Blinds Who Can See
Blinds Who Can See :
Once the Queen wanted to give alms to all the blinds. King Akbar wanted to be sure that none of the blinds were deprived of alms, so he ordered his men to make a list of blind people in his kingdom.
As per order, the list of the blind people was prepared. It was presented before the King. King Akbar went through the list and, while giving it to Birbal, he said, “Birbal, take this list of blinds in our kingdom. Call all of them and make good arrangements for their lunch.”
Birbal saw the list and said, “Your Majesty, there are more blind people than the one listed here. In fact, the number of blinds is much more than the number of sighted people in our kingdom.”
“What a silly thing to say, Birbal. If it is true, prove it to me,” challenged Akbar and Birbal agreed.
The next day Birbal took the frame of an old cot. He started weaving its rope. He had a servant standing next to him. Birbal sat on the road and started to work.
Soon a man came and exclaimed, “Birbal, what are you doing?”
Birbal said something to his servant. The servant made a note in a sheet of paper he held. A little later some more people gathered on the street.
“What is wrong with Birbal?”
“Why is he doing this?”
“What does he want to achieve?”
Each time someone made a comment, the servant would make a note. The whole day passed this way. By evening, King Akbar, too, heard of this. He went to Birbal to see for himself. “I don’t understand what you are doing here.”
The servant again made a note. Birbal stood up and greeted the King. He gave the list to the King to see.
Birbal said, “Your Majesty, this is a list of three hundred blinds.”
“But what’s my name doing in the last?’ enquired Akbar.
“Your Majesty, you are also one of them. You were the layperson to come and ask what are you doing. Even though you could clearly see that I was weaving the cot.”
King Akbar started laughing and said, “Yes Birbal, I agree the number of blinds in our kingdom is more than the sighted people.”
NOTE : This is another story in this collection which speaks volume about the witty nature of Birbal. Here, he exhibits sharp intelligence and core wisdom which coneys the message which he wants to do.
Blinds Who Can See
Akbar and Birbal Stories
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