Pigs

It was a sizzling summer afternoon in an Indian village. A group of five pigs was wandering in the street probing in search of food. They were all scavenging through heaps of trash in order to get some food but their luck did not seem to favour them. They walked a good deal of distance but they could not get anything to eat. Their hunger had divested them of their energy and the scorching sun made it very difficult for them to go on walking on the street for food. Nevertheless, they did not lose hope and perseverance. Ultimately their perseverance paid and they got hold of rice that was discarded near a lamp-post.
All pigs started eating rice and as a result all rice was eaten up in no time. However, they were still hungry, so they went on looking for some more food. One of the pigs saw a house whose door was ajar. He went there and entered the house and the other pigs followed suit. By chance, the place where they all entered was a kitchen, where was a good amount of food lying on the floor. They all started gobbling down the food, while the people in the house were having a siesta. One of the pigs stepped on a bowl that was lying empty on the floor; the bowl bounced and rattled, waking up the owner of the house. The owner went to the direction of the noise and on reaching the kitchen he found five pigs engrossed in savouring the food. The owner closed the front door quietly and hurried to the back door and latched it as well. Now the pigs were caught inside the kitchen but they were so much lost in eating the food that it took them some time to realize that they were confined in the kitchen. Then they started banging their heads on the door.
The owner of the house called a squad that catches stray animals. The squad arrived and cast a net outside the back door of the kitchen and opened the door. In the blink of an eye, all of the pigs got sprawling in the net. The squad brought all the ends of the net together, tied them and carried all the pigs into a lorry that they had come in and drove away. The owner of the house became happy because he had got relieved of the menace.
The lorry arrived in a wilderness; the lorry pulled up and a man sitting inside it opened the door. Another man hauled the cage out of the lorry onto the ground. Then he opened the cage; freed all the pigs from the net. The pigs, who were very apprehensive, jumped for joy and ran wildly here and there. The lorry purred away.
One man in the lorry said to the man who was driving the lorry, ‘Poor pigs! They must be enjoying themselves now that they are free.’
‘I can see the resemblance between man’s concept of freedom and animals’, but I think both of them have failed to perceive the greater and subtler freedom that pervades a cage’, said the driver.
These words sent all the squad thinking.
The pigs, who were now enjoying their freedom, were walking together to a pond to quench their thirst. A sweet fragrance of some strange flowers permeated the area they were walking in. They thanked their luck for getting them out of the trouble. However, a growl of a wolf petrified them and suddenly a gang of eight wolves emerged before them. The pigs bolted in panic. The wolves started chasing them. Even though the desire to live had enabled the pigs to run faster than usual, two wolves managed to catch one of the pigs. The wolves started mauling the pig and other six wolves were running after the rest of four pigs. One wolf duh its nail deep into the pig’s stomach and the other wolf bit the pig’s ear off. Seeing this one pig rushed to the wounded pig to rescue it. This pig started mauling the wolves that were attacking the pig. The other wolves came to the spot and fought the two pigs violently. The wolves tore two pigs’ stomachs open and started chewing their intestines.
The life, which encouraged these pigs to run away and fight their enemies, disappeared like a flame that surrenders to strong wind. Now, all the wolves, leaving the dead pigs on the ground, ran to the three pigs. Two wolves caught one pig; the other three caught the other pig and the other three wolves charged at the remaining pig that was trying to hide in a dense bush. Their fight stirred up so much dust that nothing was visible except dust hovering in the air. A pall of dust shrouded the place, as death blindfolds its prey. Nothing could be perceived except growl of wolves and cry of pigs. After some time the pigs became silent as the sea that went wild once becomes silent in the end. The pall of dust became thin and gradually disappeared. The wolves had a howl of victory; the pall of dust cleared.
The ground was wet not with rain but with pigs’ blood. Limbs of the pigs were scattered on the ground. Near the carcasses there stood some of the wolves whose eyes glittered with innocence as confirming their conviction that they had done nothing wrong and the wolves whose faces radiated with blessed ignorance as if they did not know what they had done.
Is it the hunger or the belief that one is different from other that causes one to kill?
Heeren Bhatt, MSU Baroda.