Frugality and Kaizen

Today, I was telling my daughter,

a story I had heard long ago.

There was a poor orphan boy,

someone gave him two rupees,

he bought chickpeas.

He didn’t eat them all,

he saved some, processed them,

made small portions on sal leaves,

put for selling on the path

of hungry woodcutters.

They bought the nuts,

with that money,

he bought more chickpeas,

and even added a pot of lemon juice.

Everything sold,

soon, he had a hundred rupees.

He set up a small stall,

and more customers came.

I was telling my daughter,

frugality and resourcefulness

are powerful philosophies.

Even if you are born poor,

you can still build something,

if you know.

how to make wise decisions.

Before I finished,

listening with bright eyes,

she told, so its Kaizen,

the Japanese philosophy, of gradual progress.

I beamed,

my daughter is no less

than the poor boy,

who made it work.