Save For Life

Once upon a time in the jungles of Bolivia , there lived a family of monkeys. They were very good and kind-hearted, but they used to waste a lot of food and water every day. In the city of Sucre there was also a family who used to waste food just like the monkeys in jungle.

Both families were of three members and had taken food and water for granted.  

The owner of the house in the city was named Mr. Sevetor Weadore and the male monkey was called Thumpa. They did not think of the others who did not get water and food for nearly the whole year.  There also lived three sages in the neighbourhood in the city and three in a hut near the monkeys’ house. Everyday litres of water would flow out from the house of Mr. Weadore.  A lot of food grains also flowed along with the water.

The sages were very sad after seeing the wastage of food by a single family. Ridha was the eldest of the three sages in the neighbourhood. One day sage Ridha told the others, “See how this family wastes food. Let’s store all the waste water and rice grains for future use. We can also purify the water and donate it to the drought-stricken areas.” So, the next day the sages secretly cut off the sewage pipe from Mr. Weadore’s house and fixed another pipe which was connected to their home. The sages built a storeroom in a corner of their house and all the rice grains and water that came would be stored there. This went on for a long time.

         Meanwhile, the wise sages near the monkeys’ house also had the same idea. They put buckets under Thumpa’s house and collected all the water along with the banana peels thrown away by the monkeys. They started burying all the peels in the ground and they stored some water for drinking and rest was used by them to water the plants in the forest.

          In the city, Ridha had collected a lot of grains and now had started to wash and made them eatable.  He had given away all the water to the municipality for purification and supply.

Also, in the forest the sages had made compost out of the banana peels and had started the plantation of vegetables and grains. Years were passing by quickly. By no time year of 2000 hopped past years and reached 2024. Food and water were decreasing in quantity from both the families.  Finally a severe famine broke in followed by a drought in Bolivia. Everyone was struck badly by this natural calamity like never before.

Families of Mr. Weadore and Thumpa had to face this tough time. Both the families suffered a lot; starvation and thirst made them wild. Mr. Weadore’s family went from house to house in the neighbourhood begging for a meal and water. While Thumpa and his family crossed miles in jungle in search of fruits and water. They remained unsuccessful. With every day passing by, they were nearing death of hunger.

The sages were busy in serving the society in Sucre and saving animals in deep forest of Bolivia. Hearing the news Mr Weadore and Thumpa reached to Sages crying for help.  The sages fed them happily with their reserves and smiling in mind.

Ridha, while giving food and water to Mr. Weadore, said, “ You all are now eating your own food which you had wasted earlier.” He wailed and cried loudly and was saddened by his mistake. Then Ridha again said, “So, from now on you should not waste water or food.”   The sages in the jungle gave some food to the monkeys. They were also happy when they heard that Thumpa had passed on the sages’ message to his next generations and told them about his experience. From then on, both families learnt a lesson on water and food wastage and never wasted it again.