Tag Archives: squirrel

Story of Squirrel from the epic Ramayana in BRIEF (3/3)

During Sri Rama exile in the forest, the ten-headed demon king Ravana from who was infatuated by Sita’s beauty managed to kidnap her by deceit. Searching desperately for his beloved wife Sri Rama meets the bird king Jatayu on his way & learns the whereabouts of Sita. But he has to cross the ocean about 300 miles to reach her. In the dense forest without any army at his disposal, Sri Rama in despair seeks the assistance of Monkey King Sugriva to get back his beloved wife. The entire monkey army as well as hundreds of thousands of other monkeys (civilian) volunteers came under Sri Rama’s command. Nala, one of the monkeys had the magical ability to make any object float in water & with his help they decided to build a stone bridge to Lanka. A smart female squirrel let’s call her “Ms. Asha Kiran” (ray of Hope) was watching all the commotion going on around the construction. The despair & grief in Sri Rama’s eyes touched the heart of Ms. AK & with compassion & love she decided to help Sri Rama.Since she was tiny & could not carry the stone boulders, she would carry little pebbles in her mouth. When tired went to the water, wet herself & rolled over the sand & mud, then to the construction site, locate the cracks & dropped the mud/sand down by shaking the body. Back then India was the land of plenty… in every term, like food, animals, flowers, etc.,… & every creature lived in harmony with each other & with the nature.

At that time the Indian squirrels were all brown & could camouflage easily blending in with the ground. But it was also a disadvantage because sometimes they got stepped on or hurt in other ways by bigger creatures who could not see them. At first the monkeys thought that Ms. AK was a nuisance running around, one of the young monkeys caught hold of her & asked her what was she doing? Ms. AK said with pride I am helping Sri Rama to build the bridge!!
LoL… you tiny creature helping build the bridge…the monkey started laughing at her… by then a small crowd of monkeys had gathered around… the young monkey said look every one she is helping to build the bridge… this is the funniest thing I have ever heard… others tired from work & looking for a chance to cheer thought it was funny & joined the young monkey in laughter.

Finally tired of laughing one of them asked: do you think Sri Rama is in need of your pebbles? He commands the largest army in the Seven Worlds, & for whom we carry whole mountains with their granite & rock. He does not want your little pebbles.
Ms. AK said, I cannot carry mountains or rocks like you guys as God has only given me strength to carry pebbles. I cannot do more; hence I will continue to do what I can as long as possible, for my heart weeps for the sorrowing Sri Rama, & what I can do to help, I will.

The monkeys said, enough of your foolishness, little one. We have no time for play & for the likes of you. You are getting on our way…. go home to your nest in the trees & let us get on with our work.
Ms. AK wouldn’t listen & one irritated young mischievous monkey picked her up & threw her away… & Ms. AK fell in the very hands of Sri Rama. Sri Rama the incarnate, knowing everything, still asked: What is it that you were trying to accomplish, my little one?

Ms. AK humbly replied, Lord, I am meek & tiny, I cannot carry big rocks, but I was very eager to contribute to your cause. Therefore was carrying these small pebbles in my mouth. I did not want to lose this opportunity to serve you & so I tried performing service in a manner that befits my size, strength, & abilities. With a smile Sri Rama held the little Ms. AK close to him with compassion & lovingly chided them. Then he said to the monkeys, despise not the weak & the small, for according to each man’s strength will he serve. And to me what matters is not how great the strength & service, but how great the love, care & devotion. This little squirrel with her pebbles has love in her heart that would move the earth & the heavens by its strength & power. Little one, your devotion has touched my heart. Be blessed then by me whom you have loved & served. So saying, he stroked the little squirrel’s furry back. And as he put her down all who had crowded round saw upon the brown fur the three white lines that were the marks of Sri Rama’s fingers. Sri Rama also blessed Ms. AK with the boon that all her descendants would bear the same three marks on their backs making them distinctive as a token of his appreciation & gratitude. Ever since then, the Indian squirrel has carried the three white stripes on its back.
Happy & honoured with the recognition Ms. AK worked harder than ever with more zest along with humans & monkey. Finally the bridge (Rama’s or Adam’s bridge between Pamban Island (aka Rameswaram Island), off the southeastern coast of Tamil Nadu) was built in five days & Sri Rama & his friends were on the road to saving Sita! Traces of which still exists & it are supposed to be visible from the space….

Moral of the story: No matter big or small you can make a difference in the world. We are bound by time (limited), action, cause & duty; let us put our act together & do something positive when we still can!! Get up & play your part & do whatever possible in your capacity.

Let us stop penalizing Mother Nature in spite of her nourishing us from birth to death (even after death when no one wants us she will accept us). Even a small honest favour to the Mother Nature counts & helps restore, no matter whom & from where it comes!! Let us live in harmony with everything like the pink and white flower in the picture.

Why do we help others in crisis? Why do we pray? (2/3)

To begin with its because it is basic human nature passed by God almighty the spark of life which make us tick. Since it is from God, no one has been able to pin point the location of the spark, in spite of all the claims in advancement of Science & Technology. Also we know that if we help someone today, tomorrow I am entitled to get help when I myself am in trouble. So we have both the pairs of opposite selfish & selfless motives as our instincts. We pray because even though we have not seen God Almighty we accept the simple fact that there is someone who is mightier than us. We mortals are so limited in our mental ability we don’t even see the proof in front of our very own eyes… the Mother Nature… in the form of Creator, Sustainer & Destroyer. She is nothing but the very extension of God Almighty visible to naked eye,no matter if you are in any form, shape, size, back ground, colour, etc. That’s why the basic essentials like Sun, Air & Water are provided by nature without any partiality. Unless you are blind physically but also mentally you can realize that.

In micro term imagine yourself as an toddler with constant need of care & your fatigued mother collapses walking on her way home or overwork done at home… put that into Macro context, a sick Mother Nature & the entire creation left in melancholies/doldrums… I am referring to mother here because her qualities are a visible extension of Mother Nature. And also under normal circumstances she is the only reality to naked eye & does not require DNA testing to prove. So think backwards… you are a child your mother is sick, needs major surgery, she neglects herself for your sake… how much chaos will occur in the family particularly in your own small little mind. The Super Mother is sick, & sums up the total chaos in the world!! It’s beyond anyone’s perception right? Suppose your mother gets help to take care of you temporarily & she manages to get her operation done & with proper care & nourishment comes back home… who will be the happiest? And who will be benefited? Surely you don’t have to wait for the Cinderella ending yeh? Similarly Mother Nature is sick attending to all of her creations particularly to greedy humans who Use, Misuse & Abuses & no care/nourishment & requires major surgery. This reminds me of a quote from Mr.Gandhi himself: There is enough in the world for everybody’s need, but not enough for one man’s greed. Because of our mismanagement flora & fauna is becoming extinct faster than we can imagine.
Just a thought… if only the man could carry everything with him while departing from his decaying body… what would have happened… what all he would have packed!?!?

We have almost reached the point of no return… but we still have hope (Mothers always tries to gives chances to children no matter how bad they are). Then there is a limit for everything. When the rubber band pulled beyond the limit either it snaps or loses its elasticity. Similarly even mother’s tolerance has a limit. And once she loses his tolerance then no one can control… There is a Brazilian saying: God Almighty always forgives. Man forgives sometimes but Mother Nature Never forgives!! Should we wait for that day??? The “D” DAY!!

Let us wake up to the future crisis today & do the needful in any possible way. Saving water, avoiding pollution, wasting food, cutting trees, being kind to fellow creation, list goes on & on… even a small thing matters.. like the phrase alilu-seve* (service of the squirrel) at the time of building the Rama-Sethu. Each & every one of us can make a difference. A small good deed can bring oodles in return. Please all of you try to do your best to save the Mother Nature in order to save ourselves & the world from destruction.