Tiger and his fish
Back when, in the dense forests of Sundarbans, lived two
gargantuan tigers, one was called ‘Shera’ while the other was known as ‘Bagha’
to the jungle. Not to mention, both of them had established a terrifying rule in
the stretch of the forest.
Shera and Bagha used to go in the Hooghly river every day to
take bath. While they submerged in the shallow waters of the river, catching a
fish or two for a quick snack was common for them. It had become a daily
activity, as no one ever had shown any dissatisfaction over it. Rather no one dared to do
so. Both used to have a fun time catching fish and throwing it over one
another. Swallowing it without giving a time for that fish to open eyes in the
air. Every now and then, there used to be rivalry among them over ‘who
catches more today’.
Slowly they realized that the number of fish in the river
was decreasing rapidly due to their thoughtless consumption in the last few months. Bagha
suggested to Shera, “ Hey look, here we have to stop and think. I just realized
the number of fish in the river downstream has started declining rapidly. See,
these orangutans are not being able to get anything even after hours of
patience, just on the other side of this river. Don’t you think we should reduce
eating fishes here?”
“Why do you bother about it when nobody has complained about
it yet?”, asked Shera. "Besides, we are
the ‘Tigers’ of this jungle. We are supreme and it’s our right to get whatever we
want. Or else what is the use of this authority which our ancestors have
established in the jungle?”
“But” Bagha exclaimed, “ Don’t you think it’s unnecessarily
snatching something from someone which is really not ours? We get plenty of
preys in the jungle all the time..” Shera interrupted in between, “Who told you we
are snatching from others? We are eating fish there for such a long time and no one ever
has asked us to stop doing it. I don’t think there’s a point in going without
fish from this river, even after having no obstacle for it. In any case, I will continue doing it, no matter what.”
Now looking at the Shera’s obstinate stand, Bagha decided go
alone with his new protocol. Earlier, both of them used to catch fish every
day of the month. Now Bagha stopped catching fish for twenty five days of the
month, while retaining the habit for the last five days. He also tried to
convince other tigers of the area to do the same in order to have a balance among the animals in the jungle. Some of them agreed too. Soon he had a lot of
followers in other jungles as well. Meanwhile,
Shera continued to do it for full thirty days of the month.
Animals in the jungle were surprised by this 'pro-prey' policy
of Bagha and soon they were talking over with another about his greatness.
Someone said, “Bagha is now realizing what it is like giving
up selfishness.” “He can be a messiah for the animals of the jungle to save
them from hunters”, somebody gave an opinion “He is a wonderful beast as, in
spite of being a tiger, he has put on display a rare act of sacrifice.”
While this admiration of the acts of Bagha was going on, a
bright young baboon finished his banana , hurled the peel away and came down
from a nearby tree.
He interrupted everyone with his loud burrrp. “Bagha may
have given up fishing for the twenty five days” everyone listened “but you
know what, this so called messiah of the jungle still catches fish for the rest five days of the month”. Everyone started looking at each other’s face
in bewilderment. Though not very shocking, but this news was indeed new to them
and deserved an attention.
“This is so ridiculous!” the baboon continued, “While on one side, you pretend to care for other animals of jungle and on the other side you are betraying their trust. This Bagha is making fool of us. We want explanation for those last five days of the month” Everyone appreciated the way that little baboon had saved them from such a conspicuous betrayal.
“This is so ridiculous!” the baboon continued, “While on one side, you pretend to care for other animals of jungle and on the other side you are betraying their trust. This Bagha is making fool of us. We want explanation for those last five days of the month” Everyone appreciated the way that little baboon had saved them from such a conspicuous betrayal.
All of them were now talking about the bad effects of Bagha catching fish from the river.
“How can he suggest us to consider common good of jungle when he himself is not following it?”, a tiger said who had recently stopped catching fishes from the same river. “What he thinks he is.. How can he call himself benevolent when the last five days of the month are so dark in his month?”
He was now known as a liar and a tiger that no one can
trust.
Soon, the entire jungle started blaming Bagha. “Who are you
to tell us what to do and what not to, when you yourself are a liar and
untrustworthy?” They also found that his brother had links with the tigers of the
neighboring jungle. Somebody found “this tiger had once killed an innocent tiny
rabbit for no reason” Someone got a clue for possible links of Bagha with a hunter
who had animals of this jungle on his target. One animal questioned, "why the
cave of Bagha was located at the best
place in the jungle” “this place was snatched by his ancestors four
generations ago from the local animals here”.
Bagha cried in his cave.
“Bagha, why did you even think of abstaining from fishing
for those twenty five days when you won’t be following it for the next five
days? Don’t you know the five days will sooner or later outweigh the righteousness
of twenty five days? All your sacrifice and your ideologies are useless when you
possess something to be caught between a rock and a hard place.”
He had to eventually leave the jungle.
...
Shera composedly came out the river with three fishes in his
mouth. He grinned as he gulped down the tenth fish of the day through his
throat.
He sat under a nearby tree where a baboon was quietly eating bananas
and thought, “Lame animals!”.
P.S. This story doesn't have any connection with the anarchists
trying to change the system. Any similarity is purely a coincidence.
