to day.”
This story has a lot more empowering
sense for the Government Officers, elected public representatives and many
others.
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