The Leader

Once upon a time, in a kingdom in the ancient Bharat, there lived a king. He was a good ruler and everyone in his prosperous kingdom was healthy and happy under his rule.

But with consistent invasions from all sides, after a few years, the kingdom was about to fall apart.

After months of war with a neighbouring kingdom, the king had finally lost everything; his palace, his jewels, his riches, his servants, and army, and above all, his self-esteem. He had lost the will to live. He was banished from his own kingdom and had been sentenced to live in exile in the jungle outside the realms of the kingdom.

But as the King was leaving towards the forest, he saw thousands of the people who were a part of his kingdom follow him with their basic belongings. They had declared that they would accompany their ‘King’ wherever he went and would not accept the tyrant new ruler as their king. They were willing to leave behind everything they owned just to be with their true king. Having lost everything that he once possessed, the king was still content to have the support of so many people in his kingdom.

He was incredibly happy to see his people stand by his side in his darkest hour. “You all are my real kingdom. I do not need the palace and jewels. Wherever we go, we will establish our own kingdom”, he proudly announced as he and the people walked away from the village settlements into the dense forest.

After a few years, under the skillful leadership of the King, the people settled down peacefully in the jungles. They had developed means to survive with natural amenities and created a habitat that was enriched enough. There were no ranks, no casteism, no hierarchy in this new settlement and everyone was treated equally, even the king considered himself one among them. The people still worshipped and admired the qualities of their king, who despite so many hardships, came out to be the virtuous leader of all, whilst the tyrant ruler who had ransacked everything, was left with nothing but empty villages and nobody to rule.

{{ Moral of the story:- Be a leader, not just a ruler. }}