Rambo Has An Adventure In The Land Of Eternal Happiness

Wonderstruck by all that they had heard and seen, Sunil and Rambo walked on. In this strange country, they saw orderliness, cleanliness in the buildings and roads, and people going about their work briskly and happily. Soon they hit the City of SUSTAINABLE ETHICAL EMPLOYMENT. As the name said, the city bore signs of development.  They saw parks and roads, shops and malls, hotels and houses but did not have a coin in their hand to buy even a drink. “ I think I’ll die of thirst and hunger”, said Sunil almost in tears. “ Come on, Sunil”, barked Rambo encouragingly. “ Take heart. I am sure we’ll run into some refreshments soon “. Sure enough as if  on cue, they came upon a small Darshini called Akshayapatra which was selling sandwiches, chapatis and snacks. “Wonderful”, they said, rubbing their hands in glee and then their faces fell. “ How could they pay for the food? “ Not to worry”, said the genial looking man at the Cash Counter. “Here we serve all  without prejudice, even those who cannot pay. Service above Profit is our motto. But those who can can afford must pay according to their ability. All you have to do is to sit in front of your plates and mentally order the food that you would like to eat.” Rambo and Sunil looked at each other in amazement. Whoever heard of a hotel serving free food?

They sat down at a table, ravenous with hunger. “Tomato Sandwich,” Rambo licked his mouth in anticipation and immediately two sandwiches appeared before him. Similarly Sunil got a Masala Dosa.  They tucked into their food hungrily, watching a fat man also eating at the next table. The man kept on ordering while dish after dish appeared before him and  disappeared into his cavernous mouth. Rambo and Sunil wondered when and where it would all stop. They were to know  soon enough.

The man ordered and waited for the  next dish to appear on his plate. But nothing happened. Instead a piece ofpaper appeared on his plate but it was not just one piece of paper. An endless roll of paper started to stretch out on to the table, on to the floor, like a carpet. Rambo and Sunil stared in amazement. Sunil went a step forward to find that it was A WHOLE REAM OF BILLS. Must be BILLS FORI ALL THE FOOD THAT THE MAN HAD EATEN. The man almost fell off his chair in shock and fright. He got up to walk away rapidly to the exit without drawing notice. But just then two men approached his table and stood menacingly on  either side of him. “ Trying to run away without paying your bill, you greedy glutton. Dirty dishes await you in the kitchen ”, they roared, marching him off to the kitchen.

Rambo and Sunil’s eyes almost fell off at the scene they had just awitnessed. Hearing a sound, they turned around to find the proprietor clapping his hands and saying loudly, “ Haha….. THIS IS THE PUNISHMENT FOR TAKING ADVANTAGE OF OUR GOODNESS HEAR EVERYBODY. TO THE NEEDY, WE ARE GOOD BUT THE GREEDY, BETTER TAKE HEED”.

Rambo and Sunil quietly exited. So should you if you ever visit the Akshayapatra Darshini

Where Have They Come?

It turned out to be even more giddying little later for they suddenly found themselves losing height and flying lower and lower. Houses, people and animals suddenly and slowly grew larger and they were flying crazily and frighteningly close to rooftops. Nothing was in their control as they swung close to some tall building and suddenly and almost violently were lifted clean off it. “ Phew that was close,” muttered Sunil alarmed. suddenly a big patch of ground opened out before them and as suddenly and alarmingly as it had begun, their crazy flight came to a sudden abrupt end. the two hit the ground suddenly with their breath nocked out and their heads in a whir. “Goodness”, said Sunil breathlessly.“ Where have we come?” “We will soon know “, said Rambo who had already got up nimbly  and was running ahead. “ Come on Sunil. Hurry up. This is our big adventure.”

On and on they ran till they suddenly  came upon a huge signboard mapping their location. WELCOME TO THE LAND OF ETERNAL HAPPINESS, it said. THIS WAY TO THE TO THE TOWN OF GOOD WILL”, it pointed towards a particular direction. Both looked at each other in wonder but decided to follow the signboard. They walked on, now tired and hungry but not seeing a soul on the way. “ Hey Look”, said Sunil suddenly pointing his finger.”Isn’t that a policeman? Looks like one.” It was one. On drawing nearer they found a man dressed in a policeman’s uniform.  “ Excuse me”, said Sunil to the policeman. “ We are new to this place. Can you guide us to somewhere where we can get food and shelter?” “Welcome to our World of Eternal Happiness”, said the friendly policeman.” “ You look to be from a different country. Right now, you are in the Town of Good Will.  Here we have schools and colleges where  our children learn the qualities of honesty and hard work and to earn a sustainable living in harmony with nature and society. “ Over there”, he waved pointing out his hand in one direction, “Is the Big City of SUSTAINABLE ETHICAL  EMPLOYMENT . See those buildings and factories. People work  hard  there  to create GoodWill and Wealth, the tools of Prosperity. There you will get plenty of whatever you want because this is the festive season of Diwali.”

Rambo's Wish Comes True

Wooshhhh,…. there was a strong gust of wind.  As if to make his words come true, Rambo heard very close a loud sound… FWAPPP as if a big bird was flapping its wings vigorously.” Oh , What’s that?”, cried Rambo, startled by the sudden loud noises. “What’s happening here?” Suddenly Rambo found himself growing lighter and shaking all over. Totally frightened, he looked down at himself and WHAT A FRIGHT HE GOT FOR ON EITHER SIDE OF HIS BODY, TWO SMALL WINGS HAD APPEARED. To his horror,the wings grew bigger and bigger even as he looked on. “ Help, help,” he shouted to Sunil.

     Sunil who was intently lighting a cracker with his back bent, looked up at the cause of the commotion. IMAGINE  his  consternation…. Rambo had grown two big strong wings and even as Sunil looked, Rambo was slowly being lifted into the air. “ Hey…hey”, shouted an alarmed Sunil and grabbed Rambo to save him. BUT WONDERS WILL NEVER CEASE. ,"Hey”, shouted Rambo. “Look Sunil, YOU ARE ALSO GROWING WINGS, perhaps because you touched me and the spell has passed onto you!”

   Sunil looked down upon himself. To his astonishment and dismay, he found that two tiny stubs of birdlike wings were protruding from his sides too, growing bigger by the minute. “ Oh, whatever is happening to us”, he cried in fright. He was soon to discover for both of them were lifted clean off the ground higher and higher into the air i. “Yeeeeek Rambo”shrieked Sunil clutching Rambo in fright. “ What’s happening to us?” “ We are flying and stop howling like a baby. This is an ADVENTURE of a lifetime and enjoy yourself. ”, announced Rambo.

Indeed that is what happened exactly. Higher and higher they soared into the skies till they were flying in a clear propelled manner, a dog and a boy clutching each other for dear life as they were carried into this big unknown adventure. On and on, they flew over land and seas. It was an eerie experience spanning space in a straight course, with the inhabitants of the earth below looking like midgets. “Gosh,” said Sunil who had by now recovered and was thoroughly enjoying himself. "I feel like a spaceman, flying on my own, with the wind against my face and head almost in the clouds. It’s gratifying and giddying…..”.

Rambo is disturbed

Rambo, the Labrador was quite unhappy. How he liked to sun himself on the terrace, with his ears flapping spanning his cute face and generally gaze idly at the world passing by. but his idyllic world would soon be disturbed. Why? Because Diwali was around the corner. To the world at large, it was the festival of Lights, the triumph of Good over Evil- a time for festivities and celebration.Men and children shopped merrily for crackers while women were busy cleaning their homes and preparing elaborate sweets. “ All fine”, thought Rambo to himself. “ So long as these human beings just feasted and made merry, I have no problem. But it is those crackers which my friends on Spencer Road burst which bother me very much “. “ Bow, Bow”, he moaned. “ Nobody cares about us dogs.....nobody  understands the torture and torment we undergo when crackers are burst. It’s as if  our brains explobe and our skulls and brains aaare shattered into a million ragments.... So deafening is the noise in our earsOur nerves are taut and strained from the physical trauma and pain. Many of us even die of restlessness and anxiety, BUT WHO KNOWS AND WHO CARES?

But Rambo was not one to leave matters like that. Always a dog of action, he decided to approach his best friend Sunil and his friends from the neighbouring apartments to seek their help in the matter. Of course, they were boisterous and fun-loving but good children at heart and would understand his problem. So Rambo got up from his comfortable perch and padded off in search of his best friends. To his luck, he found Sunil alone messing around with some cracker which he was about to light, “ Good”’ thought Rambo.” Sunil is quiet and steady. He will think clearly and help me.” “ Wait. Wait,’ said Rambo. “One minute Sunil, don’t light that cracker. Crackers cause many problems to us dogs”. And Rambo went on to tell him his woes.

But Sunil was in no mood to pay heed to all this. “ Really Rambo” he said, “Are you sure all dogs suffer from the noise of crackers so much? Maybe you are an exception. Also bursting crackers so much fun.” “ Bow Bow”, barked  Rambo in despair. “ How will I ever make humans like Sunil understand our distress? How I wish we dogs grew wings to fly away from this cracker polluted world of Human Beings?’ 

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