Winning the game

The World's first sports festival took place in a jungle. The first sports council members had to handpick the players. It had to be a trendsetter, a positive one, ushering in harmony among the tribes. The sports council chose two members from different tribes.

Their choice was submitted to the lion, the jungle chief, on a leafy plate. The lion approved of the two: the rabbit and the tortoise. A date was fixed, and the whole jungle was invited to watch the game.

The rabbit took an early lead, which made him over-confident. He thought of taking a little rest. Tortoise would be far slow taking his own time, he knew for certain. But the tortoise had a strategy. Slow and steady, he reached the winning post.

“The story doesn’t end there, though,” the rabbit said.
“Where does it end, then?”
“There is more to it. What we have completely forgotten is that it was a tournament, not a competition.”
“I want to hear that story.”
“You got to see it, Mr Lotus Heart.” The rabbit got hold of Aravinda, and took him to times long forgotten.

A surprised rabbit opted not to be too smart in the next competition. So, not only did he take an early lead, but also did outrun the opponent. Slow and steady doesn’t always win, so came the saying. Speed, if used properly at the right time, will win the game too. The tortoise and his tribe digested the loss in silence.

The third competition had a different route. Little did the rabbit know it had a downside for his tribe. Although he took an early lead, this time too, the rabbit had to slow down as there was a lake. He could not perform the same feat. The tortoise swam well in the lake, and the triumph came easily.

Following the competition, there was much hubbub in the rabbit tribe. They grew a visceral hatred towards the rival tribe. Worse, the rabbit had to put up with the bullying – he was quite disheartened. His tribe openly accused the tortoise to have fixed the game.

A delegation from the rabbit tribe even met the king, and pleaded for an inquiry. Known for his just rule, the lion gave a verdict. Even a just ruler, however, has to keep things under his thumb.

“This is just a competition. I have declared it a tournament. There will be one more competition, and at the end the sports council will decide who gets the jungle sports trophy.”

Satisfied, the delegation left the king.

By now, the rabbit and the tortoise had become friends. Both had got used to triumph as well as loss. As a friendly gesture, the rabbit invited the tortoise to tea at his place.

“I didn’t know you are such a good runner.”
“I didn’t know you are such a good swimmer,”
Both laughed out aloud.
“So next Friday is the final day of the tournament.”
“And you are going to clinch the trophy.”
“You can request for a route change perhaps.”
“Not necessarily, my friend. We can still use the same route. We can both be winners.”
“How so?”
“We both have talents and skills.”
“That, I know,” the tortoise said, impatient to hear the rest. His heart was thumping loud.
“So we can make use of both and win the game equally,” the rabbit said easily.
“All right, it makes some sense. But I still have no idea how practical it’s going to be.”
“That’s what I’m going to tell you. Give me a hearing,” the rabbit’s voice dropped to a whisper.

The next match, the final one, had a packed audience of the whole jungle. It was held on the same route. The rabbit and the tortoise started on as usual. First, in vigorous action, the rabbit carried his friend and ran up to the lake. In the lake the tortoise swam with his friend on his back.

Finally they both reached the winning post.
The cheering crowd saw the rabbit and the tortoise shaking hands with each other. Their smiles reigned.
“Why didn’t that story come to be?”
“That’s my problem too, Mr Lotus Heart. Which is why I wanted to show you what exactly happened.”
“So we should work in cooperation, not on competition.”
“Wrong,” the rabbit said sternly.
Aravinda gave a resigned nod. The rabbit carried on.

“We need competition too. But cooperation and competition must walk down hand in hand, you know. We do not need either rabbit or tortoise to win. We need both to win. We need both to shake hands with each other.”

After listening that far, Aravinda knew it was time to chill out a little.

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