In a small village in India, there was a young boy named Raju. Raju was known to be very lazy. While all his friends loved to play outside and help their parents, Raju preferred to sleep all day or sit idly by the riverbank.
One day, Raju’s father bought him a brand-new bicycle, not to ride for fun, but so he could avoid walking. His father said, “Raju, this bicycle is not just for fun. It’s for you to use when you need to do important things, like going to school or helping your mother with errands.”
Raju nodded, but he didn’t listen to his father’s advice. He had a plan. Raju thought to himself, “Now that I have a bicycle, I can do all my chores quickly and then sleep all day!”
The next day, his mother asked him to go to the market to buy some vegetables. Raju quickly jumped on his bicycle and started riding towards the market. On the way, he saw a narrow, muddy path that was a shortcut to the market Raju thought, “If I take this shortcut, I”ll reach the market faster, and I can go back to sleep!”
Without Thinking twice, Raju took the muddy path. But soon, his bicycle got stuck in the mud. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t move it. Raju realised that he had made a mistake, but he was too stubborn to admit it. He kept trying to push the bicycle, but it only sank deeper into the mud.
After struggling for a long time, Raju was tired. He had no choice but to level his bicycle and walk back home. When he reached home, he was tired, dirty, and empty-handed. His mother asked. “Raju, where are the vegetables? And where is your bicycle?”
Raju hung his head in shame and told his mother what had happened. She shook her head and said. “Raju, there are no shortcuts in life. If you take the easy way out, you must work hard and do things correctly.”
Raju learned his lesson that day. From then on, he stopped being lazy and started doing his chores properly.
Moral: Hard work and perseverance are the real shortcuts to success.