Story on Salesmanship: Baleshwor and Compustan

 

Once upon a time, there were two great kings called Ivan and Appollo.  Ivan’s kingdom was named Bishalpur and Appollo’s kingdom was called Jidhpur.  They both had their eyes on a very rich and abundant state called Compustan.  Each wanted to conquer it and why not?  It had no king and its population was exploding exponentially.  In addition to that they were hard working and honest people who were each very rich. 

 

Ivan and Appollo waged wars upon wars on Compustan but they still could not capture it.  The problem was that Compustan was surrounded by a large desert.  As a result many millions of their soldiers died on the way.  Then as they reached Compustan, it was surrounded by walls as tall as mountains.  Ivan tried to break the walls with large tree trunks and large machines.  Appollo tried the old tactic of the Trojan horse.  The people of Compustan accepted the gift but someone suspected fowl-play and turned the soldiers hidden inside the Trojan horse from Jidhpur into slaves. 

 

One time Ivan tried to starve the Compustanis to death by not allowing anyone of them out.  The seize lasted 10 years.  Instead the Compustanis became self sufficient within.  The soldiers of Ivan had no option but to retreat.  Apparently, unknown to Ivan and Appollo, to the south of Compustan was an ocean that linked them to the rest of the world.  Again there were many divisions in Compustan and they spoke so many languages, one group did not understand the other group and as a result they faced problems themselves.  Because they all spoke so many languages and one did not understand the other, they never could gather enough man-power to make ships and explore the other worlds. 

 

Ivan and Appollo were proud kings.  They each wanted to conquer Compustan  on their own.  So they each made roads to cross the desert, each was limited to their soldiers and machineries. 

 

In the army of Appollo was a soldier called Baleshwor.  He was a gifted soldier whose intelligence was vast.  In the army of Appollo he was in charge of making the roads and fighting the soldiers of Compstan to get in.  Sometimes in the night when no fighting took place, Baleshwor had the opportunity to talk to the Compustanis and he learnt about their great wealth but also about their problem of many languages. 

 

Baleshwor was from a trading family.  He always had the nose to smell what people needed and he provided them with that.  He was then rewarded well.  When he was a small boy of six, he collected so many different articles that his parents were amused.  He put them in a box.  But everyday in the night the box that was full in the evening, would be empty.  Upon enquiring, Baleshwor, said that he sold these marbles, stones, useless items to his friends at school.  The parents were afraid and asked him, “Do you force them to buy?”  Baleshwor replied, “No, not at all, I make the realize they need what I have and that they can’t do without it.  So they buy, father.” The father asked, “That’s it?” Baleshwor answered, “That’s it”.  Then what will you do with the money?  Well I collect them to buy more things that adults need and will buy from me next year.  And really next year, he bought inexpensive gift items and sold it to adults, “Buy it for your children and they will be happy and good like me” To that he added a smile. 

 

Then like all the other children of his age he was recruited in the army of Jidhpur.  He was 16 when he had to kill his first enemy.  He did not like it.  He thought, “There must be a better way to win this war, to conquer Compustan.”  Like a salesman he thought, “Instead of winning them by shedding blood, can we not sell them something that they would buy with the right to rule them?” 

 

So he proposed this idea to the king Appollo.  He laughed his wit out and threw Baleshwor out of his kingdom.  Baleshwor then decided that he would sell his idea to Ivan.  He did so and Ivan not thinking much told him to do what he had to. 

 

Baleshwor formed his own group he called Baleshwor and Company, then built a road through the desert and developed a language common to all the compustanis.  Those two decided he would sell to the Compustanis as well as all the other kingdoms around the desert who wanted to get through compustan to the ocean giving them unlimited access to new worlds.  

 

So the first thing Baleshwor did was to know everything there was about this common language and about the big road linking every body outside the desert to Compustan.

 

Next he sent spies into the Compustan and neighboring kingdoms of Bishalpur.  They all bought positive news that the time was correct. 

 

Then he determined that the independence that they felt was becoming a burden on them.  He would let anyone willing to pay use the road built by Bishalpur owned by Baleshwor, and that he would teach the common language called Dosarin  to everyone one in Compustan.  Whoever would master this language would be able to take advantage of all the opportunities provided by the ships built by Bishalpur and its neighbors.

 

He had to set a price.  Everyone who would use the road would have to pay 1/3^rd of their army’s budget since this road once open will stop the need to go to war.  Then for the usage of Dosalin per person, they would have to pay the price of one meal per person.   

 

 

Compustan was known for not having a king.  However, he figured a group who had most influenced over the rest. Then he also identified those had the biggest resources.  Then he recognized those who suffered most due to the multitude of languages and who would benefit vastly from the Dosarin.  And then Baleshwor spotted those to whom Dosarin would be a threat and how he could make disarm them.

 

So he prepared a speech to give to each citizen of Compustan, “For long you have suffered from those who wanted in.  For longer will you suffer for you stand in between them and great fortune represented by yourselves and the ocean in the south. 

I have understood your needs and know that time has come for you to explore the oceans but a lack of common language and many resources available only outside the desert.  I will make sure that the Dosarin language will be used even across the oceans, in this way you will be able to go anywhere in the world and then I will give you access to the roads linking Compustan to outside the desert.”

 

Then he first approached the guard at the gate.  Before the armies of Bishalpur and Jidhpur both tried to break them but still could not enter.  This time Baleshwor just asked and got entry.  This single entry in itself was the beginning of a new era. 

 

Baleshwor then met with those most positive to his ideas.  He gave the speech to whomever he met.  He first met those to supported him and convinced them with his speech.  He also met those who would oppose his ideas and knowing that they were those who cheated the people.  To this Baleshwor said, “After everyone uses the Dosalin language, you will be able to earn upto 20 times more than now since you will be able to cheat even more people as all share the same language.  Moreover people from Bishalput and Jidhpur will come as well as other cities outside the desert will travel through Compustan.  You can cheat them even more since they will be strangers. So don’t be threatened by Dosalin and my road.”  He gave all of them stone slabs containing his proposal.  He waited.  Then the most influential people asked Baleshwor to come and meet them.  Where swords met and flung into each other, minds met giving off sparkle of words.  They took the stone slaps to the richest people.  The bought the language and the access to the road.  In exchange they opened up all the gates.  Baleshwor was to oversea everything. 

 

Where soldiers were slaughtered on both sides, coins were exchanged.  Every other neighboring kingdoms used the road and paid to master the Dosarin language.  Because every body in Compustan and all those around the desert now spoke Dosarin they could combine their resources to explore the oceans.  They met many new worlds and there too they introduced the Dosarin language. 

 

In this way Baleshwor became very rich.  What so many kings tried to accomplish but failed despite giving away the lives of millions of soldiers, Baleshwor got without lositng one soul and with the enemy all willing.  King Appollo still refused to use the road of Baleshwor and as a result Jidhpur disintegrated.  King Ivan became regretful for not having built the road himself and thus so much fortune.  But even if he had done so, he could never have created Dosarin

 

After many years Baleshwor died.  He wanted to repeat this feat. 

 

As a result of this wish during his death, based on the laws of karma, he took re-birth.  Baleshwor took birth in the 20^th century and he is none other than Bill Gates.  History repeats itself and the two kings also took re-birth as did all the circumstances.  Could it just be a coincidence that the story of Microsoft reassembles that of Maitrobhum?  That Bill Gates too like Baleshwor was a master salesman whose one sale transformed the world of computers like Compustan.