Chapter 25: chapter 25

The Dragonfly ArmyIt was a quiet, still day in the Kanha forests of Madhya Pradesh. It was midday, and the sun was at its peak. The heat was oppressive and stifling. Suki the dragonfly, who had had a long journey that day to hunt for food, decided to take a minute of rest before she resumed her journey back home.She carefully perched on the branch of a tree to catch her breath. The tree was home to a clan of boisterous monkeys. Unfortunately for Suki, the monkeys weren’t the most gracious hosts. Within minutes of her alighting on the branch, a troop of them swarmed to the branches around her.‘Hey, what are you doing here, you tiny creature? What work do you have here? Who invited you?’ asked Manglu, the leader of the troop.Suki, fanning herself with her wings, pleasantly replied, ‘It is so hot, and I am so tired. I’m too exhausted to go any farther. Give me a moment and I will get out of your hair.’ But the monkeys weren’t satisfied with that answer.‘I wasn’t aware that this is a dharamshala and anyone can just drop in and perch on our branches? Get lost!’ Manglu threatened. He threw a small stone at her. Dragonflies are very quick creatures, and Suki even more than the average one. She dodged the stone and flew away as the other monkeys jeered at her noisily.When she neared home, she went straight to the dragonfly chief. Still smarting from her humiliation, Suki narrated the whole incident to him. The chief was furious; Suki was a courageous soldier in his army. He assured her that he would take care of this situation. True to his word, the chief ordered three of his bravest commandos to warn the monkey clan in the forest.Suki led the soldiers to exactly where she had rested. On seeing the dragonflies alight on the tree branch, the monkeys immediately came leaping and jumping to the spot, Manglu in the lead. ‘Hello, tiny, insignificant creatures! Didn’t we tell you to keep away from our trees? Do we need to tell you in dragonfly language if you duffers don’t understand?’ asked Manglu.One of the commandos answered fearlessly, ‘Your troop insulted our sister Suki here. We have come here for an apology. Your clan will face dire consequences if you don’t apologise right away.’The monkeys guffawed loudly. ‘Consequences! Hahaha. What are you going to do? Pounce on us and kill us? Crush us under your feet? Sting us to death? I could crush all four of you under a single thumb. Don’t push your luck. Get lost,’ sneered Manglu.The second commando then stepped forward and said, ‘In that case, we have to kill you and your clan at the earliest.’‘You and whose army? Unless you have elephants for soldiers, you don’t stand a chance. Go to your chief and tell him we are not scared. Now get lost before we lose our tempers here,’ said an elder monkey.To that Suki retorted, ‘You should not judge us based on our size. Dragonflies are predators. We hunt for a living, and killing is in our genes. Let that be a warning. See you on the day of the battle, a week from now.’With that parting shot, Suki and the soldiers left the tree to go back home. The monkeys took the warning very lightly. In fact, they looked forward to instantly crushing a swarm of dragonflies with their clubs and sticks.The day of the battle arrived clear and sunny. Suki and her army of millions of trained commandos reached the scene of the battle. They all arranged themselves in rows and waited in attendance. The monkeys, on the other hand, just sauntered to the venue swinging casually from the branches. There were three dozen of them, armed with heavy sticks and clubs.Before they had even arranged themselves, the monkey commander ordered his troops to strike all the tiny dragonflies with their sticks. As the monkeys began to put their clubs in motion, the dragonfly chief let out a shrill war cry. A huge swarm of dragonflies flew towards the monkey forces and sat on top of their heads to sting them.The monkeys lifted their heavy clubs and sticks to kill the dragonflies that they saw on the foreheads of their friends. The dragonflies were very quick with their wings, so as soon as the monkeys swung, they swiftly flew away. The monkeys hit with such force and anger that they took a long time to realise that they were killing their own soldiers. When, in a couple of hours, only a handful of them remained while the swarm of dragonflies was the same, they quickly climbed the trees and swung away to save themselves.And that is how the quick, ferocious, tiny dragonflies effortlessly won against the huge but foolish monkeys. After that battle, no one in the forest dared threaten another dragonfly.