1. My Dear children I am an old man. I live in a village. Usually people ignore me. But, you know, I am a storehouse of experience, love and wisdom.

2. Why not, my dear, Grandfather ? Open the secrets and let this world know what they have. You know, my white hair and these beards hide a lot of secrets. Don’t you want to share what they have?

3. I will definitely tell you something very special but tell me about yourself first.

4. How sweet is my village! Well, I am Prem. I live in a village. People of my village belong to many communities. They don’t live happily. They poke their noses in other’s business. You know, last night what happened ? People of my village went mad. Why ? Because far away in a place a temple and a mosque had been burnt down. And they started fighting with one another here in this village.

5. Oh! What have they done to my house? H o w m a d o f t h e m ! T h e y h a v e s e t m y v i l l a g e o n f i r e. M y h o u s e i s b u r n i n g t o o. They fought vehemently. And finally they set fire to the village. Everyone’s house was on fire. All of them ran to save their lives. Only I was left alone in my village. Finally my house was put to fire too.

6. Oh! I could save my these clothes only. Well, I need to run away from here now, else they may kill me too. B u t I w i l l h a v e t o r u n f r o m h e r e j u s t n o w, o t h e r w i s e I w i l l l o s e m y l i f e. A n d h e r a n a n d r a n a n d r a n t i l l h e c a u g h t a t r a i n a n d b u s a n d m a n y m o r e m e a n s t o g o f a r a w a y f r o m t h e r e. A n d t h e n f i n a l l y h e r e a c h e d t o a v i l l a g e w e l l.

7. I shall say them my worries. Will they listen to me ? But before he could say something he…….

8. I remained there for sometimes in my same condition. Then an old man like you with white hair, white beard and dark eyes came to me. He put some sweets in my mouth and gave a glass of cold water.

9. I woke up and found that man near me. He called me his son. How happy I felt, I cannot tell my happiness in words. How fine this old man is ! My dear child, love and sympathy bring kindness and peace on earth. My son, I hope now you are fine.

10. Then he took me to his house. He gently rubbed my legs. The pain of my legs was gone. I felt relieved. H e a s k e d m e a b o u t m y w h e r e a b o u t s. I t o l d h i m t r u t h f u l l y e v e r y t h i n g. He was shocked to listen to my story.

11. and all who saw me came to visit me. Neighbours Strangers Villagers

12. Tell me, grandfather, why do people fight with those who pray to another gods in my village ? I h a v e n e v e r s e e n p e o p l e l i k e t h e v i l l a g e r s h e r e i n m y l i f e ! But here……this seems a very strange place ! Prem, I will tell you a story of Pambutatti. You can take this story back to your village. May be it will heal the wounds of the people of your village.

13. Oh, Grandfather, don’t say that. I never want to go back to my village. But that’s exactly why you must go back. I won’t argue him now. I want to hear his story.

14. It happened a long, long ago. So long ago that there were no schools and no teachers. Children lived in caves with their parents. At that time there were no tigers or elephants in Pambupatti forest. There were only reptiles. T h e o l d m a n n a r r a t e s t h e s t o r y.

15. Every month the reptiles of Pambupatti had a big meeting. Everyone came in this meeting. They looked all grumpy because they were all out of water. The President of these meetings was Makra, the biggest crocodile of the forest.

16. One day he called out a meeting of the reptiles. Mr Turtle A Message for you Leave out the forest within a week because you are too slow. You don’t match with our community. And no ifs and buts. Do as I command you. I must expel out these nonsense fellows from my forest.

17. Mr Lizard A Message for You Leave out the forest tomorrow because you look too clumsy. You too don’t match with our community. Next time he did the same with the lizards.

18. Mr Snake A Message for You Leave out the forest today itself because you are too poisonous. It is highly risky to survive with you. Besides you don’t match with our community. Now there was the turn of the snake.

19. They all left the forest with their heavy hearts. But they had to follow the orders of Makara, the Leader of the Reptiles.

20. Now, Makara, with his relatives, lived in the forest happily. There were no other animals.

21. But their happiness didn’t last long. Soon the odds started happening. There were bad smells of the dead bodies in the water. Turtles used to eat them up. Rats became bold because there was no snake to swallow them up. Ants started moving here and there. Sometimes an army of ants marched over their bodies. Life became unbearable for them in the absence of these animals.

22. One of the old relatives of Makara suggested him. Makara, call all the reptiles back into the forest again. Otherwise we too cannot survive without them

23. Makara realised his mistake and passed an order immediately. My Dear reptiles I repent for my arrogance. I hereby make a request from you all to return back to your forest again. I promise you never to abuse. Makara

24. So my dear son, each member of the community is of some value. We must live with cooperation in order to let others also live happily. And this is the secret of life we must never forget. Oh, what a great story !

25. Dear son, how touching your story is ! I am really thrilled to listen to it. I will tell about myself some other day. But this has taught me a lesson too. What lesson, grandfather ? What you told right now.