1. A Great Life in a Great City Can a sad person make others happy? Can a sad person do his job well? Let’s find out... What the Ramayana Says Long long ago, there was a great kingdom of Koshal. It was one of the best kingdoms in the world. King Dashrath ruled it from its capital city of Ayodhya. He had three lovely wives, Kaushalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi. The king’s Gurus and ministers were very wise. The king was very kind and caring. He treated the people of his kingdom like his own children. He was loved by one and all. Life in Ayodhya was peaceful, and the people had great respect for each other. Everyone was happy, healthy and successful. Yet they all were hard working. There was peace and happiness everywhere. King Dashrath had everything one could ever imagine. Yet he was sad at heart because he had no son. He was getting old, so he was worried about who would become the next king. But he never let it affect his work. He always performed his duties to the best of his abilities. What the Ramayana Conveys Just like King Dashrath, we should never let our problems affect our work. And our sadness should not affect others’ happiness. Whether we are happy or not, we should sincerely do our work and try our best to make others happy. This, in turn, will make us better. So if you want to win the game of life, try to help others and spread smiles on their faces. Today’s Success Mantra: Do your level best in every situation. Let’s Discuss: The Recipe for a Great Life As they say, with great power comes great responsibility. King Dashrath understood this quite well. He knew that he was responsible for the welfare of his people. And he was wise enough to understand that health is the first and most important prerequisite to achieve anything in life. Good health enables us to work well and become successful. And only when we are healthy, we can help people and make this world a better place. Let's time-travel to the Ramayana era. A sad person often loses his appetite. King Dashrath finds it hard to eat anything. So just to carry on, he takes a 200-calorie glass of milk in breakfast. His three queens are wannabe mothers, and they have been advised to take milk and fruits in breakfast equivalent to 10 calories per kg of their body weight. Kaushalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi weigh 60 kg, 55 kg and 50 kg respectively. Calorie codes are given. Drag and drop the right amount of food in the plates and serve the royals the exact amount of calories. Click/tap on the following image to play the game! A short 'how to play' video is given to get you started. Remember, you don't always have to win to be a winner. So feel free to refer the solutions given at the end of the book. 2. King Dashrath Goes Barefoot Humility is not a sign of weakness; it’s actually a sign of greatness. It’s one of the most important qualities required to succeed in life. What the Ramayana Says King Dashrath was blessed with everything one could imagine, yet deep down he was sad. He wanted a son who could become the king of his empire. One day he opened his heart to Guru Vashishtha. The wise Guru asked the childless king to perform a special prayer to seek the blessings of God. Guru Vashishtha also informed him that this special prayer would be best performed by a particular saint. King Dashrath went to the saint for help as a beggar, not as a king. He walked without shoes to the saint’s hut in a far-off forest and requested him to perform the special prayer. The king’s humility did the trick. The saint was touched, deeply touched, and impressed as well. So he agreed to come out of the forest and perform that special prayer in the king’s palace. What the Ramayana Conveys King Dashrath was very humble. He had the world at his feet, yet he travelled barefoot to request the saint for help. Humble people like King Dashrath are respected because they treat others with due respect. When we are humble, we can set our self-importance aside. We can see our own mistakes and the qualities of others. Humility or humbleness is a quality of being respectful and polite to others. It is simply the opposite of being high-minded, proud or arrogant. Today’s Success Mantra: Humility costs nothing, but it pays a lot. Let’s Discuss: The Utility of Humility Humility costs nothing but it pays great dividends. Some people mistakenly think that their riches give them a right to be arrogant. But they fail to realise that truly successful people are humble, not arrogant. Achievers don't let their power and riches rule their mind and instead of being rude and mean to people, they look for ways to help them. They are confident, not vain. They take pride in their work, but they are not egoistic. And this is what sets these true achievers apart from wannabe achievers and make them liked by one and all. Here is a list of some famous achievers. Separate the true achievers, i.e., humble people from the wannabe achievers, i.e., arrogant people by dragging and dropping the names in the appropriate boxes. Click/tap on any of the following images to play the games! 3. The Birth of Four Princes It is said that a person who does not love his brother cannot love God. So loving your sibling is like loving God. What the Ramayana Says After the special prayer, King Dashrath was blessed with four sons. Queen Kaushalya gave birth to Rama, Queen Kaikeyi gave birth to Bharat and Queen Sumitra gave birth to twins, Lakshman and Shatrughan. All the four brothers grew up to be strong, brave, intelligent and kind. They deeply loved one another. Lakshman was like a shadow of Rama, and Shatrughan was like a shadow of Bharat. King Dashrath was very happy to see such unity and harmony among his four sons. The people of Ayodhya loved their princes. When it came to helping people, the princes always did whatever they could. Parents prayed their children were like them, and Gurus taught their students to become like them. What the Ramayana Conveys The Ramayana shows that our siblings play a very special role in our life. Our brothers and sisters have a great influence on us as we connect more with them. Elder siblings are like parents and should be obeyed. And younger ones are like children and must be cared for. Sibling love means that you will always be there for each other. True sibling love is a big advantage in life. The Ramayana is also known as the story of the great bond of love and trust that the four sons of King Dashrath shared. Today’s Success Mantra: Sibling love is a pleasure and a treasure. It is God’s gift. Enjoy it! Let’s Discuss: The Bond of Sibling Love Sibling relationship is one of the most long-lasting and complex relation we experience in our lives. Friends may come and go but a good sibling is always there to guide us and help us navigate the different phases of life. A good sibling is a gift from god. All the four royal princes were blessed enough to experience unconditional sibling love right from infancy. Once, baby Rama's maternal uncle visited Ayodhya and brought the best toy animals available in his kingdom for Rama. Even though baby Rama loved toy animals, he was not pleased. Forget about being happy and playing with his new toys, he didn't even touch them. Initially, everyone passed it off as a little child's tantrums. But then, they realised that baby Rama was not just sulking but he was also refusing to eat anything. Kaikeyi couldn't see her favourite son like this. She made and brought the best dishes but baby Rama didn't budge. King Dashrath enquired a lot and then finally baby Rama told everyone that the toys should be distributed equally in true sense among all the brothers. He won't be satisfied with ad hoc quantitywise distribution. While everyone was touched by this loving gesture, they realised that it was quite difficult to do so. No one knew the price of the toys and Rama's uncle had gone back to his kingdom. And it was not possible to send him an email or WhatsApp message. And sending a messenger would take weeks and baby Rama couldn't be kept hungry for so long! Then, Kaikeyi came up with a good solution. She took baby Rama to the royal courtyard and discussed her scheme. She proposed that the 12 toys given by baby Rama's uncle should be weighed and then segregated into three categories as follows: Dinosaurs Domesticated animals Wild animals Then every brother should get one toy from each category. And to make it a fully just and equitable distribution, the total weight of toys of every brother would be same. Baby Rama was quite happy with this solution. Can you help Kaikeyi quickly distribute the toys so that she can feed baby Rama? Keeping baby Rama's condition of equality in mind, select the toys and drag and drop them in the babies' rooms.