What Do You Owe Me? Part 2When he regained his consciousness, he was lying on the bank with numerous birds - pink with long legs, white with a large beak and large wings, black with yellow beaks and spotted in black and white, green ones with red beaks and yellow tails - surrounding him. The lake gently washed Akhand's head with its lapping waters. The sun shone gently, warming Akhand's wings. As soon as he opened his eyes, the birds whooped with joy. And they whistled and chirped and cheered. The big white bird walked up to where Akhand lay and looked at Akhand's eyes, rubbed Akhand's head and then declared him ready as a reed. Ready to try to fish again, she said. The big bird's name was Hansa and she promised to teach him. So he learnt to fish from Hansa, and he learnt to suck nectar from the flowers from Chirpy, and he learnt to fly like he had never flown before. He learnt to dive into the water and rise out again. And he learnt to speak to the other birds. Yet he did not feel as sophisticated as the others. There was something lacking about him. He was just an ordinary brownbird. And so he lived in this beautiful country, happy and yet sad. One day, right after his morning dive, even as his wings were wet, he had this urge for something sweet. So he flew towards the fields of green and red, to suck some nectar from the sweet red flowers. And as he fluttered near the flowers, sucking their nectar, the red powdery layer from the flower stuck to his wet wings. There he was, brown wings with red streaks. Beautiful like he had never seen before. He stopped fluttering and looked at his wings. And he admired them. Oh, did he look handsome. It was the most handsome of colors, he thought. Red streaks on his brown wings. So he rose from the fields and flew towards the lake where the other birds were having their afternoon nap. Look at me he chattered. Look at me. Look-at-me. Oh don't I look handsome. The white Hansa looked up. Yes, you do my friend she said. And so did Mithu, the green beauty with her yellow tail. As did Corma the black bird with his spotted wings. But Akhand was elated. He was the best. Yes, he was. No one could compare with him. He was the smartest and now the most handsome. He strutted to the lake showing off his colors to all the birds. And reaching the edge of the lake, he looked down into it. The still water reflected his handsome wings. How handsome he looked. But then he started. The lake was stealing his colors by reflecting it. The lake was looking beautiful by stealing his colors. They were his colors, his beauty. And the lake had no right to them. "You thief", he shouted, pointing to the lake. "You are stealing my colors. You cannot just take my colors. You have to pay me." Everyone seemed stunned by such absurd reasoning. No one had heard such a thing before. How could the lake pay Akhand anything? "The colors are mine", Akhand shouted. "I invented them. You cannot take them from me without paying me." "But its only your reflection, my friend", the lake said gently, not knowing how else to reply. "Exactly", yelled Akhand. "You are stealing my reflection to decorate yourself", the brown bird screeched. The other birds tried to reason with Akhand. "We all live together", Hansa said. "How can one bird pay another for all it gets from the others?" "Yes", said Mithu quietly. "How can you pay for friendship and affection and love and care?" "How can you pay for being taught to fish and to suck nectar? How can you pay for everything you learn as you grow with your friends?", Corma added. Akhand was getting angrier. These petty, dumb birds did not understand a thing. He was the smartest - what could they teach him. Had he not flown three days and come to this new land and learnt everything they knew in a few days? He would have just as easily learnt by himself. And now that he looked majestic, he could pay whatever they wanted. These were his colors and no one would have it without paying for them. "This is absurd", the Lake said. "How can you own a color? It is a part of nature, a part of all of us? How can you own such a thing?" "How can you claim you own an event?", Air tried to reason with the brownbird. "How can you think you own an idea? These things happen only as you interact with all of us. Never do they come out of nothing!" "Yes", said the Sky. "Such payments will break down a circle of friends. It will only make them do things for money." "Akhand is right", said the Sun, to every one else's surprise. "The Lake will owe the brownbird for taking his reflection. And the Lake should pay him every time he takes the brownbird's reflection. But every time the bownbird flies over the Lake, he must pay the Lake what it desires. And every time the brownbird dives into the Lake for fish, it must pay the Lake. And every time it drinks water, it must pay the Lake" "And he must pay me every time he flies through me", said Air. "And he must pay me for every drop of rain he drinks", said the Sky "And he must pay me for every drop of nectar he sucks and every flower he sees", said the fields. "And he must pay me for sitting on my branches", said every tree. "And he must pay me for my love and friendship", said Hansa. "Oh!, I will", said Akhand arrogantly. And having said that he rose up in flight. "There you fly", said Air. "You owe me now." "And you cannot sit on me without paying me", said the tree. And suddenly Akhand did not know what to do. Sky was angry at such behavior and it turned dark. Clouds gathered and it began to rain. And as it rained, the drops fell on Akhand as well. As it slurped a drop that rolled down its beak, Sky thundered, "you need to pay me for drinking my rain". And as the drops began to fall, they washed away the red from the wings of the brownbird. The streaks of red disappeared. And Akhand was a plain old brownbird once more. All his arrogance was washed away by the falling rain. But now he had no friends, no one to take care of him, no one to love him. Hansa turned her back to him. Mithu turned his back to him, as did Corma. With nothing else to do, and no one else to turn to, Akhand decided to fly back home. And he flew towards the setting sun. Feeling sorry for this bird, the sun showed him the way. Akhand flew and flew. He was sorry and he was embarrassed. He had turned away from the love of his tribe and now he had lost the love of his friends. We will never know what he thought in his little head. But he thought long and hard as he flew for two days and one night. And when he arrived in the valley of the brownbirds by the gurgling stream beyond the mountains, he was a wise brownbird. He lived with the other brownbirds, moving to the forest during the monsoons and taking care of the young when spring came. But he taught them to chatter less and think more. He had learnt to own things more valuable than what can be bought or sold. He had learnt to love and to care. And there he lives now. No one knows how old he is. But he looks respectfully at the Sun, and nods his head to the Sky and waves his wings in the Air. He speaks occasionally with other birds passing by and murmurs softly to the wind and trees. And when I feel the need for some wisdom, especially when I think I am being arrogant, I go looking for that wise old brownbird. Food for thought1. Was Parasnath really smarter than the other brownbirds? If he was, then in what way? If not, why not? Was he truly different from them? 2. Why did Parasnath want to leave the other Brownbirds? Why did the other brownbirds discourage Parasnath from leaving? Were they justified? 3. Have you felt the urge to explore? What might be 3 explorations you might want to set out on? 4. Why was Parasnath impressed by the birds in the new land? 5. Have you ever wanted to be like someone else? 6. Was Parasnath succesful in learning the skills of the others by watching them? Do you succesfully learn by watching others? How could you learn better from watching others? 7. How did Parasnath learn new skills in the new land? 8. Who has helped you learn new skills? Who have you helped? 9. Why did Parasnath feel inferior? What advice would you have given Parasnath? 10. Why was Parasnath excited in this new land? How did it change his attitude? 11. Who owned Parasnath's colors? Was the lake stealing it? 12. What can humans own? What can humans not own? 13. What was the result of Parasnath claiming ownership to his colors? How did it affect his interactions with the others? 14. Was Parasnath fair? Were the others fair?
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