Friday, August 15, 2008

Dhavala Pathram (White Paper)

It was that eventual morning for Vikraman, the thavala(frog), thaval, makri, mara makr. Vikraman was to present his white paper on why frogs were important to farmers alongside earthworms. Vikraman's paper was almost ready when he smelled Chelan, the chera(rat snake). Vikraman begged for forgiveness to the snake. But Chelan, being the hungry snake he always was, did not budge.

What about the Dhavala Pathram? -asked Vikraman.
What use is a Dhavala Pathram to a Thavala -asked Chelan.
Global warming -explained Vikraman.
My hunger? - asked Chelan.
With Global warming, there is no escape anyway -explained Vikraman.

Vikraman drew pictures in mud with his toe. Chelan's wary mind thought about the bigger problems of his world, Krishnan Nair's paddy field. They read the white paper together, ate earthworms and sang old folk songs.

Vikraman never published the paper, nor did he want to be Krishnan Nair's friend. It will suffice to say that, on an extremely hot day, Chelan's animal instincts over-powered his feelings of friendship.

Moral of the Story: Real friendships are not based on environmental causes.

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