Actually, everyone throughout the world has kept giving the example of Tortoise.....Saying that slow and steady wins the race and emphasizing the value of persistence and dedication.
Well! No one has ever bothered to ask the Hare his side of the story, so let me tell you the story from a different point of view......
I met the Hare and sat down with him for a heart to heart talk.
This is what he had to say after we spent the better part of a balmy summer afternoon getting to know one other.
It was a wonderful experience, believe me....
No, I did not get lazy or complacent.
Let me explain.
I was hopping over the meadows near the hills and looked back to realise that the tortoise was nowhere was nowhere to be seen.
Assured of my healthy lead, I decided to take a short under the large banyan tree near the pond.
The anticipation of the race had kept me up all night.
For days, that silly old tortoise had boasted about his ability to plod for hundreds of miles without stopping.
Life is a marathon, he said, not a sprint. I wanted to show him that I could run both far and fast.
The shade of the tree was like an umbrella.
I found an almost oval rock, covered it with grass and turned it into a makeshift pillow.
I could hear the leaves rustling and the bees buzzing - it felt they were collaborating and even conspiring to put me to sleep.
And it didn't take them long to succeed.
I saw myself drifting on a log in a beautiful stream of water.
As I came near the shore, I found an old man, with a flowing beard, sitting on a rock in a meditative pose. He opened his eyes, gave me an all-nowing smile and asked :
"Who are you?"
"I am a hare. I am running a race".
"Why?"
"To prove to all the creatures in the jungle that I am the fastest".
"Why do you want to prove that you are the fastest?"
"So that I get a medal which will give me status which will give me money which will get me food...."
"There is already so much food around". He pointed to the forest in the distance. "Look at all those trees laden with fruits and nuts, all those leafy branches".
"I also want respect. I want to be remembered as the fastest hare who ever lived".
"Do you know the name of the fastest deer or the largest elephant or the strongest lion who lived a thousand years before you?"
"No".
"Today you have been challenged by a tortoise.
Tomorrow, it will be a snake.
Then it will be a zebra.
Will you keep racing all your life to prove that you are the fastest?"
"Hmm. I didn't think about it.
I don't want to race all my life".
"What do you want to do?"
"I want to sleep under a banyan tree on a makeshift pillow while the leaves rustle and the bees buzz.
I want to hop over the meadows near the hills and swim in the pond".
"You can do all these things this very moment.
Forget the race.
You are here today but you will be gone tomorrow".
I woke up from my sleep.
The ducks in the pond looked happy.
I jumped into the pond, startling them for a moment.
They looked at me quizzically.
"Weren't you supposed to be racing with the tortoise today?"
"It's pointless.
An exercise in futility.
All I want is to be here.
Hopefully, someday, someone will tell the world my story,
That I lost the race but got back my life!!
Live life to the fullest.....
today, tomorrow and ALWAYS.
- Courtesy What'sApp
* * *
"My maternal grandfather was a good man. God bless his soul. I remember when I was a kid and spent some holidays with him. There was a lady neighbour called Elizabeth around his age. She used to come to the house every now and then with a letter from her brother in Australia and she would ask my grandfather to read and explain to her as she couldn't read. They will go to his room to read the letter for her and after a bit, she comes out with a red face and a smile.
Few years later, as I grew older, we found out that Elizabeth didn't have any brother in Australia and Grandpa was illiterate".
- Velma Kadiori
Tailpiece.
Got up at a trifle past 6, the chores and was ready by a quarter to 10.
Shihab came along with his auto rickshaw at a half past 10 and we went to the Municipality Office at the eastern entrance of the temple. I was told that my query - regarding arrears of house tax, amounting to Rs.5 grand - would be solved at the Pookkode Panchayat, under whose jurisdiction my house was situated. So, took another auto rickshaw and Gireesh took me first to the fruit shop at the western entrance where I'd picked up a fruit basket, then went across to Thampuraanpadi Mukku to buy fish for Kittu and finally, to the Pookkode Panchayat where I met Mr Suresh Kumar, the superintendent who has been on the chair for the last three months.
The panchayat is in the process of computerisation. He has promised to feed in my particulars - his lady assistant, Ms Rathi was on the job who had collected my details - and on completion, inform me. So, finally the problem has been licked. Phew! I, being an ex-serviceman am exempted from paying this tax and also because my house has a plinth area < 2,000 sq ft.
It was a quiet day thereafter.
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