There lived a fiery Leopard in Sundarbans’ dense forest. One day it so happened that when he went to drink water at the bank of a river, one of his feet got stuck into the damp mud of the turbid river. He tried a lot to get out of the mud, but to no avail. He was helpless and he had to lie without food for days. On one fortunate day, a Langoor (a kind of animal with long tail found in Asia) came to drink water at the river. When he saw the Leopard, he went closer to the Leopard and said, “What is the matter? Why are you resting here?”

The Leopard narrated him the pathetic story. The Langoor instantly made a way out from the sand but the leopard was unable to move his feet. As he was set in the same posture for last several days, his body had become stiff. The Langoor understood the condition of the leopard and helped him to get out of the mud with the help of bamboo. The Leopard was really thankful to the Langoor for his kind help. He was indeed indebted to the Langoor for such kindness.

The Leopard appreciated the effort made by the Langoor and offered him to live with him and also requested him to share food with him whenever he got something to eat. The Langoor accepted the offer and started living with the Leopard. Thus, they lived happily and enjoyed their life.  As the time passed by, they expanded their families. The Leopard had cubs and the Langoor had kid Langoors. Both, the Leopard and the Langoor were passing their days happily. They never realised that their habits were different, their culture was different, even their basic roots were different. They didn’t have any idea that their friendship was not liked by their families and the same level of bonding could never be stressed upon to their family members.

One day after a long time, the leopardess, lady of the Leopard’s house, asked her cubs that she didn’t like the friendly ties between the Langoor and her husband. The cubs conveyed the message to the kid Langoors. The kids complained the matter to the lady Langoor. The lady Langoor conveyed the complaint to her husband.

The Langoor went to the Leopard and asked,” I helped you without any expectation in return. You had asked me to live with you, so I started living with you. Now, if you don’t want me to live with you, you should have told me yourself. Why did you ask your wife and cubs to convey this? “. The Leopard was shocked to hear such words. He said, “My dear friend, what are you saying? I don’t find any problem with you or your friendship.” He assured the Langoor that he had no such ill-feelings for the friendship between them.

The Leopard also assured that he would talk to the leopardess and solve the whole matter. The Langoor was intelligent and understood the situation. He said to the Leopard, “Dear friend, I know you are sincere, but our families could not exactly respond the same level of friendship. So, let us stay apart and meet often as friends. We could also hunt together. It would be better, if our families stay apart”. The Leopard agreed to the proposal with a heavy heart.

Both the families separated out but the Langoor and the Leopard continued to share the friendship. They continued to meet each other and hunt together. Their friendship became a talk-of-the-town among other animals in Sundarban.

Moral: Persons from two different cultures can become friends but do not take it for granted that their families too will follow their footsteps.

 

 

 

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About the Author:
Autrhor is based at Ahmedabad, India. Though qualified technically, he often writes articles on education, science, fiction and variety of topics of general interests.
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