The Monkey & Crocodile story!

Java Plum / Black Plum (English) or Jambul (Hindi) or Jamu Koli (Oriya). Found them today at a local fruit shop and was quite delighted. Used to love these in school days.

My grand mother used to tell me this story; let me share this with you: There was a monkey living on a JAMBUL tree near a pond. Once, a crocodile was enjoying the sunshine near the pond. The monkey made friends with the crocodile and offered him JAMBUL to eat. Then it became a routine for crocodile to eat JAMBUL and chat with the monkey. One day the wife of the crocodile asked who gave those juicy fruits to him. Once she became aware about the monkey she asked her husband to bring the LIVER of the monkey to feast on. The crocodile went to the monkey and said, “My wife wants you as guest and she has prepared good meal for you”. The monkey said being a land animal he could not swim. Crocodile agreed to give him a ride on the back. When the monkey was in the middle of the pond the crocodile divulged his wicked plans to the monkey. The monkey had good presence of mind. The monkey said, “My LIVER is kept in hollow of the tree. I will be very glad to give my LIVER for your wife. Let us go to the bank to fetch my LIVER.” The crocodile was befooled easily. Once they came near the bank the monkey jumped up the tree and escaped. He said to the crocodile, “You have a big body but no brains!” The crocodile had nothing to do but repent for his foolishness on being tricked by the monkey.

The phytonutrients in Indian blackberry plays major role in the prevention of liver disease and liver damage. In the western countries, if you visit your local organic health shop, such as Holland and Barrette, you will see many forms of Jambul in the shelf for LIVER nourishments.

Look at the irony. Everything we were told by our parents, grand parents in the past, had same wisdom in them, which we never took interest then. AND now we are spending money, spending time to achieve the WISDOM, which were available FREE to us at the first place!

Friends, families, colleagues, - all of them who know me well, had some sort of food together with me, can vouch the amount of chillies I eat and enjoy. People watching my indulgence with chilli for the first time; can’t believe how easily and passionately I take pleasure in a whole fiery chilli, just as a piece of cucumber.

My taste for chilli didn’t develop overnight. As I mentioned earlier, I lived with my grand-father during my childhood and I used to eat together with him everyday (dinner, breakfast, lunch). And he used to grow different breeds of chillies for his consumption at our backyard. He must have said this once: that by eating chilli, I will have improved memory and I can remember contents of my text books very easily and get top marks in the exam. Like everything else, I believed in what he said and kept eating lots of chillies. That was childhood, and I forgot about this secret for improved memory for sometime, until few years ago, while browsing Wikipedia, I discovered that: Orange and red chillies have large amounts of vitamin C & pro-vitamin A. And these are the ingredients, quite helpful to the healthy memory system of human body.

So; the CROCODILE can have plenty of Chillies in stead; to have a sharp mind like the MONKEY, and trick him better next time.

In our school campus, there used to be a huge Jambul tree and we friends used to feast on these fleshy Jambul after school cricket, before returning home.

And there was a large KADAMBA (Neolamarckia Cadamba) flower tree as well in our school campus. I used to collect these flowers, fill them in my bag and bring home to use them as paper weight on my study table or as natural room freshener for my room. Radha and Krishna (God & goddess / Hindu mythology) are supposed to have conducted their love play in the hospitable and sweet-scented shade of the Kadamba tree as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolamarckia_cadamba

One of those days, I was standing at the school gate, after school, holding a brand of Jambul tree in one hand and a bunch of Kadamba flowers in another hand, waiting for my cycle driver (appointed by my grand father) to arrive. And then she arrived, the most beautiful girl of the school then…Mam…NO NO, let me not mention her name. All of the upper class students fancied her, apparently she resembled like the Bollywood actress Bhagyashree, in then released movie “Maine Pyar Kiya” (I am in Love).

I saw her approaching towards me from far. God, my heart started pumping with fear, hopes and excitement. Why is she walking towards me? She never talked to me before, she does not know me, she never looks at me. Why is she coming towards me: Closer, More Closer, Very Closer (Aur paas, Aur Paas, Bahat Paas)…I thought my heart will stop working, with the amount of exertions within). She stopped in front me and said “Bikash, can I have some Kadamba flower?”. I was tensed, sweating, didn’t know what to say or do, she even knew my name! AND I SPOKE. I said, NO, you can’t. There are so many flowers lying on the floor near the tree, why don’t you pick up from there. These are mine, I picked up. Why should I give it to you? She was sad and humiliated, almost cried – because there were so many other boys/girls were standing there and she felt insulted and humiliated! How can? How on earth, someone can refuse some flowers to the most beautiful girl, even when she is asking them voluntarily?

No; a normal person won’t do that. Only some idiot like me will do. I will only be lying if I said; I had no interest in her. Ask me who didn’t have interest in her, fellow school mates, class mates, teachers, staffs, and all the spectators on her way from school to home. My friend “Sambit”, a respected scientist at Bhabha atomic research centre NOW, was cursing me: ARE YOU CRAZY? I was extremely shy then, and I was thinking: I am not good looking, I am not good at studies, I am not good in anything and there are so many contenders for her little attention. She is absolutely out of my reach, so to avoid my inferiority, I told her off, and to look more confident may be in front of her. GOD, PLEASE FORGIVE ME. Given a chance, will never do that again. I will give her all the flowers and all the jambul as well….that’s exactly what I told her husband, when I met her and her beautiful family (husband, two daughters), after 14 years since school at Kolkota Airport. I was on my way to Melbourne via Kolkota and they were travelling to California via Singapore, where they are settled currently.

So friends you have a GREAT Saturday today and PLEASE remember every little story that makes your life beautiful and complete. Life is good, indeed, only if you see it that way.

And I shall connect with you tomorrow again. Till them PLEASE wear you SMILE and take good care of yourself. XoXo!;