“Then what…Then what?…..Then what?…….” An imaginary story

This is a story on how to be happy. I heard it from a representative of the Vipassana (1) foundation at Hyderabad, capital of the 'Telangana' state in India, in the year 1997. He was giving a talk to the senior managers of our company. The story goes like this - 

A group of smart managers from the city were visiting a village. They found a middle aged man sitting under a tree, playing his flute. There was a cow grazing at a distance. The managers could not imagine a person sitting and playing music all alone in broad daylight. 

One manager asked him curiously “what are you doing here?”. The man replied “I am employed as a cow keeper. I am watching that cow grazing over there for my employer till evening”. Their dialogue continued.

Manager: How much do you earn for the 8 hours you sit here?

     Cow keeper: Rupees 200 (about 3 US $)

Manager: You can earn 1000 Rupees in the same time if you watch 5 cows instead of 1 cow.

     Cow keeper: Then what?

Manager: You will earn extra 800 Rupees every day.

     Cow keeper: Then what?

Manager: Over an year, you will earn more than 292,000 Rupees extra.

     Cow keeper: Then what?

Manager: You can buy some cows for yourself with the extra earnings, instead of watching other people’s cows.

     Cow keeper: Then what?

Manager:You can sell the extra milk and earn more than 500,000 Rupees a year.

     Cow keeper: Then what?

Manager: You can buy more cows and make a million Rupees a year.

     Cow keeper: Then what?

The managers were now thinking the cow keeper was crazy but patiently tried to enlighten him on how to expand his wealth and enjoy life.

Manager: You will have a lot of extra milk with which you can start an ice cream parlor.

     Cow keeper: Then what?

Manager: Your earnings will be one and half million Rupees a year.

     Cow keeper: Then what?

Manager: You can start franchises for your ice cream parlor and earn two million Rupees a year.

     Cow keeper: Then what?

Manager: (Impatiently) By expanding this model,  you will earn so much extra money which you can put in securities which will fetch handsome passive income.

     Cow keeper: Then what?

Manager: (Irritated) Then you need not work and will be able to simply sit, play your favorite flute music and enjoy your life.

     Cow keeper: (with a smile) That is what I am doing right now without going through all the extra steps you described!

(1) Vipassana

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