RUNNING FOR YOUR 'LUNCH'... AND RUNNING FOR YOUR 'LIFE'

Pic.: Chetna Shetty
The other story – yes, set in the jungle – is here...

“Once, in a jungle, a Cheetah was teaching his son the art of hunting. As the training session was on, they smelt a prey at some distance... It was a deer.

“Son, listen,” the Cheetah whispered to his cub, “a deer is on our way. Watch me how I hunt, okay?”

“Okay dad,” said the little-one, excited.

Then, the father and the son hid behind a large bush, where they waited holding their breath. And, as the deer was about to cross their way, the Cheetah, the seasoned hunter, leapt from behind the bush and tried to grab the delicate deer. But, the deer escaped... The chase began...

The faster the Cheetah ran, even faster the deer did... till the dear disappeared completely from the sight of Cheetah...

The Cheetah, finally, returned to his son and collapsed, completely exhausted...

Looking at his father’s plight, the little-one remarked, “Dad you lost and the deer won.”

The father pulled his innocent son close to his bosoms, and gently caressing the soft head, said, “yes my son, I lost and the deer won.”

Then, with a warmth-filled sparkle in his eyes,  the father asked his son, “Do you want to know why?”

“Yes dad,” the son replied, curiously...

“Son, I lost and the deer won,” the father explained to his young-cub, “because, I was running for my ‘lunch’... and the deer was running for its ‘life’...

And, as the little-son was still absorbing the essence of this priceless lesson, the caring father concluded, “And, son, that made all the difference between winning and losing!”

Every time I tell this story in my class, I dramatize it... I take them to the jungle... I bring alive, before their hearts, the Cheetah, the cub and the deer... the chase... the innocence... the profound lesson... “In life, if you want to win,” I do not have to tell the moral of the story to my young-cubs, “don’t just run for your ‘lunch’... run for your ‘life’!”

GERALD D’CUNHA