Chapter 14: chapter 14

Lord Ram and the Little SquirrelThe wise say that every little thing in this world counts. It is the small steps that lead us to big journeys. In fact, one tiny squirrel’s contribution helped Lord Ram in his battle against Ravana. How, you ask?This story took place when Lord Ram and his army were travelling toward Lanka to wage a war against King Ravana and rescue Ram’s wife, Queen Sita, from his evil clutches. Sita had been kidnapped by Ravana from the Panchavati Forest near the Godavari River. Lord Ram and his brother Laxman had gone with brave warriors like Lord Hanuman, King Sugreeva, King Jambawant and their army in search of her through the dense jungles of Dandakaranya, right up to Rameshwaram in the southernmost part of India.However, when the army walked farther from Rameshwaram, they came to a dead end—a steep cliff and choppy waters beneath them. There was no road to Lanka, just miles of! They had to build a long bridge in order to reach Lanka on the other side. Lord Ram sent an arrow to mark the place where they would start building. This place was Dhanushkodi.The construction expert in Lord Ram’s army, Nala, decided that the bridge would be built with stones that would float on the water. He also decided to write Lord Ram’s name on the stones, so as to make them unsinkable! By the time Lord Ram’s army began work on laying this impossible bridge, word had spread. People and animals came from near and far to lend a hand.Soon, there were thousands of people helping out. Some of them collected stones, some inscribed the stones with Lord Ram’s name, and some helped lay the stones side by side. In this huge crowd there was also a tiny squirrel, Chintu. She had come a long way, from a forest in the Nilgiris, just to help Lord Ram in whatever way she could.When she first came, Chintu went straight to the project leader, a Vanar, one of Hanuman’s army, and offered her support. ‘I am Chintu. I want to help Lord Ram build this bridge. What should I do?’ she asked chirpily.The Vanar looked at her small form closely and scoffed, ‘You? You will help us build this bridge? Tell me, which huge stone are you going to pick up?’ He followed this with a burst of laughter.Miffed, Chintu said, ‘I need not pick up a huge stone. I could pick up small ones instead. You will need them too.’‘Get lost, tiny one. Go do something else. You will just get in everyone’s way here. We are doing important work,’ said the Vanar.Chintu tried asking someone else. But she received the same response from that Vanar, and the one after that, and the one after that as well.Shaking her head, she started picking up small stones and piling them up against a tree near the bridge being constructed. Chintu was quick and agile. Soon, there was a tidy pile of small stones. Within just a couple of days, the pile had become almost as tall as the tree’s branches.It so happened that Nala, the architect, suddenly decided he needed small stones to fill the gaps between the large ones.While all the monkeys on the team scampered off to get them, Lord Ram’s eyes narrowed on the huge pile of small stones right there under the tree. He went closer and observed Chintu sorting through the stones.Amused and pleased, Lord Ram asked, ‘Who are you, little one? And what are you doing? Have you collected all these stones here?’Chintu answered, placing the stone in her hand on the ground, ‘Yes, my lord. I am Chintu. I have been collecting these small stones to help build the bridge that will take you to Lanka. So what if they are not huge stones? Even these small stones can be very helpful.’ She went on to tell him how the Vanars had discouraged her from working.Lord Ram smiled and replied, ‘Little one, you don’t realise how useful these small stones will be to me.’ He bent down and picked up the little squirrel and started walking back to his construction team.‘Today this small squirrel, Chintu, is responsible for contributing the most crucial and strategic effort for our project. Her intelligence and hard work have saved our team at least a week of delay. Many of you looked at her small form and decided that her contribution would also be small and meagre. But this squirrel is testament to the fact that every small thing in this world matters. Each of us has value and an important role to play,’ he said to his team. He turned to face Chintu. ‘Little one, never forget this,’ he said while running his fingers fondly over the little squirrel’s back.The three fingers on her back and Lord Ram’s advice got imprinted on Chintu. And from then on squirrels have stripes on their backs and are quite hard-working.