Raafay wanted a pet. He didn’t care if it was a fish in a bowl, a parrot in a cage or a beautiful butterfly in a transparent box . In fact, Raafay longed to live outdoors, close to nature. He often played in the woods near his house. His cousins Mufeez, Ahil and Aynoor loved to accompany him.
One day he picked up a squirrel and brought it home. His mother did not approve. “Let the poor creature go. Keeping it in a cage is cruel,” she said.
Raafay refused to part with it. Instead he ran out with it to show it off to his cousins. The children were delighted. Suddenly, the squirrel leaped from Raafay’s hands and darted off into the clump of trees nearby. The children ran after it, but it was too fast for them.
Finally they arrived at a pond. Too tired, they squatted on the grass and stretched out. The cool grass below and the gentle breeze that blew made them sleepy. Soon, they fell asleep.
Suddenly, Raafay felt something wet and sticky on his face. His eyes opened and Raafay stared into the glassy eyes of a big black panther. He was scared and shuddered.
“Wake up lazybones, it’s lesson time in the jungle,” the panther said.
“A talking panther! This is ridiculous,” Raafay thought.
He then realized that he is missing on clothes except for a red undergarment. “Goodness! I look like Mowgli from the Jungle Book adventure,” he gasped.
“What do you mean you look like Mowgli? You are Mowgli and I am Bagheera,” said the panther.
“No, I’m not. I’m Raafay,” Raafay said.
“Man cub, you are a weird one,” muttered Bagheera.
Raafay looked around for his cousins. They were nowhere in sight. He wondered if Bagheera had eaten them up.
Just then, a cheerful bear came along tossing coconuts in the air. “Let’s play, Mowgli”, he said, as he tossed him a coconut. Raafay caught it and tossed it back saying, “I am dreaming….this is not real.”
“Oh! Yes, it is,” said Bagheera, who ducked as the bear tossed a coconut at him, too. Dream or reality, Raafay decided to play along.
Just then, a herd of elephants came thudding along the jungle trail, led by their proud old leader. “There’s Haathi and his troop,” said Baloo who jumped to one side as the coils of a python dropped to the ground next to them. “Watch where you drop, Kaa,” said Balu. Kaa, the python ignored him and looked at Raafay. “You must come and see me sometime”.
“Oh ! no,” chorused Bagheera and Baloo.
“We’ll see about that,” replied Kaa as he slithered away.
Even though he felt shy to be roaming in his red underwear, Raafay was having a lot of fun with the talking animals. But he hoped his cousins were there with him too. Lost in his thoughts, he wandered off into a more silent part of the jungle. When suddenly, “Psst…” someone called out to him. It was a strong wolf.
“What’s the matter? Why are you whispering?” Raafay asked. The wolf said that he had come to warn him about Shere Khan, the tiger. “If you go any further into this part of the jungle, you will become the tiger’s next meal,” the wolf said.
“Why are you so concerned,” Raafay asked.
“You are one of us, Mowgli. You grew up with us…. and I, Akela, the leader of the pack, have been asked to look after you,” the wolf replied.
Just then they heard a ear-splitting roar. “Run for your life Mowgli, Shere Khan is coming this way,” Akela shouted. They both took to their heels when they saw the Shere Khan approaching. They came to a clearing in the jungle where the wolf pack seemed to be having a meeting. Bagheera was present too.
“So, there you are…. do not wander off again like that,” Bagheera said, upon seeing Raafay. Akela told the pack how close they had got to meeting Shere Khan. “Shere Khan will kill us all if he sees any of us sheltering a man-cub. Mowgli has to go back to his tribe of humans”, said Akela.
Bagheera immediately stood up and said, “I will take him to the man-village. There he will be safe from any harm.”
“But I enjoy myself here…please do not send me to the man-village,” Raafay pleaded. But Bagheera said that it was the safest place for him to be in. So Raafay and Bagheera set out for the man-village. It was growing dark. They found a huge banyan tree and decided to rest on its branches. Bagheera was tired and fell asleep.
Raafay decided to escape. He thought, “If I run away, I can stay longer in the jungle”. So he climbed down from the tree and started running. Very soon, he was tired. He sat down at the foot of another tree and began dozing. He felt something soft and comfortable encircle him. He opened his eyes and found himself looking straight into the hypnotic eyes of Kaa, the python! “Sleep….” Kaa hissed. Raafay knew he was in big trouble.
Just as Kaa opened his mouth to swallow Raafay,four pairs of hands caught him by the shoulders and pulled him out of Kaa’s coils. Raafay was too stunned to react as he rose into the air supported by friendly arms. The sound of chattering voices made him look up. He realised that his rescuers were none other than monkeys.
They passed him from one pair of arms to another until they reached another part of the jungle dotted with banana trees. Raafay was thrown on a bed of banana leaves. He was served bananas and coconut water. No sooner had he finished his refreshments when a huge monkey moved over to his side followed by several other monkeys.
“Man-cub, welcome to my part of the jungle. I was immensely happy to learn about your presence here. I need a special secret from you in return for which I will give you anything you want, for I am the Monkey King,” said the huge monkey. “Tell me the secret of fire,” he said.
“I do not know,” Raafay replied. “In that case, I shall keep you here as my prisoner, till you change your mind,” the Monkey King said.
He caught Raafay by his arm, shook him vigorously and threw him into a bamboo cage. Raafay let out a loud cry. Moments later, a rather awkward looking monkey came dancing and singing along. He had coconut shells stuck all over him. Raafay felt he knew the funny fellow. The other monkeys too joined in the song and dance sequence started by the newcomer, when suddenly he slipped. The coconut shells fell on the floor exposing the newcomer. It was Baloo, the Bear!
“Baloo, I’m glad you came,” Raafay shouted.
“I was passing by when I heard your cry for help, Bagheera too is with me,” Baloo said, as Bagheera jumped out from behind a rock.
“Grab the man-cub,” the Monkey King shouted. But even before the monkeys could react, Bagheera and Baloo came to his rescue. They fought with the monkeys and released Raafay from the cage. Then Baloo carried him on his shoulder and off they went.
On their way back to the jungle, Bagheera said, “Akela was right, you have to go to the man-village. You cannot live here with us; it is not safe for you. I will take you to the edge of the jungle tomorrow.”
Raafay protested but, Bagheera told him that there was no other choice. So, he turned and ran away. Bagheera and Baloo could not keep pace with him. Suddenly, a huge yellow and black figure sprang before him.
“Going somewhere?” Shere Khan asked.
“What business is it of yours?” Raafay retaliated.
“Aren’t you afraid of me? And aren’t you going to run away” Shere Khan roared.
“I am not afraid of you and I am certainly not going to run,” Raafay stated defiantly.
Shere Khan lifted his paw to strike Raafay, when Bagheera and Baloo flung themselves upon him. Lightning struck as the jungle rocked with violence. A tree nearby caught fire. Shere Khan struck Bagheera. This angered Raafay, who pulled out a burning branch and flung it at Sher Khan. The tiger was scared and ran away.
Suddenly, the monkeys appeared from nowhere shouting, “Fire.. Fire.. the man-cub has fire.” Baloo and Bagheera grabbed hold of Raafay and almost dragged him to the edge of the jungle. They all ran forward till they reached the pond at the edge. A beautiful girl was singing a song as she filled water in her pot.
Raafay was about to call out to her when…
“Raafay wake up, it’s getting late… we have to go home,” Aynoor was shaking him.
Raafay rubbed his eyes and opened them. The girl at the pond was gone. But his cousins Mufeez, Ahil and Aynoor were there.
“I had the most amazing dream… I dreamed I was Mowgli,” said Raafay.
“I slept and had a dream too,” said Mufeez, adding, “I dreamed I was Bagheera.”
“I seemed to have been in the same dream,” said Aynoor, “For in it, I was Akela.”
“And I was Baloo the bouncy bear,” said Ahil.
“What a day! Let’s go home,” said Raafay.
As soon as he reached home, Raafay ran to his mother and said, ” You were right, animals ought to live in the open, not in our houses. It’s the way God has made us. I am never going to force an animal to live in our house again.”
His mother was pleased. She hugged him and said, “I am glad you realized it yourself.”
To encapsulate the above story:
The Theme of this story was to protect the animals’ habitat and its natural surroundings through Afforestation. Making sure that the humans do not act as an intruders by violating the animals’ space and their privacy. Letting them live peacefully in their own jungle, given to them rightfully by Mother Nature as humans would love to live in their man-made concrete jungle without any disturbances to their daily activities by Wild Animals. Man’s avarice shouldn’t transgress and encroach upon the territory of animals.
Like humans, animals too are not born to live in a zoo or cage. No offense to my own species for the above Image. Wink, wink 😉.
If humans choose, both people and animals can coexist peacefully on planet Earth.
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