Past
few months had indeed been very difficult for Mr. Lion. His failing eye
sight was making life quite uncomfortable for him and for days
together, he was compelled to sleep on empty stomach. Even small rodents
and sluggish roosters made off with ease right before his wide open
eyes.
As
the darkness of night stretched its long dark hands, he felt all the
more helpless and prayed for divine intervention to find food and more
importantly way back to his home. During one such evening Mr. Lion lost
his way into the forest and accidentally reached the outer edge of the
forest.
He
was feeling hungry and with no hint of finding the way to his home, he
felt tired and disappointed. He succumbed to his fatigue and stretched
under a tree.
While
he was pondering over some plan to ease out of his trouble, he felt
that he was not alone under that tree. He forced his old weak nose to
smell the unknown presence and felt the scent to be unusual and decided
to check again while controlling his unexpected fear. His instincts
guided for a human presence in the vicinity.
Meanwhile
his unexpected neighbour had also noticed the presence of an unknown
being sharing the same space and air. Both turned around and suddenly
faced each other. The face off had incredible reactions from both of
them.
While
Mr. Lion felt vulnerable of human presence, his neighbour felt he was
facing a cute dog. The man stared at Mr. Lion for a moment and then
said, “Oh ho you are a cute pretty dog and surely I will take you home”
Mr. Lion felt very offended at such demeaning comparison.
He
retorted, “Can’t you see a majestic lion standing before you. You must
be having trouble with your vision” The words spoken with some arrogance
with a hint of displeasure had a magical impact on instant basis.
The
man started shivering with fear and came down on his knees with folded
hands, “O I am awfully sorry for such a terrible mistake. In fact I keep
making such miserable goof ups due to my poor eye sight” Mr. Lion felt a
wave of sympathy surging through his heart and he felt almost choked
with emotions. “Yeah…….I can understand your plight and my situation is
no different from yours” and he sat down with despair. He continued his
narration in an agonising dull voice, “I am not even able to catch my
prey and go hungry for many days in continuation.”
The
man felt sympathetic for poor Mr. Lion and suggested, “I have a pair of
reading glasses which I could use comfortably till a few months back
but they don’t serve my purpose any more. You can give those glasses a
try” Mr. Lion felt delighted and a faint glimmer of hope sparkled in the
corner of his eyes. “I would love to see those glasses” Mr. Lion
sounded very excited. Very carefully the man searched out the small box
containing his spectacles from his bag.
He
extended the temples of glasses and carefully placed the bridge on Mr.
Lion’s nose. He carefully adjusted the spectacles and asked Mr. Lion
to see through the lenses. Mr. Lion felt uncomfortable at first but then
he realized that he could see everything quite clearly.
He
clapped and hugged the man. Mr. Lion felt as if he had received a new
lease of life. He offered to show the man way out of forest.
The
man also felt important and appreciated the warm gesture of Mr. Lion.
He started arranging his belongings in his bag and found a box full of
eatables inside the bag. He decided to have a meal before starting his
return journey. When he opened the box, he noticed Mr. Lion staring at
the contents of the box. He immediately understood that Mr. Lion was
quite hungry and he offered him some sandwiches and pakoras.
Mr.
Lion started gulping the delicious preparations and enjoyed the taste
thoroughly. While munching the pakoras Mr. Lion shared his thoughts, “I
had heard that human beings are very cruel and greedy” “My opinion about
lions was not much different” the man retorted in same vein and both of
them laughed and it echoed throughout the forest.
Dr. Manjari Shukla
(PUBLISHED IN THE HINDU ON 8th APRIL 2016)
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