Soak No More

'SOAK NO MORE', shouted the young and wise, Hari. All the remaining seven donkeys shouted back with him.

'A long time ago there was a salt merchant. He used to get very irritated with his lazy donkey. One day while doing his usual work of carrying loads of salt on his back the lazy donkey fell down in a stream. The salt on his back dissolved, thus the load was gone and the donkey walked out joyfully, devising a  wicked plan for many such journeys to come. The lazy donkey continued to do so many times and he would walk back happily. The merchant although unsuspecting at first, understood this act and decided to teach the lazy donkey a lesson.'

Dharampur was flourishing day by day since the Independence, it was the year 1950. Since the British had left the country there was a lot of scope for the Indians to develop and prosper. One such villager was Shyamlal, a merchant in Dharampur. He bought and sold almost everything that he could get in his hands and make profit. Automobiles had yet to make their way in the lives of the Indians of that era so mostly people depended on animals. But this is not a story of Shyamlal or Dharampur, nor has it got anything to do with the Indians or British, it is the story of the DONKEYS.

'The salt merchant one day fed up with the cunning nature and the laziness of his lazy donkey thought of putting an end to this act. He packed the same quantity of load but this time it was of 'cotton' and not salt as usual on the back of the donkey. Today instead of sending his usual servant to accompany the donkey he decided to go himself. The stupid donkey didn't realize what was stored in for him' 

Shyamlal owned eleven donkeys for transportation of goods from his storehouses/godowns to the markets. Out of the eleven there were three cruel donkeys - Santhu, Biju and Lala. These three donkeys were the strongest and the cunning of the eleven owned by Shyamlal. They used their power and cunning tactics to oppress the other donkeys. They never worked hard in fact they didn't work at all. It was the other donkeys who suffered but they could do nothing since they were scared of these three.

'As the stream approached the donkey knew what he had to do. A cunning smile appeared on his face. He didn't care if it was his merchant and not the usual servant who was accompanying him. He staged his jump in the stream as if it was an accident but the merchant knew better.'

Hari, was a young and clever donkey. He was very idealistic and kind. He had a crave for learning. Watching humans he had understood that the only way to progress and improve life was to get educated. Babu, son of Shyamlal sometimes took Hari to school and used to tie Hari outside the school, it was good enough for Hari because he could hear the voice of the teacher teaching inside, thus Hari was the only donkey to get educated. Hari also learned that the three donkeys - Santhu, Bijju and Lala who said that they were from England were lying and also that India had got independence three years back. So now even if Santhu and the other two were from England there was no need to be afraid of them because if India was free then so were the INDIAN DONKEYS !!

'The moment the donkey jumped in, he realized what trouble he had put himself in, the cotton on his back just 'SOAKED' in more water and grew heavier. So it was difficult for him to walk, the merchant witnessing this, came down and starting hitting the donkey to walk ahead, continuing the journey with the increased load on his back. Thus the lazy donkey learned his lesson.'

One day the Babu's teacher was telling the students the story of 'The Salt Merchant And His Lazy Donkey', Hari was within the distance to hear it. He at once understood what needed to be done. But he wanted the story to end differently in his case.
The day Hari awaited finally occurred, Shyamlal had bought a new big godown and wanted to shift some stuff in it. As usual the three cruel donkeys declared that it would be the other donkeys who would carry out all the heavy things but Hari had something better in his mind. he divided the load in such a way that the eight donkeys had to carry five times more then the three cruel donkeys which pleased Santhu, Biju and Lala. But Hari made sure that those three donkeys carried nothing else on their back except 'cotton'.
On the day of moving too, he convinced everyone that it would be wiser to take the road from the bridge across the river. After the three donkeys left, he called in other donkeys and told them about his plan. After telling them what was in his mind, he shouted, 'SOAK NO MORE, we have soaked enough because of them, its their turn to be soaked now.' Everyone agreed.
'SOAK NO MORE', shouted the young and wise, Hari. All the remaining seven donkeys shouted back with him.

On the way while moving, when the donkeys came on the bridge, Hari along with the two other donkeys took positions besides - Santhu, Biju and Lala. At the signal of Hari, the donkeys pushed the trio into the river, the light weight of cotton on their back now suddenly increased. Hari smiled to himself, the river was deep and the donkeys had fallen in the middle of the river, so in a matter of few seconds or maybe a couple of minutes they would be drowned. Santhu, Biju and Lala, looked up and found all other donkeys enjoying at their dying sight, they kept praying for a miracle while muttering to the load of cotton on their backs to SOAK NO MORE please, because the weight of that cotton kept pulling them down in the river and thus caused their death.
Shyamlal was sad because he lost his three donkeys. Three years ago he had been very happy on this day when India got her Independence. But somehow the happiness of opening a new big godown surpassed the sadness of losing those three donkeys.
Hari went back to the other donkeys and said, 'Happy Independence Day.'
The era of soaking had been finished. Now they would have to SOAK NO MORE !!

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This story is my entry for The Surf Excel Matic #SoakNoMore Contest at Indiblogger.