A very good morning to the judges, teachers and my fellow friends.

Today, I
would like to share with you a story entitled “The Greedy Fisherman”.

Once upon a time, Shankar was a poor fisherman and Lakshmi was his young
and beautiful wife. They lived in a small hut near the sea. One day, as was often the
case, Shankar went fishing but was not able to catch any fish. The sun began to set
but his fishing net was empty. Shankar began to fret, “What’ll we eat today? Oh, I
hope we don’t have to starve yet again.”

Just then, he felt a strong pull at his net. “I seem to have got a nice big
catch”. But when he pulled his net out of the water he was disappointed to see that
there was only one fish and a tiny little fish at that. Suddenly he noticed something
amazing. The fish was the color of gold and shining like the sun. As Shankar looked
on mystified, the fish began to speak. “Please save my life,” it said. “Please throw
me back into the water. I am the King of the Sea.”

“The King of the Sea!” Shankar was alarmed by the very idea. He opened his net
and the fish fell back into the water.

At once, the water became the color of gold. Shankar watched spellbound as
the mighty King of the Sea rose up from the waves and spoke out loud, “Thank you
fisherman. I can grant you three wishes in return for your kindness. Come to the
sea-shore and call out to me whenever you want anything.”

Shankar bowed happily and replied, “Thank you, King of the Sea. But I need
to talk to my wife before I can tell you my first wish. I’ll be back soon!” Shankar
was elated. He ran back home to Lakshmi and told her excitedly. Lakshmi was
thrilled. “Oh, how wonderful! Don’t you think we should straightaway ask the King
of the Sea to give us some respectable clothes at least?”
Shankar was delighted by the idea. “I’ll do just that,” he said. “And I’ll ask him for
some ornaments as well. I’m sure that will please you.”

So Shankar rushed back to the seashore. He stood at the edge of the water
and called out, “O King of the Sea! Please come and bestow upon me the wish you
promised.”

Immediately, the water turned the color of gold and the King of the Sea
rose up from the water, “Yes, Shankar. What is your wish?”

Shankar answered eagerly, “Lakshmi and I would like some decent clothes and
ornaments.” The King of the Sea replied, “Go back. Your wish has come true.”

Shankar looked down and noticed that he was now wearing a fine set of
clothes. He rushed home to see his wife adorned in a beautiful sari and gold
ornaments. They were very happy.

Shankar and Lakshmi were content for just two days. Then, they began to
moan again. Shankar decided that he would go to the King of the Sea and ask for
servants who could help them with their daily chores. So Shankar rushed again to
the seashore and standing at the edge of the water, called out, “O King of the Sea!
Lakshmi and I both need some servants. Please grant me my second wish.”

At once, the water became the color of gold and the King of the Sea
ascended from the waves and said, “Your second wish too is granted. But be
careful. Remember you have only one more wish left so make sure you do not
become too greedy.”

Shankar went back to his hut to find Lakshmi lying on a mat while a maid
massaged her feet. One servant was busy with the cooking. Lakshmi beamed up at
him from her mat, “Oh, Shankar! Isn’t this life wonderful? For the first time in my
life, I feel so relaxed.”
 Life now seemed blissful and trouble-free for Shankar and Lakshmi. But it
was only a week before they began to grumble again. Shankar thought of asking the
King of the Sea for a bigger house. Lakshmi was overjoyed at the idea!

So Shankar rushed once more to the seashore and standing at the edge of
the water, called out, “O King of the Sea! I want you to give me the third wish you
promised. We need a bigger house so can we have that now?”

Again the water turned the color of gold and the King of the Sea appeared
from beneath the waves. “This wish too is granted,” said the King of the Sea. “But
I warn you again. Greed will bring about your downfall and give you nothing but
unhappiness.”

Shankar hurried back home to find Lakshmi standing outside a big fine
house. “Look at our lovely house, Shankar! Now we have everything we always
wanted.”

Shankar was pleased too. “Yes, I am satisfied. We have everything now.”

But their satisfaction did not last long. Now, they wanted to become king and
queen.

Without thinking ahead, Shankar then walked back to the seashore and called out,
“King of the Sea! Grant me one more wish. Make me a king and my Lakshmi a queen.”

But this time the water did not turn the color of gold. This time the King of
the Sea did not appear. Instead the waves rose up high and the sky turned dark
and menacing even as an angry voice arose from the water, “Go back Shankar!
You’re too greedy! You’ll lose everything. But I hope you’ll both learn a lesson.”
 Shankar was stunned. As he walked home sadly, he noticed that he was again
wearing his dirty ragged clothes. When he reached home, he saw that Lakshmi was
standing outside their dilapidated mud hut, wearing her old torn sari. The house,
their beautiful clothes and ornaments, the servants were all gone. With tears in
her eyes, Lakshmi told him, “We should never have been so greedy. We should
never again ask for more than we have.”

From that day on, Lakshmi and Shankar became contended with whatever they had
and for the first time in their lives they became truly happy.

From the story, we learnt that we should be grateful for what we have. Thank you
for lending me your ears.