The
adventures of Obtuse
The forest was very quiet, but only as quiet as a forest can be
with all its noisy birds and hungry panthers. But Obtuse, who lived
in the very heart of this dark green forest, did not find the gleeful
chirpiness of the birds irritating nor did he find the stealthy
tiger very frightening.
Now
if it was you and I, sitting there in the heart of the forest, we
might have been concerned about what to eat for dinner, because
raw leaves are rarely very tasty. I know I would have been particularly
worried, (if I were Obtuse, and I am very glad I am not) about the
fierce red eyes glaring through the leaves of a bush.
However,
Obtuse did not even notice the eyes for sometime, so wrapped up
in his gloomy thoughts was he; then the leaves rustled! Thankfully,
Obtuse was very wise and knew all the animals of the forest very
well and so was not afraid. "Pokee Poynt," said Obtuse,
"come out and talk to me", beckoning to whatever fearsome
creature stood by the bushes. There was the sound of rustling as
a pair of eyes came through the leaves; these eyes were followed
out by a compact brown body and a number of very sharp, very handy
quills.
"I
was just making sure you were not meditating Obtuse," said
Pokee Poynt the porcupine. Pokee came close and then made himself
comfortable on a pile of leaves. He was quite glad to be curled
up beside Obtuse, and this was because Pokee Poynt was sure that
the apprentice guru had an aura. Now you must be wondering what
an aura is and frankly so am I. If Pokee Poynt could have explained
it to us he would say, "An aura is a sort of feeling that hangs
around a person, you know, like the stink you find near a Duriyan
tree? Except that Obtuse's aura made you feel light and happy and
wise and secure… all at the same time!"
Many
animals felt like that about Obtuse and truly he was a very beautiful
individual (I mean beautiful on the inside, you know). And truth
be told, a number of people felt that way about him too; in fact
all the apprentice gurus of Guru Vize felt that way about Obtuse.
They were sure that he would soon have his own little Gurukool (which
is a place where all very serious pre-gurus must go) in the heart
of another forest. Despite all this, it is a sad that in all his
wisdom Obtuse was not completely serene.
You
see Obtuse secretly worried about his name, which meant stupid and
slow in the old language of the Langurs (and everybody he knew spoke
Langurian, it was what some people call the lingua franca of that
part of the forest). What made it really hard for him to bear was
that everyone else around him seemed to so aptly named- Guru Vize
for instance or Pokee Poynt or even the newest apprentice Brite
had names they could be proud of, names that labelled them perfectly.
"Now what kind of name was Obtuse?" thought Obtuse, "It
isn't a proper name for a great guru! It was humiliating, why should
any of the villagers take me seriously?"
Now
Guru Vize who was very wise indeed, watched all his apprentice gurus
very, very carefully. He saw that Obtuse was not very happy and
for some unknown reason was getting even unhappier as the days went
by. The good Guru had thought it time for apprentice-guru Obtuse
to become Guru Obtuse and establish his own Gurukool, but now that
he saw the latter's continuing despair he begun to have his doubts.
He decided one evening, just as the first star woke blinking in
the sky, to speak to Obtuse. This decided, he sent for Obtuse at
once and began to pour out glasses of leaf pulp in preparation for
a good guru to guru talk.
At
first Obtuse was as strung up as a bear in a bear trap and he would
not tell his guide what was wrong. But under the influence of the
leaf pulp (which was of a very fine quality and had red berries
in it as well) he began to relax. Nevertheless, it was only after
Obtuse had begun to sing silly songs that Guru Vize discovered what
the whole sorry story was. Now Guru Vize was quite disturbed by
this sign of silliness in one of his star saints. He realised that
immediate remedial action was required and if he didn't do something
soon any chance Obtuse had of being enlightened would be lost forever.
So Guru Vize decided to send Obtuse away from the heart of the forest.
You
must not think that Guru Vize was being unkind. He was simply doing
what he thought would be best for Obtuse - he was giving his apprentice
Guru a chance to discover the answer for himself. He was also, quite
inadvertently giving Obtuse an opportunity to travel, something
that the apprentice Guru had always longed to do. We must make note
of one little detail, however, and that is that Obtuse did not know
that he really wanted to travel and so was very depressed about
following Guru Vize's orders.
It was a beautifully bright sunshiny day when Obtuse set out towards
the borders of the forest. Despite his calm expression, Obtuse was
as churned up as mud in the playground on the inside. He felt his
eyes begin to burn with unshed tears and he picked up his pace,
walking faster and faster. Soon he was almost running and so that
poor Pokee Poynt, who had tried to accompany him, was left far behind.
You
see Obtuse did not really understand why he was being sent away.
It seemed so unfair and so abrupt… almost like expulsion!!!
And all he had been told was that he would know when he was ready
to come back and at that time he would be very welcome. But he wanted
to go back now!!! At once!!! Within the next few seconds!!! Immediately!!!…
But, he couldn't could he? And Obtuse was immeasurably sad when
he realised that he had already reached the borders of the great
forest.
He
had lived in the heart of the forest for so long that he knew nothing
of modern cities and even less of the modern people who lived in
them. He had a name he hated and he could not go home. The world
seemed a terrible place indeed, simply filled with people who were
unwilling to see him for who he really was. A single burning tear
trickled down his cheek.
But
Obtuse wiped it bravely away and stiffened his spine. He tugged
on his beard and retied his sarong. He began to say a little calming
chant and so with a song of praise on his tongue he stepped out
from under the friendly forest trees and into the alien world that
lay ahead of him.
To
be continued next week...
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