Thought for the day:
When I see editors warring on Wikipedia I think of a story about the importance of working together and securing allies. The Pañcatantra, an Indian collection of folk wisdom, tells the story of the Doves and the Fowler.
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A man hunting birds spread a net on the ground and sprinked it with grain. A group of doves, seeing the grain, flew down into the net and became entangled in it. The man was delighted and came toward the net brandishing his club. The leader of the doves saw that friends were fluttering this way and that, pulling the net in different directions, and only entangling themselves more completely. He said to them: "There is a way out of this tragedy that has befallen us. All of us, working as one, must fly upward into the sky together and far away from here. Once safe, we will work together to untangle ourselves." Eager to save their lives, the doves flew upward and carried away the net, and so were saved. The man seeing this wonder had this thought:
"Because they act in concord,
these birds carry off my net;
But when they are in discord,
then they will become my prey."
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- --Adapted and abbreviated from The Pañcatantra: The Book of India's Folk Wisdom, Patrick Olivelle translation, Oxford World's Classics, ISBN 0-19-283988-8
- The story teaches the benefits of working together and valuing diversity as a source of strength. The charming animated film Ek Anek Aur Ekta ("One, Many, and Unity") [1] uses the story to teach these values to children (and Wikipedia editors). Don't worry if you don't understand the language, the animation speaks a universal language.
