SURESH RAMPHUL
One evening,
Gathering around their grandmother
The children said,
Nani, Nani, please tell us a bedtime tale.
And good-hearted Nani began:
Once upon a time, dear children,
In a far-flung piece of land
There lived a vulture. They say
It was loved by one and all.
It loved flying, swishing,
Swirling and rippling in the air.
It relished fluttering
Over the hills and valleys
And rivers and cities of the world.
Hardly could it believe
It had been blessed with good fortune.
Siblings and friends strongly
Disapproved and remonstrated.
Nothing doing.
What happened next?
The vulture kept flying.
Here. There. Everywhere.
Higher and still higher.
No matter where it went
It got the finest of everything.
As you can see
It was like a dream come true.
It felt like being a little Princess.
Till one sparkling day
A black cat emerged from nowhere.
It was sleek and shiny-coated
And the tail was fluffy.
It appeared to belong to another world.
The eyes were like those
Of a wily fox.
Something in those eyes
Made your blood run cold
And sent shivers down your spine.
But the vulture, dazzled,
Detected only innocence and
A pure heart.
And then, what happened?
They became friends.
It continued its flying spree.
It tried to reach closer and closer
To the sun. As you can imagine
Its wings got burnt.
From the enormous height
It fell with a thud on the rocks
Bruising and wounding itself
Beyond words.
It died?
No, children, it didn’t.
As you know very well
You can’t go through a trial
And come out unscathed.
Can you?
So now it lies in a corner
Alone, miserable, abandoned
Like an old ship
In the depth of the ocean.
It lies there rueing the day
The black cat crossed its path.
(Knowingly or by inadvertence,
I don’t know)
Now, children, can you tell me
This tale’s moral?
And in one voice the children said,
Don’t trust anyone blindly and stupidly.
You’ve only yourself to blame
If you do so.