When I was very young, every summer break, we would head to our maternal grandma’s house. I used to love going there, as, being the youngest, I was pampered a lot. And moreover, who doesn’t like a holiday full of delicious home-made delicacies to eat???

I prefer salted over sweet, and as my grandma knew this, she would fill her glass jars with various types of chips and roasted split peas (being my favourite), before I would reach. Every day, little after breakfast, I would sit in the stairs of her balcony, with a bowl of roasted split peas, and have it at a leisurely pace. I would toss each one of them up in the air, and try to catch it with my mouth, spilling some in the process.

One such day, as I was passing by the balcony, a little after eating the split peas, I observed that the ones I had spilled were not there. I was convinced that grandma must have cleared them, and soon forgot all about it as the day progressed.

For the next few days, the pattern continued, and it made me suspicious, as I would never see my grandma cross the balcony. Even if she had, she would have at least told me once to eat properly and not waste food this way. This didn’t seem right somehow and I decided to investigate it myself.

So the next day, I purposely spilled few more split peas and hid behind the wall to see who was this uninvited guest having my peas. I didn’t have to wait long. Just few minutes later, I saw many tiny ants march towards the spilled peas in a line. As the size of the pea was too big as compared to them, they formed a group of 3–4 ants to carry each pieces in coordination. They carried these to small holes on the side of the stairs. Soon every piece was carried into the holes and the place was left clean.

That night I told my grandma what I saw. She smiled, and explained me- “Ants are the hardest working insects. A single ant can carry weight much more that itself. They carry the food to their homes to eat and store away the excess, to help them survive when they don’t get any. We can learn a lot from an ant”.

I was very impressed by this. It made me want to help them. So, the next day, while I was eating the split peas, I purposefully stuffed few in those holes for the ants, as I was worried who would feed them when I went back home.

Few days later I left for home, satisfied with myself and with a number of life lessons the ants had taught me.

So, what can we learn from these ants?

• Firstly, we see the importance of team work. As the split pea was impossible for a single ant to carry, they overcame this difficulty by forming groups and thus making it possible for them to carry it, and at a lesser time. We find it difficult to work in teams as we are always trying to prove our-self better than the other. We don’t hesitate to betray the other, if we feel we will have some benefit out of it. We are selfish.

• We can learn discipline from them. Ants always walk in a single line. They don’t try to overtake the other to reach the food quicker. If we humans follow the same, our life will be much more meaningful and simpler. We always try to get ahead of the one before us, sometime using the wrong way. We are always at competition with the other. While competition to a limit is healthy and good for self-betterment, too much of it can destroy us.

• They are good at managing resources. They eat what is required, and store the rest for later. Thus, in event of some calamity, they won’t die of hunger. They safe for future. On the other hand, we human beings, spend on useless things while we have the money, due to which, we are not left with any when we really need it. We give in to the want rather than the actual need.

This is rightly stated in the below words:

These, if followed by us human beings, will help us lead a better life. To live in peace and harmony, only use/buy what is necessary and save the rest for the future. Sounds to be so simple, but difficult to follow, isn’t it?