WHEN WOLF REALLY COMES
“A man trusts another man
when he sees enough of himself in him.”
Gregory David Roberts
Trust
is a very fragile thing… It takes a long time to build; but, it can break in no
time.
And, I am talking
about trust in our day-to-day dealings…
I have seen how
ferocious animals come to trust gentle humans… dogs, cats, deer, dolphins, bears,
tigers, lions, elephants – every animal responds to gentle gestures from humans.
But, invariably, this trust in humans is won slowly with patience and
persistence.
On the other
hand, we humans adopt a different approach to our fellow humans… We don’t trust
easily our fellow humans… We read too much into their behaviour, doubt more,
stay skeptical. I know, I cannot generalize this phenomenon, though. But, I can
safely say this: Trust breed s trust; mistrust breeds mistrust…
In the sessions
I take for the underprivileged kids, there are these two boys (about the age 9-10).
They attend regularly; but, they are extremely restless and mischievous. With
all my decades-long experience with all types of young and little kids, I find
myself searching for a new idea to keep these two kids rested and focused. But,
because they add life and fun into our otherwise serious sessions, I simply go
along – by addressing their strengths and downplaying their weaknesses…
Sometimes, fun
and playfulness are what our daily life demands – yes, to keep our sanity in
place…
These two kids
are angels sent by God in my life…
In the last
session, I told them this old story…
CRYING WOLF
Once, in a village, there was this
young boy, who was very restless and constantly troubled the neighbours with
his mischief. The village people were fed up of this boy and found an idea to
deal with him. They gave him a task: to take their sheep to the mountainside
for grazing every morning and bring them back in the evening.
“If
wolf comes, cry ‘wolf, wolf’,” the villagers told him, “we will come there with
our sticks.”
The
boy took up the task…
Just
a day went by… The boy started feeling bored and restless. So, he thought of
doing his usual mischief… “Wolf, wolf,” he started crying…
The
villagers quickly picked their sticks and rushed to the site…
“Where
is the wolf?” they asked the boy…
“I
was just fooling you,” the boy laughed.
“Don’t
do this again,” the villagers warned the boy and returned.
A
few days went by… The boy was unable to contain his boredom and restlessness… “Wolf,
wolf,” he started crying, again…
The
villagers were ready to rush with their sticks… “Is he fooling us, again?” some
asked unable to trust him.
“But,
what if there is a real wolf?” others asked.
Finally,
they rushed to the site…
“Where
is the wolf?” they asked the boy.
“Ha,
ha, I was just fooling,” the boy said laughing.
“Look,
this is the final warning we are giving you,” the villagers said to the boy,
angrily, “Stop it… Else, you will repent.”
A
few more days went by… This time, the wolf really appeared and the boy began to
cry in panic, “Wolf, wolf, wolf.”
No
villagers turned up with sticks…
When
I finished narrating the story, one of the two restless kids wanted to go to
the nearby loo (shauchalaya)… His friend (and partner-in-crime),
expectedly, wanted to go, too. I had repeatedly asked all the kids to complete their
‘routine rituals’ before the sessions started and not to cause any disturbance…
So, this time, I
yelled, “Baito.”
I don’t know if wolf had really come!
Mercifully, the
boys went home peacefully… So did the rest of us!
GERALD
D’CUNHA
Pic’s: 1. www.pinterest.com 2. www.bbc.co.uk
Video:Rj Kartik
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