Panchatantra Monkey And Crocodile

It was my summer vacation and I was very excited to meet my young cousins as much as they were. A month away from exams, schools and just enjoying life with my famjam, wow!! that's how blessed childhood days are.

Being the eldest sister, all my cute cousins would always listen to me. Playful mornings to bedtime stories, each day was a bliss. One fine night, after having a yummy dinner we all cousins gathered at the half-open terrace to enjoy the ritual bedtime stories before we all fall asleep together in the natural breeze.

Didi, please start we all have settled now, Chitra said. Me: Ok dear, today I will tell you about Panchatantra stories. Panchatantra is a fable that guides kids about friendship, alliances and on how to protect ourselves and face enemies. The panch that is five, tantras or pillars are 

Mitra Bedha: The separation of friends 

Mitra Laabha: The gaining of friends

Kakolukiyam: War and Peace

Labdhapranasam: On losing what you have gained

Apariksitakarakam: About hasty actions

So today we will start with the first theme, Mitra Bedha.

Once there was a beautiful Jamun tree besides a river. A monkey was a daily resident of this tree and would come every morning to enjoy the sweet jamuns. One fine day, when the monkey was slurping on these jamuns, a crocodile from the adjacent river came crawling near the tree and silently gazed at the monkey. Monkey noticed the sadness in the crocodile's eye and immediately asked, "Dear Crocodile why do you look teary-eyed, hope you are well". Crocodile whined in a sad tone and said, "I am very hungry but not blessed like you, I can't jump and ever taste these jamuns. Every day as I swim I admire the beauty of this tree and their fruits but my life is a plight".

The monkey immediately climbed another branch and shook the tree hard so that jamuns fall on the ground, he then smiled at Crocodile and said, "There you go my friend, relish these delicious jamuns, it's all for you. Whenever you feel like eating them I will get it for you". The crocodile was very happy and savored all the plumpy jamuns and packed a handsome for home, for his wife. This continued for some days, Monkey would climb, drop the jamuns, they both would enjoy eating and then the crocodile would pack some jamuns for his wife.

It was August approaching and the Jamun trees were left with just a few fruits as the blooming season had gone so Monkey, Crocodile and his wife couldn't savor the sweet jamuns now as much as before. This irked the greedy wife, Mrs.Crocodile and she told her husband, "If these Jamuns are so sweet and delicious, think how sweet will be the heart of the Monkey, I want to eat his heart".The crocodile shouted in dismay at his wife's request and said, "Monkey is my friend, I can't betray him for your greediness . It's his kindness that we could enjoy the sweet plumpy jamuns for so long".

His wife however was very adamant about her demands and initially had stopped talking to his husband but eventually denied having a single morsel of food or water until her demands are met. Mr.Crocodile was now forced to agree with his wife's wishes and thought as such the jamuns are getting over so even he wouldn't benefit from Monkey's friendship. So he went the next day to Monkey with a plan.

Crocodile greeted Monkey as usual and said, " O dear friend, my wife and I have been enjoying these jamuns only because of your kind heart, we are highly obliged and invite you for dinner to my home on my wife's insistence. Please don't say no ".

But, I don't know how to swim, Monkey responded innocently to Crocodile. 

"Oh! Don't worry my friend I will take you in my back and swim across, I won't dive deep so that you will be able to float on me, I will also drop you back safely on the shore," the crocodile said.

The delighted monkey agreed and came down from the tree to travel along with Crocodile, when they were halfway in the river the crocodile dived deep into the water and came out, he repeated this several times when the scared Monkey said, what are you doing my friend? You are risking my life by diving so deep in the water. The crocodile laughed and said the whole story about how his wife eagerly awaited the Monkeys heart for her dinner today.

The Monkey thought for a while and then said, "My friend, you should have told me this before I have kept my heart in the Jamun basket on the tree, we should return immediately without delay to fetch it for your wife". The crocodile got trapped in Monkeys words and they return back to shore. The monkey immediately climbs the tree, collects his jamun basket where he writes a note, ties it with a ribbon, and handovers it to Crocodile as he says, "Dear friend, I have placed my heart safely along with the balance few jamuns left from this tree and a thank you note for your wife. I have tied the basket properly so that it reaches safely to your wife while you dive in the water and so please reopen only once you reach home".

The crocodile happily obliged and took the basket along with him to his home and gifted his wife.

As the wife excitingly reopened the basket, she finds it filled with all leftover rotten seeds of Jamun along with a note which read, "You both betrayed my friendship. I trusted you both and counted as my friends but you all let me down. You all laid a plan to kill me and have me as a dinner by tricking my innocence but didn't realize you killed our friendship. And not you, I tricked you both back! U fools, you can't tear apart heart from the body, my heart is with me only. But with this betrayal, all you have earned now is, these leftover seeds of the Jamuns we had enjoyed when you pretended friendship with me. These seeds will remind you of your selfishness and betrayal to a true friend. Go away from me and never return to this Jamun Tree".

The crocodile and his wife realized their folly and were in shame. They lost the sweetest Jamun of life, Friendship!

"Wow! A good moral we understood Didi, Tit for Tat, Thank you Didi for this fable", all my cousins unanimously expressed their gratitude as we prepared for sleep.