[A base version seen in MMB - reproducing with few modification]
Many hundreds of years ago in the faraway lands of the East there lived a renowned master who was widely revered for his esoteric wisdom. One day he called his four disciples and said, "Sons, I believe it is now time to see what you have really learnt from me. I am going to give each one of you a seed. I want you to plant it and water it. When you think the plant is ready you may come back and share your experience. That shall be your test. Just remember all you have to do is plant the seed, water it regularly and keep fertilizing the soil. The seed will do its job."
The four disciples, enthused to perform this simple-looking task, left in four different directions to find fertile patches of soil where they could plant the seed.
Each one was pleased to find a fertile ground where they could carry out the assigned task. The work commenced with a lot of energy and excitement. The disciples watered the seed with a lot of care.
A few weeks passed away.
There was no sign of any plant emerging from the earth where they had sowed the seed.
But they had faith in their master`s words. So they continued doing what was told to them. In this manner, many months passed away.
At the end of the first year, one of the four disciplines got dejected and resigned from the task. He thought the seed had probably perished. Maybe the master had missed out some critical information. So he just accepted defeat and headed back.
At the end of the second year, another disciple quit after he was convinced that this task had been an absolute waste of precious time. He was angry at his master for making a fool of him.
At the end of the third year, the third disciple still saw no signs of any green shoot from the ground. Passers-by had now started mocking at him for being on a foolish assignment. One stranger who empathized with his predicament remarked that he would have been more productive and appeared less foolish if he had invested his time planting other trees instead. He followed the advice.
Three disciples had already quit. And at the end of the fourth year, the fourth disciple still saw no signs of the plant. He had endured four long years, watering and nurturing the ground with utmost care. Of course, there were moments of doubt, bouts of frustration, feeling of failure. But he held on. He knew that the master was a very wise man. He wouldn`t send them on a pointless assignment. This disciple had followed the master`s advice very diligently. So he kept going...
Then sometime during the fifth year, something incredibly magical, something that he had never ever seen in his life, began to unfold before his very eyes.
In a matter of just five weeks, he saw a giant 90 feet tall tree standing before him. Yes, 90 feet in just five weeks! He was deeply ecstatic at this culmination of his years of toil and patience.
Let us tell you, dear reader, the tree that the story talks about is no mythical tree. It`s the Chinese bamboo tree. It is a very unique plant. Its growth patterns are unlike most plants that, more or less, display linear growth patterns. So it is indeed true that cduring the first four years, there is absolutely no sign of the tree above the ground. And then in the fifth year, the tree emerges from the ground and can go as high as 90 feet in just five weeks.
Now, you might be thinking: Did the small tree loll inactive for four years and then just decides to grow dramatically on the fifth? I think the answer is quite clear for us to see. The little tree was actually developing itself underground by expanding its root system to make it tough enough to sustain its impending external growth in the fifth year and even beyond.
Now, had the tree failed to build up a strong and able underground foundation, it would be impossible for it to keep on growing when it is time to sprout outside into the outside world.
The Chinese bamboo tree offers many vital life lessons to us. But what is even more striking is the similarity this tree`s growth pattern has to the movements of individual stocks in the stock market!!
