Fig and Plum
“Who could that be, sitting alone in the play ground?” the Owl wondered, “and why is she not in school?”.
As he went near the little girl, he felt sad to see the little girl in tears. “Why are you crying little one?”
“I don’t want to go to school” she replied. “Why?”
“Nobody invites me to play with them.” “Why?” “I don’t have any friends.” “But why?” “I am a new student here” “Is this why you are in tears?” “Yes, I don’t know what to do to be friends with them.” “And, what is your good name?” “I am Mia” “Oh! but do not worry Mia, as I know just the story for you, to solve your problem.” The little one wiped her tears away, and eagerly looked up at the Owl, who began to narrate,
It was not a damp, wet or cloudy day. It was not ugly as the other places
in the world. And our story does not begin somewhere, but here on this beautiful day in this beautiful place. The Meerkat
brothers Fig and Plum were not sleeping, resting or playing, but were busy getting ready for school. Teacher did not teach addition, multiplication or division, but how to dig a burrow, so that they would live in one, one day. All of them did not receive a gold star, for their effort, but words of advice and encouragement, from the teacher, except for Fig, who did a great job and received the only gold star of the day.
The colony members did not gossip about the weather or their neighbours, but marvelled at Fig’s skill in digging burrows, as he planned and executed it perfectly. And he was not called for sentry duty or to baby sit the young ones, but to dig
whenever the colony was in need of a burrow. True to their expectation he did not let them down, as he built the most beautiful functional burrow. Plum, his brother, was not playing while Fig was digging, but was
glad to help his brother, and took care of odd jobs, like cleaning debris from the tunnel.
When there was not much work around, Plum did not sleep or slouch, but kept himself busy decorating the walls, with leaves, sticks and rocks, and finally put a frame around it. He called it "Art". Slowly, but not immediately, the colony began to notice the beautiful works of art, and they did not ridicule Plum for his effort. This did not make Fig happy, “Plum is not the one doing all the hard work. All he ever does is sit around and dream and stare at a blank wall for a very long time.� As the days passed, the jealousy did not subside, and the attitude of Fig towards his brother only changed for the worse. Fig did not praise his brother, but heaped abuses on him for his laziness.
This was no longer a private matter between them, as Fig told everyone, that his brother was useless and not fit for the job.
And a day came not far from this day, when Plum who could bear it no longer,
challenged his brother, “Let the colony judge us for our skill, as to who builds the most beautiful functional burrow.” Fig did not decline, rather accepted the challenge. News of this contest did not seep through slowly, but rather spread like wild fire, and in the evening news, the wicked commentator commented, “If
this
could
be
compared
to
an
cooking
contest,
is how to eat and now he has challenged the master chef.”
all
Plum
knows
For the next two days, Plum did not sleep, as he was busy thinking about how to build a burrow. And rather frankly he didn’t have a clue.
Plum was so engrossed in his thought that he did not notice the Fox that was about to pounce on him, not looking for a playmate to play, but for his meal.
The Fox stopped dead in his tracks, not that he was not hungry, but was rather curious. He had never seen his meal behave in this manner before, a meal that did not run, or hide or dodge. “Is this what they call a HAPPY MEAL?” he wondered. Now he was not curious but perplexed.
“What is bothering you?” the Fox enquired.
Plum narrated the whole incident and also his incompetence in building a good functional burrow. “As my brother said, I am not fit for the job. “ he replied sadly. “and this contest is only going to prove that”. “Do not worry” said the Fox, “I will help you. I will teach you a technique, that a brilliant mathematician taught his students.” Plum was no longer sad. His face light up.
“Turn the problem around to find a solution” said the Fox. “But how?” wondered Plum.
“Can you think about how to build a bad useless burrow?” Plum thought about a number of things, and he blurted out, “ 1. A burrow, which has few entrances and exits,
2. One, with very few passages and under-ground tunnels, 3. And the entrances, passages and tunnels not being the right size for a meerkat.”
and he did not stop with these, but went on and on............. ....and ....on ..........and ..........on.
As Plum caught his breath, the Fox said, “Now avoid all these as you build and you will end up with a beautiful functional burrow.”
Plum smiled as he understood the wisdom in the Fox’s idea, and he did not waste one more minute, as he hurriedly set out to build one. When the time came for the colony to judge the brothers, they realised that it
was not an easy task, as both of them had done a wonderful job. What one brother learned to do by experience the other also did it right, by thinking about, How not to do it?
As the Owl narrated this story, little Mia’s face also lit up, “Now, I know what not to do” said Mia, “Hurt my new classmates feelings.” “Good, then all of you will be friends forever” smiled the Owl.
The End