There was once a farmer named Talent.
And on his farm there was a hen whose eggs stood out.
The eggs from this particular hen were whiter, shiner and smoother than any other he had ever seen.
And having been born and raised and working on a farm all his life he had seen more than his share of eggs.
He first felt it in instances, then in passing and then the thought took root in him that there was something unique about these eggs.
But being the sluggish and indolent kind he didn't do anything about it and thought that they were just slightly different eggs.
However as the days went by he could no longer pretend that they were normal eggs, their shine and smoothness convinced him that they were indeed unique and spurred him to bold action.
The next Sunday, after spending a few days glowing in his boldness and decisiveness, he walked into the village market to show everyone his eggs and exploit their potential.
He went into the bakery and showed the baker the eggs.
The baker looked them over and said "They do look good.
How do they taste?" "They taste like soft fresh eggs" Talent answered.
"Do they have anything special about their taste?" enquired the baker.
"They taste like good eggs" replied Talent.
"Would you like to buy them?" asked Talent.
"Sure" replied the baker.
"At what price?" asked Talent, his eyes lighting up.
"At the normal price" replied the baker.
"The normal price!" exclaimed Talent.
"Normal price for normal eggs" said the baker.
The fat old baker is trying to sell me short, thought Talent to himself and walked away from the bakery.
He then walked to the grocer feeling confident that a grocer with all of his knowledge would be more capable of appreciating such unique eggs than a simple baker.
He showed the eggs to the grocer.
"They are unique alright" said the grocer impressed with their shine and smoothness "they will look good in my egg display".
Talent was filled with happiness listening to these words.
"Will you pay more than the normal rate for them?" enquired Talent.
"Certainly" replied the grocer.
"I will take 2 dozen everyday" said the grocer happily.
"But I can get you only one egg everyday or maybe 2 eggs every three days" said Talent apprehensively.
"Well what good is just one egg? Why should I pay more for that?" questioned the grocer.
"It's still shiner and smoother than the other eggs" replied Talent.
"Precisely, if I show that egg to people, it will make all the other eggs look plain and bad.
Then people will not buy any of them.
There is no use buying that egg" said the grocer dismissively.
Talent walked around until he came across the village fair and thought to himself that surely someone there would be able to identify the uniqueness of the egg.
He ambled along in the fair looking at the various stalls which were put up.
But alas could not find anyone who would agree to buy his unique eggs at a good price.
So he went back home disappointed and angry that no one could truly appreciate how unique his eggs were.
He went home and decided that the people of a small village did not have the required degree of finesse to discern such a unique egg and that he should go into the nearby town which was larger and try his luck there.
The next morning he picked up a fresh egg and off he went into the nearby town.
Once he reached town the first stop was at a shop named the "Amazing House of Wonder", where paying customers were shown amazing and wondrous objects.
It was also widely believed that besides the owners wily tongue there was absolutely nothing wondrous or amazing in the store.
In walked Talent and before the owner could uncoil his tongue, he held out the shiny smooth egg in front him and said "for sale".
The owner's eyes darted suspiciously from Talent to the egg and back and then back to the egg.
He had spent a lifetime turning the ordinary into the extraordinary to amaze people and he sure as hell was not about to fall for his own trick.
Once his eyes were sure that the egg was real he held it in his hand and examined its shiny-ness and smoothness.
It looks like a giant oval pearl he wondered to himself.
"Feels like it was laid by a giant oyster and not a hen" the owner laughed.
Then the trickster within came alive and he slowly raised the egg to his nose and smelt it.
"No fragrance" he said "then what's the big deal?".
But Talent knew that the owner was great at striking a bargain and even better at offering rotten deals.
So he replied "Nothing I guess" and turned to walk away with an naughty glint in his eye.
"Let me take another look at it" said the owner with practised nonchalance.
Talent turned around walked back and handed him the egg with a smile on his face.
"Well it is a little shiny and smooth, I will give you that" said the owner "tell me how long have you had it?".
"It's a fresh egg.
I have had it since morning" replied Talent "and before that the hen had it" he added for fun.
"I want to know how long doesn't it last? How long can you store it for?" asked the owner.
"You can store it for 10 days like you can keep any egg" replied Talent.
"That's it" said the owner "after that what?".
"After that it starts to smell like a giant dead oyster" replied Talent.
"So do you want to buy it?" asked Talent.
"What's the use if I have to buy a new one every few weeks? Its not good business" said the owner.
Angrily Talent walked out of the shop and into the town centre where he saw the butcher shop.
He walked into the butcher shop hoping to sell his eggs there.
The butcher looked over the egg while scratching himself and enquired "How many chicks hatch out of each egg?".
"One" answered Talent.
Guess I know where he found the extra brain to sell in his shop thought Talent to himself.
"Just one eh?" said the butcher "and how about the chicks are the shiny and smooth too?".
"They look like regular chicks with regular features" replied Talent politely.
"How about the taste?" enquired the butcher "do they taste special?".
"They taste like chicken" replied Talent.
"Well a damn egg it is then! Why would I want to buy it?" said the butcher haughtily.
Talent came out of the shop with his head held low.
Sulking he walked around the town roads and was near the outskirts of town when he happened to see a cheerful looking soldier in uniform.
"Why do you look so glum?" enquired the soldier.
Talent told him of all that had happened and his troubles with the egg.
"Well then this is you lucky day" announced the soldier happily.
"I am incharge of buying provisions for our regiment and your eggs sound like just the thing" said the soldier.
"Really" asked Talent wide eyed.
Looking at the egg the soldier replied "Yes indeed.
We have a real yoke of a time moving eggs around while we march from place to place.
And good sturdy eggs will be a real blessing" said the soldier.
"Sturdy eggs?" questioned Talent.
"Yes sir, if your egg is so shiny and smooth surely it would be sturdy too.
That's just what we need" replied the soldier.
"But the egg is sturdy as far as an egg is sturdy, it's not very sturdy or sturdier.
However it is shiner and also smoother" said Talent hopefully.
"Just as sturdy as an egg eh? Well it's a good thing you told me then.
Otherwise I would end up with egg on my face" laughed the soldier and winked at Talent.
"But...
" protested Talent.
"That too at a higher price! No way!" said the soldier and ambled away.
Talent was emotionally drowning in despair and desperation.
So he decided to drown his emotions in wine and went back home drunk out of his mind.
Talent couldn't bear to be rejected by everyone like this.
He couldn't bear to see his unique eggs not get their due.
He tried night and day to convince people to buy his unique eggs but no one offered him more than the normal egg price.
He was consumed by the thought of his eggs and how to crack open their value.
This thought had taken over his life.
He tried ways to prolong their life but they rotted, he fed the hen nothing but strawberries but still the eggs and chicks looked and tasted normal, he shook the hen each night but still there was only one egg the next day.
Day in and day out he tried but to no avail.
He knew there was something unique about his eggs and he felt duty bound to show their uniqueness to the world.
And in the process he started neglecting his farm and his source of daily wages.
He was at his wits end.
He didn't know what to do.
His farm was becoming desolate, he had almost finished all the money and now his hen was also terrified of him.
In his despair he cried out one night "Oh god, why did you make chickens!" That night he heard a sound in his dream, it went "Ting", "Ting", "Ting" Talent jumped out of bed and said "Yes of course.
Why didn't I think of this before? Mrs.
Ting! That's right.
Mrs.
Ting!".
He had seen her there so many times.
Mrs.
Ting was a wise old lady who gave people good advice and could always be found in the market, and because she was always in the market a lot of people referred to her as Mrs.
Market-Ting.
The next morning he woke up early and rushed to go find Mrs.
Market-Ting and tell her of all his trials and travails.
After listening to poor Talents story Mrs.
Market-Ting replied "You are lazy - that is you flaw.
That is the reason you are not successful".
"I have been working to find a solution day and night.
I have not slept or eaten for days thinking about a solution.
How can you say that I am lazy?" replied an astonished Talent.
"You are lazy because you are not making anything out of the eggs potential.
You have been given a gift and instead of trying to make the most out of it you just want to sell and get the value out of it" replied Mrs.
Market-ting.
"What do you mean?" asked Talent "what more could I do?".
"You need to make the gift valuable.
Not find the value in the gift" replied Mrs.
Market-Ting.
"I don't understand" said Talent.
"All you have done is ask people to pay more for your shiny smooth eggs.
Because you believe that they are unique.
It is not your job to believe that they are unique.
You job is to see the shiny-ness and smoothness and make others believe that they are unique" said Mrs.
Market-Ting.
"I did that" Talent replied "I know that they are unique.
But no one else values their being unique.
To the others they are just eggs".
"My dear child" said Mrs.
Market-Ting sagaciously "do you not know the most common law of the universe: that if you cannot be unique be special.
If you have no unique value so as to speak of, be special and have notional value that all can speak off".
"How do I do that?" asked Talent wide eyed.
"If you cannot make something unique make it special.
Believe and behave as though you eggs are special and slowly but surely the world will start to believe it too" replied Mrs.
Market-Ting.
"How would that work?" asked Talent hesitantly.
"Because everyone wants to be special.
And once they realise that they are not, they fight and climb over each other to be as close as possible to something unique, which would make them seem special.
Unique is a clearly visible value but special is a belief.
The very people who question the uniqueness of your eggs will cry themselves hoarse defending their speciality, if you can make them believe it" replied Mrs.
Market-Ting.
"How does one do that?" asked Talent.
" "By working hard at it.
All people dislike hard work.
And if they see someone working hard and getting something they immediately think that it must be special, else no one would work hard for it.
You see unless you show people that something is born out of hard work and difficulty they will never respect it.
The easier that it comes the more they will question its credibility" replied Mrs.
Market-Ting.
"Now I get it" said Talent with a smile on his face "I will sell all my chickens and my fields.
I will keep just the one hen.
I will name her Desire.
I will tell all that it is a special hen which lays special eggs.
I will say that the eggs are very expensive and only consumed by the most wealthy and discerning people in the neighbouring country where I sell the eggs.
I will live rich from the sale proceeds of my fields and other livestock making people believe that I am doing very well selling the eggs.
That will make people believe that the eggs are special and buy them at a higher price".
Mrs.
Market-Ting gave him an all knowing smile.
"I have now cracked the secret to success" he said triumphantly "it is neither me nor the eggs that will cause my success.
But rather what I do with my eggs that will make me successful".