Atop a jungle tree, a sparrow and his wife built a tiny but beautiful nest and stayed there peacefully.. It was a sturdy rosewood tree. The sparrows, in time begat tiny darling children (in the shape of eggs). It was a family full of love and happiness.

They say happiness is always short lived. It is only a precursor to disaster. It came to the family also. Once a rogue wild elephant in rut came that way and give vent to all his unreasonable rage by hitting his forehead against the tree which housed our sparrow family. He did not stop with that. He broke the branch of the tree where the nest was, and threw it down hard on the ground. The eggs of the sparrow were all shattered and along with shattered the dreams of the tiny birds too. The couple of tiny birds escaped death miraculously. The female bird could not control her sorrow. She was crying her heart out in utter misery.

However, quite unlike amongst we humans there existed a word called compassion and empathy among the wild creature. Seeing the lady sparrow in tears, her friend the wood-pecker came out to console her.

He started to pacify her - "Madam, there is no use in crying. What was to happen has happened. The wise do not cry over the past misery and in fact this quality distinguishes the wise from the fools. In fact when you shed tears, you are making the almighty to drink that. So please stop crying and let us sit together and decide about the future course of action. In time, the Lady sparrow composed herself and said - "I agree with what you told, my dear friend. You are my special friend, no doubt about it. The rogue elephant has killed my children for no reason other than his arrogance. This elephant should also be killed. Then alone the grief of this mother over my lost darling children will abate. You, my friend, should plan something to wreak vengeance. I am too much grieved to think and plan properly. The real person of character is one who retaliates in suitable manner the insult heaped on him when his times were bad, and return the sarcasm in equal measure at the first opportunity.

The woodpecker said - "A true friend will be with you even at the time of danger. When your times are bright all the world would be friendly towards you. What a person requires for good life are, a friend who will be there to support him even in great danger, a servant who is conscious of the welfare of the employer and is faithful and obedient, a wife who is always devoted and a son who will make the father proud with his praiseworthy activities. Now I will show my ingenuity and help you in executing your action plan. I have a friend, a honey-bee whose name is Veenaarav. I will call her here. We can plan together."

The friendly honeybee rushed to them when called. The woodpecker presented the case - "Young lady, our friend, madam sparrow here is in utter distress . Her darling eggs were shattered by a rogue elephant. We expect your help us in teaching that mammoth a lesson.

The honeybee replied - "My dear friend, why should you present the facts in so many details? I am your friend and a friend of my friend is also my dear friend. Is it not our duty to help such friends? I have a nice friend, a frog called Meghnaad. We will take his considered opinion also while chalking out our plan of action. Is it not better to have the counsel of righteous, intelligent persons of impeccable character when we are embarking on a difficult mission?"

Accordingly they made a visit to the wise frog. He said - "In normal times, the elephant may be very strong and capable and would be possessing authority. But when he has incurred the wrath of a large mass of people, he becomes insignificant against them. You do as I say. You honeybee of very sweet voice, you sing your enchanting song emulating the lute flying near the ear of the elephant. He will remain still engulfed in that music. Let my friend woodpecker make effective use of the opportunity and hit his hammer-like beak on the eyes of the elephant. I will gather my fellow frogs, sit near a mire and start our usual symphony. The blind elephant will mistake the mire to be a pond for drinking water, hearing our songs. He will enter the mire and perish for ever."

And true to their words, the plan was executed and the elephant lay dead engulfed with dirt in a mire.
Yes, even if Individuals may be of trifling value, when they come together with clear-cut plans, nothing is impossible for them.

Collective intelligence is normally better than the individual one.

THE END