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The legend of Kalidas — India’s greatest
playwright — always begins with the story that he was extremely stupid. In fact, he
may have been the most stupid man in his part of India. Once, some wise men passed by and
observed him standing on the limb of a tree and sawing off the limb while standing on the
wrong side of the saw! That is, when he had successfully sawed through the branch, he
would himself fall down a considerable distance — along with the branch he was
removing.  The wise men were seeking a particularly stupid man so they could play a
cruel trick on their arrogant princess. They had determined, after receiving considerable
abuse from her, to find the stupidest man they could get their hands on and present him to
the princess as an extremely wise man, a "fitting" candidate for her royal hand.
They took Kalidas to the palace and presented him as a...
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