The vines in my next door neighbour Daniel’s backyard were not sophisticated. They were of a wild variety that produced grapes with big seeds and less flesh. They must have been the same ones that so disappointed that legendary fox (in The Fox and the Grapes, one of the stories in Aesop’s fables).
Last summer, a few lines of the vine started creeping into our backyard and I encouraged it for the simple reason: anything that grows without our sweat would indeed taste sweet. I expected the grapes to ripen in August.
One evening, however, I found that the lines that had grown into our backyard looked lifeless. When I went over to Daniel’s side, I found that they had been cut at the very point they started slithering into my backyard. Ah, et tu Brute, Daniel?
I asked Daniel about it and he said, ‘’I didn’t want my grapevine to intrude into your yard, causing a problem for you!’’ I told him I didn’t mind at all. His grapes were welcome.
In the fall, the days became shorter and the leaves fell off Daniel’s vine. Then came winter, and the grapevine shrank into its annual dormancy. Like all deciduous plants, the vines, exposed to the hail and snow, were reduced to a dry withering trunk .
When spring came, it came back to life, sprouted new leaves and again headed straight for my fence. I was happy to welcome them and looked forward to a feast in the summer.
In the home stretch, however, a small flock of robins discovered Daniel’s vineyard and made themselves at home. They came every morning and evening and plucked every grape that had turned ripe. This was disappointing after a whole year of waiting, if not working hard.
Duly, I consoled myself. Robins have a right to nature’s bounty too. As the adage goes, every grain of rice preordained to be eaten by you carries your name on it.
And that’s true. If that doesn’t carry your name, even if it’s there on your plate it could lose its way between your spoon and mouth. So, every grape had the name of the living being who was going to eat it.
Every moment is unpredictable as paths are not always smooth and that can turn precipitous too, at times.
Although we human beings are blessed with a lot of different options in survival games, we still tend to exploit the nature that teaches us a noble message to share and care in order to turn this world a better place to live in.
Suresh Nellikode
Email: suresh.nellikode@gmail.com