Once upon a time, in a place called “MangoFriends Village” there lived a man named
Mr. Bananaraj with his wife Radishelyn, daughter Ralyn and son Ramil. He had a nice, big mango tree full of juicy mangoes in his garden.
One day, both Mr. Bananaraj and wife Radishelyn went to the garden to pick some
juicy mangoes. The tree was loaded with mangoes and soon they got a basket full
of mangoes. It was a hot day with the sun shining brightly, so they sat down
under the same tree to eat and relish them. They both extremely enjoyed the
delicious mangoes.
Ralyn
and Ramil came and became curious to know who sowed that mango tree. Mr. Bananaraj
replied that it was sown by him. He also said that at that time the tree wasn’t
so huge and there were hardly any fruits on it. But now when he has grown old,
the tree has started giving so many fruits that they can eat to their heart’s
content. Ralyn argued that why did he sow the seed when he could just enjoy the
fruits of his labour when he is in his last days and not during his entire
lifetime? Mrs. Radishelyn gave a very diplomatic
answer saying that he sowed that seed in his childhood so that his children or
the grandchildren would have the chance to eat those juicy mangoes. He knew
that a mango seed takes many years to grow into a complete tree and bear
fruits.This meant that Mr. Bananaraj did not think about himself while sowing the
seed but thought about his children’s needs. Ralyn and Ramil understood the
noble deed done by their father and soon followed suit by taking a mango seed
and sowing it near the mango tree. He also did not think about himself but
about the future generation, that is, his grandchildren. He cared for the mango
sapling throughout his lifetime. Sometimes while watering his sapling he would
dream that he is with his future grandchildren and both of them are enjoying
the fruits of his labour.
Similarly
we should also not think just about ourselves but about everybody around us,
even if it means thinking about the people who are not yet born on this earth.
This is when you can say that you have done “SERVICE BEFORE SELF”.
