A Fish
I am a fish, very small and cute. At one time a long long ago, I used to live in the depths of a river but, as time passed by, my life has changed a lot. This new life that I am spending now is just wonderful, and I like it immensely. However, life was never laird on me. Even when I lived in the river, I was very happy as, life there was calm and quiet, and I gained a lot of experience there.
Going backwards down memory lane, I can very clearly recall my life in the river. There, in the depth of the river, I was almost a non-entity as, I was very small and insignificant, and there were very many big, large and huge fish in the water. I used to swim delightfully with my friends, meet many more fish of my clan, enjoy the company of colleagues and elders and have a life of bliss. At times, in the river, I even encountered bigger fish, some of them double my size, but, whenever I noticed a big fish coming my way, I remember how I used to change my route, my direction and go for safety. This we all did as, we had heard that, the big fish eat whole the smaller fish, to satisfy their hunger. This life continued at the river for a long time. I used to see many a time fishermen come with nets, and trap fish and take them away. This I came to know they did, as men eat fish. The fishermen would catch fish of all sizes and sell them. This never frightened me as, I was just too small and could fill no one’s stomach. This thought always kept me and my small colleagues feel safe.
However, this was not true. One day not a fisherman but a Sahib came to the river with a net. Just as I was wondering how a Sahib could work as a fisherman, he threw his net towards the direction of my placement and that of my little friends. He managed to catch about twenty to thirty of us. We were all frightened and wondered what the Sahib would do to us. However, this worry did not last long as, he soon went to his home and put all of us in water once again. What we saw now was a great relief for all of us. My Sahib is an officer in some Government office, and his name is Mr. Malik. He has a large family, a wife and three children. He is, as I learn very fond of fish and so is his wife. As soon as he came home, he put all of us in a glass cage like box, that was full of water. This cage has little plants at the bottom of the water, and small pebbles at the base. At first none of us had understood why he had brought us here but, through their conversation I have come to know that, the family is fond of maintaining fish. The glass cage is called by man, an aquarium. He keeps this aquarium in his sitting room, and it is supposed to be a decoration for the room. Oh! What an honour I have got by none less than man.
All this I came to know when, one day a small boy entered the drawing room with his parents. They all started discussing fish, a glass cage and all about something man calls decoration. While they were discussing fish, my ears got alerted and soon I saw all of them coming towards the glass cage. When they stood and discussed the beauty of the cage, the beauty of each one of us, I came to understand all that the Sahib had done. He had brought us all just to decorate his house with the colours of all of us. Now I have understood that, maintaining an aquarium is a hobby of the rich. They collect small and colourful fish, and place them in their private domestic aquariums.
Life here is just wonderful, and full of peace and relaxation. There is no work for me or my friends. We do not even have to fend for our food, this we are served by any member of the family or by the servant. Could we have ever imagined this royal life. Every day the water of the cage is changed, and fresh food served. There is also absolute safety here as, there are no big fish to swallow us up in a single gulp. We are all the time enjoying good food, clean water, love and care of the family, and the company of each other. All of us I think are of different colours, as, I often hear people comment that, and placed together we look like a rainbow. I know that I am a red fish the others I do not know what they look like. I only know that, they are all good company for me. Staying with this family I think we or at least I can have no grudge with them or life or God. This is because all have been very kind to me. I always pray to God that, HE bless my master’s family with HIS choicest blessings, for giving all of us such a life of solace and calm.
