Change.

I don't think we stress enough on change. Everything around us changes at breakneck speeds and we refuse to go along. Hang on by the skin of our teeth.

Take for instance, how we entertain our kids. Story-telling. No harm, really. But the same old stories? I mean, everything that sets up contexts for these stories has changed. Then why expect kids to relate to the "Once Upon a Time" stories.

Fear not. Yours Truly is on the case, as always. I tried to modernize some of the classic moral stories, for our future generations.

For your perusal wonly, this:

1. The Classic Story About Unity

Original Story: 

Once upon a time, there was an old man, who had three sons. All three would always quarrel amongst themselves. When the old man fell sick, he was very worried that his sons would continue fighting after he died. So, he called them to his bed and gave each of them a stick. He told them to try and break the stick. Pooh. Very simple. In one attempt, all three broke their sticks. Then he took 3 similar sticks and tied them with a string and made a bundle. He asked them to break the bundle now. All three tried and failed. The old man explained to them, that similar to the sticks, the three sons individually may not be strong, but together, noone could harm them.

Moral of story: Unity is Strength.

Duh. How boring is that? And why go around breaking sticks for no reason? No. Not done.

Modern Version:

Once upon a time, there was an old man, who had three sons. The three sons were gadget freaks. But unfortunately, they were always fighting. You see, one was an iPhone fan, one was an Android fan and the third was *shudder*, a Blackberry fan.

The old man was worried that they will pass on these bad vibes to their future generations and who knows, which OS will rule the world two years from, (though he knew it would be Android).

So he called the three of them to his bed and told them he wanted to teach them a valuable lesson. He told all three to put their phones in their back-pockets and sit on the chairs next to him for the next 3 hours without moving.

The three sons were shocked. Three hours without using the phone? There would be withdrawal symptoms, they wailed. But the father was adamant. And so, they complied. The iPhone, the Android phone (lets call it Nexus) and the blackberry lay in the back pocket of the three boys for the next three hours, while they listened to their Dad read out Whatsapp forwards and jokes.

After three hours, the father asked the sons to hand over the phones to him. And lo and behold.

The iPhone - was bent. BENT. Like, really. Bent.

The Blackberry - heated up and died.

The Android - was working just fine.

The old man smiled wisely and remarked, "Sons, the future lies in Android. Lets stop quibbling about this. Please go buy Android phones and stop fighting about this. And also, unity is strength."

The End.

2. The Hunter & The Pigeons Story

Original Story:

Once upon a time, a flock of pigeons lived on a tree. One fine day, they saw grain strewn all over the ground. They flew down and started enjoying their meal, when a net fell over their heads. It was a hunter's trap. All the pigeons were trapped and dismayed. But, their leader was very smart. He said that if all of them made a joint effort they would be able to fly away with the net. So, all the pigeons put in efforts and started flying together. 

Lo and behold, they rose along with the net. The hunter stood shocked. The pigeons flew along with the net and landed at their friend, rat's house. The rat cut through the net and the pigeons were able to get free.

Moral of the story: Unity is Strength

Modern Version:
Once upon a time, a flock of pigeons lived on a tree. One fine day, they saw grain strewn all over the ground. They flew down and started enjoying their meal, when a net fell over their heads. It was a hunter's trap. All the pigeons were trapped and dismayed.

Their leader was smart. He suggested starting a hashtag on Twitter #LetsFreeTheBirds . Immediately, all the pigeons took out their mobile phones and started tweeting likewise:

"Trapped in a net. A bird that cannot fly is not a bird. #LetsFreeTheBirds"

"This is an attack on freedom. Please RT @ShashiTharoor @narendramodi @sachin_Rt #LetsFreeTheBirds"

"Join the campaign and win free coupons for SnapDeal. #LetsFreeTheBirds"

"Modi is great. #LetsFreeTheBirds"

"These Modi lovers saffronize everything. #LetsFreeTheBirds"

And so on.

Before they knew, they were trending worldwide. Soon, a bystander heard the constant Twitter notifications sound coming from the group and freed the birds, so he could read his book in peace. That's right. He was reading a book and not tweeting. And of course, the birds were freed.

Kids, moral of the story: When in doubt, tweet. 

3. (Last one this, I promise) The Thirsty Crow

Original Story: 

(www.indif.com)

Moral of the Story: Be resourceful, I guess?

Modern Version:

There was a crow. He was thirsty. He saw a jug with water, but the level was too low for him to reach. He thought for a while. Then he logged on to Kickstarter.com and started a project - "Water for the Thirsty Crow". 

Soon, people started donating for his cause. Before he knew, he had collected $20,000. But he was still thirsty. So, then he just gave the jar a shove, waited for the water to flow out, drank to his heart's content, took the $20,000 and flew off to start his own venture - Water For Crows. His company ensures that jugs around crows are always filled to the brim, so that they never have to face the inconvenience, which he had to. (He, of course, charges crows a premium for the service he offers.)

Moral of the Story: Before solving your problem resourcefully, make sure you make full capital of the situation.

Done.

What do you think? Can I publish this book for children? Do you think parent's would buy it? Would you buy it? 

Let me know.

Got to go.

Busy with publishers for the next couple of hours.

Thanks.

Preeks