In a quiet village pond in India, surrounded by lotus flowers and chirping birds, lived a mother duck named Kaveri. One fine morning, she sat on her nest, waiting for her eggs to hatch. One by one, the eggs cracked open, and out came six fluffy little ducklings. But the last egg, which was larger than the rest, took a little longer.
When it finally hatched, out came a duckling that looked quite different. He was bigger, with grey feathers instead of yellow. His beak was slightly longer, and he walked awkwardly. The other ducklings stared.
“What an odd-looking duckling!” they whispered.
Even the farm animals laughed at him. The chicks called him “ugly,” and the goats giggled when he walked by. The poor duckling, whose name was Neel, felt sad and unwanted. His own brothers and sisters didn’t want to play with him.
Unable to bear the teasing, Neel ran away from the pond and wandered through forests, fields, and rivers. Everywhere he went, the animals rejected him for looking different.
One day, as winter came, Neel found shelter by a lake, shivering and lonely. But he survived. Months passed. When spring arrived, the air turned warm, and the trees blossomed.
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One morning, Neel saw his reflection in the water—and to his surprise, he wasn’t an awkward, grey duckling anymore. He had grown into a beautiful white swan, with long, graceful wings and a shining neck.
Just then, a group of swans glided across the lake. They saw Neel and called out, “Come join us!”
Neel hesitated. “But I’m not like you…”
One of the swans smiled and said, “You are one of us. You were always a swan—you just didn’t know it yet.”
Neel joined them, spreading his wings proudly. As he soared across the blue sky with his new friends, he realized he had never been ugly—he was just different, and it had taken time for his beauty to shine.
Moral of the Story:
"Don’t judge yourself by how others treat you. True beauty and worth come from within, and everyone blossoms in their own time."
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