The Saint, the parrots and the parrot-catcher.

Knowledge isn't power until it is applied.

When I was growing up, my grandfather told me this story about a bunch of parrots. There was this parrot-catcher who use to come, cast a net, throw some seeds, wait for the parrots to come sit on the net to eat and then he used to capture them. Same routine everyday tested on generations of parrots. Worked every single time. Then one day, a saint who was passing by saw this entire chain of events unfold in front of his eyes and felt pained. He bought all the parrots back from the parrot-catcher and before releasing them, thought that he should inform them about the situation so as to prevent it from repeating. He asked them to repeat after him, "The parrot-catcher will come, lay his trap, throw some seeds but we will not get captured."

Once this batch memorised this mantra by heart, he asked them to go and spread this wisdom. Soon, all the parrots in the sky were chanting, “The parrot-catcher will come, lay his trap, throw some seeds but we will not get captured.” This disheartened the parrot-catcher who was now potentially out of business and so he went to the same saint for a solution. The saint said, "Why don't you try your old routine once more and tell me how my students fare in a practical test. We'll talk after that."

The parrot-catcher did as the saint asked. Lay his trap, threw some seeds and waited for the parrots to come. All the parrots chanting the mantra which was supposed to save them came flying around to the spot, sat on the net and began nibbling on the seeds. All the while, chanting the mantra. The parrot-catcher was surprised. The saint, not so much. Once captured they blamed the saint for this mishap and claimed that he was no true guru because his mantra failed to protect them.

The saint came forward and asked them whether what he had said happened or not. They agreed it did. "Then why the heck did you get captured? That was for you to prevent."

"But we thought that the chant will protect us", said the leader of the company.

"I thought parrots wouldn't be as stupid as humans. Turns out I was wrong", remarked the saint before he walked away.