Part 2 – Yohan’s Story
“There was a little boy, who lived in the countryside, very far, far away from the city” I started.
He interrupted asking “What is the name of that boy?”
“You suggest” I replied back, to which he asked back “Is he a good boy or a bad boy?”
I thought for moment and said “He is a good boy”, to which he instantly replied back “Then let his name be Kevin”
I thought again for a second and said “Actually he is a bad boy, but….ehh…..” to which, before I could finish, he interrupted with the same vigour and suggested “Then let his name be Yohan” (Yohan, according to him is the baddest, meanest and most notorious boy on earth!)
I resumed with my story telling “This boy lived in a nice single house with a sloping roof and a chimney on top and around his house was a lawn, green like a beautiful carpet, decorated with small shrubs bearing beautiful flowers and there were trees, which had big juicy mangoes and apples on it. Behind his house was a big barn, in which live cows and sheep and goats and pigs and all such wonderful animals and also a poultry house with hens and turkeys and ducks. Nearby his house was a beautiful little lake, where he and his father would usually go out for fishing”
“This boy lives in a farm house, no Papa?” He interrupted again.
I said “Yes” and continued “This boy was a very naughty boy. Every day, early in the morning he would go to the barn with his sister to get milk from the cow and while his sister milked them, he would hurt the cows by twisting their tail and kicking them on their legs and punching them on their body. It hurt the cows, but since the boy was a small little cute boy, they did not kick back”
“He is just like Yohan no Papa?” He interrupted again.
I replied “Sort of, but Yohan is not a bad boy. He doesn’t hurt animals. He is kind to animals. Didn’t you see how he was playing with that cat the other day?”
He didn’t buy my argument. He was in no mood for that. He just replied back “Okay, then?”
I continued with the story “He would do the same with the sheep, hurt them by hitting them with his stick, when he’d go around with his dad to graze them, and not only that, he’d pluck the flowers and throw them on the ground and then on those poor trees he’d draw with his stick and punch nails. He would even hurt the poultry, by throwing stones and water at them. The animals were all sad. Even the fishes were sad. He would put all the garbage into the lake and that hurt the fishes”
He interrupted and added his expert comments “You know Papa, animals and plants are not manmade. They are natural. They are made by God. And so they have life and feelings. Teacher told that we should not hurt them. It is not a machine. A computer is a machine. Even toys are machines. If we can break them, it is okay, they will not feel hurt”
I was about to begin with my lecture on how to maintain toys, when he added “Then Papa, what happened?”
And so I continued “This went on for many days, and all the animals and birds and plants were all sad. But this little bad boy kept hurting them”
He interrupted again “This Yohan is a bad boy only no Papa?”
“Okay” I said and continued “Then one night, when the boy and his parents were asleep, all these barn animals and fowl and plants gathered in the lawn. They decided that they would not take this behaviour from that boy anymore. They were angry, very angry and there they decided to go on a strike”
He interrupted and enquired “What is a strike Papa?”
For a moment I thought, “If only we were living in Kerala, that would have been a very silly question!” but anyways, explained to him what a strike was. I am not sure if he understood or not. He was more interested in listening to the story and so said “Then Papa, what happened?”
I continued “The next day, when his sister went to milk the cows, there was no milk coming. She tried and tried, but no milk at all. Then she went to the goats and the sheep. They also stopped giving milk. The sheep stopped growing hair, and there was no wool for them to make sweaters for the winter. The fowl stopped giving eggs. The plants stopped flowering and the trees? There were no fruits on the trees either. Even the sky stopped raining and there was no water. The lake dried and the fishes went deep inside under the ground and then from there into another lake, far away”
As I said all this, I observed that Kevin was getting concerned. His face was turning pale and his otherwise cheerful smiley face was turning into a sad smiley.
I added “Yohan and his family had nothing to eat or drink. Everyday this little boy would ask his sister and mother for food, but there was no food in the house. They didn’t have any water either to drink or bathe. The beautiful farmhouse turned into a desert. They became weak and shabby; they couldn’t walk or even get up and stand on their feet. Since they didn’t have any energy they could not maintain their house, and slowly their house started crumbling and falling down. They no more had a safe haven to protect themselves from the summer heat and the cold chilly winter. They didn’t have any warm clothes for the winter too. All the plants and animals died one by one”
I took a break and turned my head to Kevin, to see what his reaction was. He was stunned. His eyes were watery and they were looking through the walls, focussed into another world outside that bedroom. Although we were in a cosy air conditioned bedroom, I could see little droplets of perspiration emanating on his forehead. He was still, like he was actually in a desert experiencing/observing the peril, taking place right in front of his eyes.
In a faint broken voice he asked “Then?”
I continued “Then, one day that little boy Yohan prayed to God, and asked God for forgiveness. A beautiful fairy appeared. She had a magic wand in her hand. She pointed up above the sky and she said….”
And before I could finish, my lad jumped and screamed “Abra ka dabra…. Yeyyyyy” with a big happy smile on his face and an unstoppable bout of laughter. He was happy, extremely happy.
I added. “Everything was back as normal. From then onwards, the farm boy was a good boy, he took good care of all the animals and fowl and also the plants and trees. He kept his house clean and neat and even the fish came back and they would joyfully swim with him. They all were his friends now”
“Is that the end?” He asked, to which I replied “Yes”
He had his final comments “You know Papa, Yohan is a good boy. He is my brother. I love him” And as he said those little words, his eyes were moist and his hands clasped mine tight thankfully, as if I had just saved his little brother from a big calamity and as if he was thanking me in return.
He added further “Your story is beautiful Papa. It was very nice. I liked it. But my story was a powerful story. It had fighting and attacking and aliens. But your story was also good”
I was looking into his little eyes and beginning to get mesmerised by his pure innocence, when he interrupted “What is the moral of your story Papa?”
I said “The moral of this story is that we must take care of our nature and all the beings in it”
He replied “Like we should not hurt other living beings also no?”
“Yes, exactly”, I jumped in, and reminded him “Like if Papa wants to watch cricket, you should not force Papa to put cartoon, or when Papa is sleeping, you should not jump on Papa and try to wake Papa up. That is also hurting. Okay? That’s also not good manners”
Sensing his chance, he retorted “If I want to watch TV, can I go now?”
“Smart boy” I said in my mind, but told him “No! This is sleeping time. You got to sleep now”
I sensed that he was now brimming with love and affection for his little brother. With a humble and innocent look on his face, he pleaded “I want to go to Yohan, Papa”.
That did the trick, and I let him go.
I no time he jumped off the bed and headed to the living room. I lied down there, brimming with pride and my chest fully blown. I was content. I had just told a story to my seven year old lad, which made him realize how much he loved his little brother.
From the bedroom I could sense that Kevin was now trying to give hugs and kisses to his little brother, to which Yohan retorted back screaming “Go go go! Nooooo!” and “Amma, Chetan pushing pushing Amma”
In no time they were back to normal; fighting, screaming at each other, shouting “Attack Attack”. Kevin was back to his normal self, screaming in return “Yohan, you are a bad boy”
Aahhh! Boys!!
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