Once upon a time on the beautiful Ranmal lake a.k.a. Talav, in Jamnagar, Gujarat, lived 3 friends: Batak, Machimar and Kachbo. They were happy on their lake, eating fish, bathing in the sun and exchanging tidbits about their day.
Kachbo talked all day and night. Batak and Machimar listened patiently. Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring: it is all about fish, friends and folks for them.
One summer, it did not rain much and the lake started drying up. The friends started seeing the water go down and the fishes, go belly up. Soon there was little water left to drink.
Batak and Machimar, started flying to the nearby Lakhota Talav in search of fish and water.
Many times they flew back with some for their friend Kachbo.
One evening, after their meal of fish, Kachbo wistfully said ” I wish I could go with you to Lakhota Talav”. All three friends started coming with ideas of how to get Kachbo to Lakhota Talav.
Badak suggested ‘How about we I carry him on our back?” He tried it, and he could not lift off because Kachbo was too heavy for him alone. Machimar said “I can try to carry him in my beak” but Kachbo would not budge. Kachbo tried to make a little bag of leaves to be carried in and the bag broke.
All three friends are sad to not be able to find a way to bring Kachbo to Lakhota Talav.
One afternoon, when they had lost all hope. They saw a red bird a.k.a. Pakshi, carrying a twig and they all had the same thought: ‘Carry Kachbo on a twig!!!’
The search for a strong twig began in earnest. after searching high and low, they find a right sized branch of a tree which can hold the weight of their friend, the tortoise. They celebrate with water!
As Batak, Machimar and Kachbo get ready to take off, Batak turns to Kachbo “Dear friend, as you grab hold of the twig with your mouth, and we carry the twig up in the sky….”
“Up in the sky…so high…I feel scared” stammered Kachbo, fear gripping him momentarily.
But, but but….what if I want to talk? asked Kachbo.
“Be patient” replied Batak.
Machimar continues, “Kachbo, you will be fine as long as you do not open your mouth and speak.”
Just when things were going well, the three friends passed two village boys who were busy making clay pots. The boys started laughing and whistling at the sight. It was indeed ridiculous….
Soon the friends were ready and set off with Kachbo on the twig between them. All was well, Kachbo kept quiet. He remembered what his friends had said if he speaks he will surely fall.
Kachbo got annoyed, he tried to ignore them but the kids did not let up. Batak and Machimar were flying furiously to get away from the boys but only so fast since they were carrying their friend.
Kachbo was getting angrier by the minute since he did not like being made fun of and opened his mouth to yell at them….
At that very moment, he started his descent down to earth! His friends were worried, they let go of the stick they were carrying and followed him down. They were scared he was going to be hurt bad.
Lucky for Kachbo, he had a soft landing on a haystack. And he had learnt an important lesson that day.
“If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow. “
Chinese proverb
Life, a daily exploration 