The joy of sharing

What was the first thing you noticed during the terrible twos in your kid...well in my little girl, I noticed, she became possessive about her stuff, habit of sharing that would come easily earlier was slowly melting away and she would not easily give...Did you notice it too? Its a good thing though, that means the child is becoming aware of self and environment, it helps protect the child...but if this habit of non-sharing takes extremes and goes on too long, that becomes an issue...it does sometimes extend to adulthood too, some of us still cringe at the thought of sharing whether it is our belongings or our knowledge. But as they say, "There is no joy in possession without sharing".

Here is a beautiful and impactful story that can help understand the joys of sharing!

Its called "Stone Soup", it is a beautiful European folk tale and has different versions in different regions and cultures!

When I was telling it to Mishti, she added her own nuggets to it...so its a little modified -- no no Mishtified :)

Once upon a time, long long time ago, there was a traveler who was roaming the country. He took with him a lot of bananas to eat. One day, on his way, and kept his bag aside and slept under a tree - while he was sleeping, the monkeys took away all his bananas and he was left with no food to eat! When he woke up, it was scorching hot in the afternoon, and the traveler felt extremely hungry and opened his bag, but ho! there was nothing in it - there were only the banana chilkas strewn all around! He did not know what to do...he kept walking and reached a small village by the evening and he thought, let me ask for some food from the villagers.

He knocked one door - and a little girl opened the door, he asked her mom for some food and told his story! The lady told him that they had no food in the village, everyone had paucity of food and it was not possible to share and she closed the door.

Then he knocked on another door, and a goat opened the door, and she said mehhhh mehhhhh, he thought, she might have some spinach leaves but the goat too refused...mehhh mehhhh...

Then the traveler had an idea, he picked up a big shiny round stone from the ground..and knocked another door. He told the lady that he is a traveler and he came to know that the village has very less food, so he would like to share his stone soup, a specialty from Africa with everyone! The lady was delighted and happily gave him a claudron, a stirrer, water and match to make the soup. He laid it all outside in the middle of the road...He lighted the fire, and added water to the cualdron and then the stone. When it started boiling, he sniffed and tasted and said...hmmm...its coming good but it still needs a little bit of garnish, which they are missing, to improve the flavor.

Back in Africa, they used to add a some carrots to the soup, and it tasted heavenly. A villager, who passes by and anticipates enjoying a share of the soup, does not mind parting with a few carrots, so these are added to the soup.

Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the traveler again mentions their stone soup which has not yet reached its full potential and says that some cabbage can do some good! The villager rushes to his home and brings him the lil cabbage that he has left with. The waft of the soup, reaches everyone's homes...More and more villagers come out, each adding another ingredient. Finally, the stone (being inedible) is removed from the pot, and a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by the traveler and villagers alike. They talk and dance around the pot and for the first time realize the joy of sharing, they all had little, but putting it together, they all could make a full meal for the village!

Next day, the kids of the village rush to the traveler requesting him to give them the magic stone, to make stone soup every day and he gave the silken bag containing the stone to the youngest child, whispering to a group, "It was not the stone, but the villagers that had performed the magic." He thus teaches them the joy of sharing!