My son had told me about a temple he visited in North India, which was dedicated to rats. These creatures went scurrying hither and thither, enjoying the prasad that devotees pampered them with. It seems very strange that no one got bitten and people came away feeling they’d had a great darshan!
When I was working at North Block in New Delhi many years ago, I found that most of our rooms were infested with rats. They chose only the wrong files to chew. They were a nuisance and also very clever—they avoided all the places where they could get caught. But, one or two meek and mild ones fell into the mouse trap. It was a great occasion for all the peons. After long discussions on how to dispose of these creatures they finally came up with a brilliant idea. South Block which was opposite North Block was VIP territory and everyone who worked there had a one-up feeling. The staff in North Block wanted to puncture this arrogance. They stealthily freed the rats in South Block. We didn’t know who and how many suffered but some of us had a grave doubt—what if they caught them and released them back in North Block! Anyway for the time being, we were thrilled.
There is a story from Gujarat on the pitfalls of being dishonest. A guru who was greatly revered was approached by a person wanting to be accepted as his disciple. He pestered him so much that the guru set him a test. He was asked to take a little sealed box to another guru hundreds of miles away. The would-be disciple trudged through hill and dale, forest and town, and through many hazards until his patience wore so thin that he decided to open the box to see what precious thing was inside it. The moment he broke it open, out jumped a mouse and disappeared into the wilderness. For a moment he looked for that clever rat—but he knew that he had lost the rat and the chance to become the disciple of that learned guru, who had set such a strict test for him.
A week ago a rat visited our almost brand new home one evening. We closed all the bedroom doors, but it raced into the kitchen that had no door and went into hiding. We made a thorough search, but in vain. We retired for the night thinking it must have gone away for good, but the clever creature came to see me while I was watching television and when it felt threatened, scurried off into nowhere through the kitchen. There are tell-tale signs of it being around somewhere—such as a packet of wheat having tear-apart signs, and an upset vessel. The pest control people turned up, too. But there is only a hole in my pocket of a few hundred rupees for their having come but not locating the source of entrance and disappearance of the rat.
I wonder where it went, taking my peace of mind and a piece of my mind with it.