The Goat, Wolf and the Parrots!

Today I heard a very interesting story; a story about a Goat, a Wolf and Parrots. Let me share it with you. Once upon a time (as the story always starts) there was a Wolf that would catch easy prey. In the same place, there was a Goat that had given birth to 5 new lambs. One day the Wolf saw the lambs playing; not seeing the Goat nearby he dragged one of them and make him his lunch. When the Goat came back, she noticed one of the kids missing. Next day, the Goat hit behind a tree and watched from a distance. As she saw the Wolf approach her kids, she gasped! If she tried to stop him, maybe he would kill her too; if she didn’t she would slowly loose all her kids. Thinking thus, she charged at the Wolf with her full force and hit him with her horns. Seeing this, the Parrots on the nearby tree were horrified and started screaming, “The Goat hit the Wolf!”

What does this story tell you? Apart from exemplifying the strength of the weak (Goat) at the time of the need, it also illustrates an important character of the society (The Parrots). When the Goat’s kids were being dragged by the Wolf, there wasn’t anyone to make a noise because it is ‘accepted’ that a Wolf ‘can’ kill a lamb. Perhaps the Parrots were sleeping at that time. But when the Goat hit the Wolf, it was not socially accepted. This story is like a mathematical equation; any value you insert in it, the equation remains true! Replace the characters with Religions, Castes or Class; you will obtain the same output. Whenever the weak is oppressed, no one raises a voice, when the weak fights back it is sensational. This particular character of the society makes an interesting case study. If the parrots had raised their voices when the Wolf killed one of the lambs, one day the Wolf could kill their kids too. It was profitable for the Parrots to take the side of the Wolf. But alas, what we don’t realize is that the Wolf will always be a Wolf; when the lambs get extinct he will attack the parrots to extinguish his hunger.

When Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated, we did not hear about any riots in our country, did we? Was it because he was a man of peace? Did his killing deserve quiet too? What about Indira Gandhi then? Post her assassination, more than 3000 Sikhs were dragged out of their houses and killed. It was a ‘death hunt’ in 1984. Mathematically, this equation doesn’t make her a woman of peace! And what were the rest of us doing?  When the ‘Father of Nation’ is killed we quietly mourn his death and when a ‘Politician’ is killed, we rise against the injustice. What is the difference between the two? Communal hatred? Caste factor? Or maybe it is easy to target someone who is weak and not our own species, just like the Goat was by the Parrots!