Thursday, October 21, 2010

Tales from the Panchatantra, Version 2003


Once upon a time, there was a software engineer who used to develop
programs on his Pentium machine, sitting under a tree on the banks of a
river. He used to earn his bread by selling those programs in the Sunday
market.

One day, while he was working, his machine tumbled off the table
and fell in the river. Encouraged by the Panchatantra story of his
childhood (the woodcutter and the axe), he started praying to the River
Goddess.


The River Goddess wanted to test him and so appeared only after
one month of rigorous prayers. The engineer told her that he had lost his
computer in the river.

As usual, the Goddess wanted to test his honesty.
She showed him a match box and asked, "Is this your computer ?"
Disappointed by the Goddess' lack of computer awareness, the engineer
replied, "No."


She next showed him a pocket-sized calculator and asked if
that was his. Annoyed, the engineer said "No, not at all!!"

Finally, she came up with his own Pentium machine and asked if it was his.
The
engineer, left with no option, sighed and said "Yes."

The River Goddess was happy with his honesty. She was about to give him all
three items,
but before she could make the offer, the engineer asked her, "Don't you
know
that you're supposed to show me some better computers before bringing up
my own,like the older Pachatantra Story ?"


The River Goddess, angered at this, replied, "I know that, you
stupid donkey! The first two things I showed you were the Trillennium and
the Billennium, the latest computers from IBM!". So saying, she
disappeared with the Pentium!!


* * * * * * * * *
Moral: If you're not up-to-date with technology trends, it's better keep
your mouth shut and let people think you're a fool than to open your mouth
and remove all doubt.

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