path

1. CALF PATH
There was a village. A dense forest surrounded the village. At the end of the
village, close to the forest, there was a cottage. In that cottage lived a farmer.
The farmer had a cow. In due course, the cow gave birth to a calf.
Calves, as you know, are quite restless and playful. They jump left and right, to
and fro, here and there. The calf in our story was no exception.
When he was hardly one week old, one evening he playfully strayed into the
forest. As is his nature, he jumped here and there, to and fro and lost his way
back. After a lot of efforts, around midnight he could return home.
The spot in the forest where he lost his way was hardly half a mile from his
home. But as he moved left and right, to and fro, he covered a distance of five
miles.
Early next morning, a shepherd dog followed the hoof marks of the calf and led a
herd of cattle to graze in the forest. Next came, following the same hoof marks, a
bevy of village women to fetch water from a spring in the forest. Later in the day,
a lot of villagers who would go for shopping across the forest followed the same
hoof marks.
It thus became a path frequented by everybody. The path, after sometime,
became a road, and in due course, became a busy traffic thoroughfare – created
by that young wobbly calf.
While driving on the road everybody cursed the sudden twists and turns but did
nothing.
Many of us follow calf paths in life. You must avoid calf paths.
You may wonder: ‘How do I avoid calf paths?’
Poet Rudyard Kipling has an answer. He says,
“I kept six honest serving men,
They taught me all I knew,
Their names are WHAT and WHY, and WHERE, and
WHEN, and HOW and Who.”