Immersion

Nani ji once told me this story.  There was once a King who proclaimed an award for any man who could best imitate a chicken.  It never occurred to me to wonder then why a King would be interested in such a service.  But the King was interested.  He received an assortment of men from the four corners of his kingdom who wanted to demonstrate their prowess in imitating chicken.  Men came, and they clucked away.  But their voice lacked depth and they disappointed the King.  Finally the King received a man who asked to be granted six months at the end of which he would perform before the King.

The King agreed and the man trekked off to a farm by the edge of a quiet mountain where a farmer kept a large brood of chicken.  The farmer offered the man a room in his home but the man asked that he be allowed to live with the chicken.  He squatted down on his legs and started waddling from one foot to the next.  Like the chicken, he only ate the grains that the farmer spread on the ground, one grain at a time.  At night, he curled up and slept in the coop.  For six months, this went on.  And then one day, the man decided to return to his kingdom.  He presented himself to the King and his nobles, clucking and waddling away.  The Great Hall saw a man but sensed a fowl.  The King showered the man with rewards.  And I didn't forget the story.