“I think I would prefer to be superheroes like thenali Ramakrishna, who doesn’t have superpowers, but who relies on their intelligence and use of the right tools to get the job done.” READ TIS STORY AFTER LONG TIME, TER S SOME KIND OF ENJOYMENT IN READING CHILDHOOD STORIES. Once the king (Sri Krishna Devara) was approached by citizens to give guidance on the pest problem of mice. For some reason, that year the entire kingdom was ravaged by lots of mice. His people started getting irritated with this troublesome tiny animal; everywhere, the mice were spreading disease, leaving droppings, spoiling furniture, blankets, etc. The king patiently listened to the people’s plight and he asked for suggestions from his court. One of his trusted ministers gave a brilliant suggestion. He proposed that each family should be given a cat and that should solve this problem permanently. The family cat would keep a check on the mice. Everyone in the court nodded in agreement. The king was pleased with the idea. But there was a small catch – as you know – for every little thing a government wants to do or not do, there is always someone/some lobby behind it. Is it not? To encourage cat-keeping, some one suggested that the king (the treasury) should give a small sum of money to each household (cf. tax credit, farm subsidy, credit for growing corn, etc.. let the reader add his/her favorite item…). Now, of course, this idea also on the face of it appeared very sound to the king. Sure, it is a great idea. After all, the king does not work/toil/sweat – right? And whose money, is it any way? It is all the people’s money/taxes. But our Tenali was just passively listening to all this charade. He just was silent, kept his trickeries to all himself. So, lo, a grand resolution (aka legislation) was passed. Soon, ribbon cutting ceremony and a large number of kitten were distributed to all houses in the kingdom. And of course, every month each household was getting a sum towards the expenses of keeping a pet. Now, the reader thinks that the pest (mice) problem was solved in a few months. One thinks that everything in Krishna Devara’s kingdom must have been hunky-dory after awhile. Wrong! The mice if anything increased in numbers. More pest problems, nothing happened despite a drain on the treasury. So, the king called for a big meeting. He enquired why the cats were not helping to keep the mice numbers down. People said that the cats were not hunting the mice. Of course, why would they? The cats were being fed three nice meals a day. So, why would they go after the mice? They would rather have a nice siesta, lying lazily in the sofa. So, any way, the king’s controller (comptroller, auditor) first wanted to take an inventory of all the cats in the kingdom. Every time there is a problem, what do the auditors prescribe? Count! Number crunching! So, the king ordered that each household should display their pet cat (yea, I mean the fat cat!) in the court. The court auditor would count all the kitten, examine all records, and would balance the government books. Our Tenali thought what a great idea, he just chuckled inside. So, in course of time every household was called, the cats were examined. The court vet opened the cats’ mouths and made sure the teeth were in good shape. You need, I mean the cat needs good teeth to eat mice? This dog-and-pony (we mean, cat-and-minus-rat) show went on for the whole day. In the end, the king called for the cat from Tenali’s house. Tenali gently brought the cat to the stage. And, lo, now the real story begins here. All the cats were found to be in good health, a bit fat, plump, sporting good shiny fur. But for some reason, the cat from Tenali’s house was very thin. This was unacceptable. How was it possible? The king asked Tenali – “Our royal treasury paying you every month a good sum of money, how come your cat is so weak and slender?” Tenali replied that he did not know why? He said that the cat never drank milk since the first day. The king and the court were aghast! All thought that Tenali was up to some nefarious trick. But no body had any inkling to what it was. The king did not believe Tenali’s words. He ordered for a bowl of tasty milk. The king then ordered his royal servant to bring the milk bowl near the cat. And, lo, the cat jumped as if it were on some hot coals and ran away from the stage. Then, the king chidingly asked Tenali to come open with the whole truth. Everyone in the court wanted to know why Ramakrishna’s cat would not even lick a drop of milk. Well, now it was our grand Tenali’s turn to inject some harsh wisdom into this whole scheme of ‘money making’ [aka, milking the (royal) cow]. Tenali started thus: “Sire, if we feed the cat stomach full, why would it run after the mice? So, on the first day itself, I offered scalding hot milk to my cat. It got its tongue burnt. Now, it never drinks milk at our house. But it goes after the mice and goes around, scrounges for bits of food here and there. And my house does not have this pest problem. With the money you gave me, I bought a few saris for my wife.” The king came to his senses and he scrapped the entire scheme. His people also realized finally that they had to solve the pest problem on their own.
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 07:41:06 +0000
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