SOMETIMES, SOMEONE COMES THERE UP TO CUT TO SIZE OUR 'BIG' EGOES







Pic.: Sheela Krishnamony


It was a hot afternoon. In a jungle, a lion, who was tired and thirst, wandered in search of water. Finally, when he came near a pond of water, the lion saw a leopard there. The leopard, too, was tired and thirsty and had reached there in search of water.

“What are you doing here?” the lion blasted with his kingly arrogance.

The leopard did not like the way the lion treated him. So, provoked by lion’s arrogance, and gathering all his courage, he reacted, “What are YOU doing here?”

Lion, not used to such a reaction from his subjects, pretended as if he had not heard what leopard had just said. “Get off my way,” he blasted, “let me drink first.”

“I am telling you the same,” the leopard did not want to concede, “wait till I finish… You very well know that I was here first.”

The lion went into a rage and threw his paw at the leopard… The leopard tried to grab lion’s neck… and they both got entangled in a fierce fight… The dust and violent roar filled the air and there was unease in the jungle…

Then, while they rolled there on the ground, bruised and bleeding, unwilling to give up, the warring animals heard an unusual sound in the air… Looking up, they saw a scary sight: scores of hungry vultures circling over them! The vultures were waiting for the battle to be over… It did not matter to them as to who won and who lost – the lion or the leopard… What mattered to them was the flesh, their meal… and, they were waiting!

Yes, both, lion and the leopard, could easily realize this… The very next moment, they gave up their fight… Then, standing side by side near the pond, they quietly drank water – for which they had come there – and went their way… Yes, hiding their tails between their legs!


Well, for a change, let me not ask that familiar question at the end:

“What is the moral of the story?”


GERALD D’CUNHA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MUTHU KODI KAWARI HADA

Image
Pic.; Ashwin Mohta M y Hindi was always bad. It still is. One reason for this was, that they introduced Hindi for us only in 6 th standard. Or, was it in 8 th ? I don’t remember… I only remember struggling to write and read… leave alone speak! But, I loved Hindi movies, and, strangely, I could understand the dialogues and the lyrics of the songs… I used to sing those songs (of course when no one was around me!) as if I was the lyricist… One of the songs was a very funny one. ‘Muthu Kodi Kawari Hada’. It was from Mehmood’s super-hit comedy – ‘Do Phool’. I was a 15-year-old high-school boy when I had heard that song (not watched the movie). I could grasp the meaning of two words – ‘Muthu Kodi’… which meant ‘Give kiss’… But, what ‘Kawari Hada’ meant, I have no clue till date! It was just like ‘Why this kolaveri di’... Yes, why ask? Simply enjoy the beats… And, the beats are great… The rest... Who cares? Really! So, whatever bit of Hi...
Read more

SELLING MIRRORS IN THE CITY OF THE BLIND

Image
“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty. I laugh when I hear that people go on pilgrimage to find God.” - Kabir T here is a universal human weakness – and it dates back to the days of fallen civilizations – and it is: to place people on pedestal and trying to be smothered by them, feel loved and protected in their company… worship them as mentors, heroes,  gurus, Mahagurus and Satgurus… Make these mortals larger-than-life cut-outs, worship them as flawless, pure and give one’s all… And, then, ‘take’ everything from them blindly as divine… Give everything to them blindly… Eventually, what happens is:  one more dangerous bondage… What was supposed to free you now becomes a new prison… It’s sad to see this happen! T his room, where I am writing this Post, has no image of any deity. I have no image of any Guru or Master around me… My question is: “Am I not able to feel close to Almighty God?  How ...
Read more

"HAPPILY EVER AFTER IS NOT A FAIRY-TALE... IT IS A CHOICE"

Image
“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone… It has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” – Ursula K. Le Guin,  The Lathe of Heaven T welve years ago, when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got married, the world began to hail the couple as ‘Brangelina’. It became a fashion for couples around us to call themselves so… Norbert and Teresa renamed them as ‘Noresa’…  Amol and Vishaka baptized their relationship as ‘Amoshka’… and, Salman and Nargis became ‘Salgis’! I and my wife, too, got tempted to re-christian our matrimonial relationship as ‘Germa’... That is, Gerald and Anima, to be precise! B efore I proceed any further, let me make it very clear, here… that, I have no business to judge on the break-up of Brad Pitt and Angelina’ Jolie’s marriage. I have no inclination to go into why, how, what when etc behind it… The couple ‘chose’ to split. And, it’s their choice… Only they know how good or bad… how joyful or pain...
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...