Bear necessities

FOREST DIARY:

When little Mona Monkey was accused of stealing a bunch of bananas by her classmates, she was very upset. Who could help prove her innocence?

Beena Bear was one of the oldest residents of the beautiful Jadoomasti forest. Her house was in a cave in the thicker part of the forest. Beena knew many ways to reach the river when she felt like taking a cool dip, or quenching her thirst after a good meal. She knew that there were human beings who lived beyond the hills, past the river, and she knew how to avoid them when they dared to enter the forest. She loved lying down under the huge neem tree, right outside her cave, after her afternoon meal. She led a simple and contented life.

In the forest, there was a little monkey called Monu, who went to the forest school. She enjoyed monkeying around with friends and learning new monkey tricks.

However, one day, a huge fight broke out in Mona’s class. Gerry Gorilla wanted to celebrate his birthday with his classmates. He had brought a huge bunch of special bananas. He kept the bananas under the mango tree. During the break, he realised that the bananas were missing. He saw Mona sitting under the tree with a satisfied smile.

Gerry assumed that Mona had eaten up the bananas. He started yelling at her. Soon, all the animals joined Gerry and started calling Mona a thief. Mona’s friends stopped talking to her and began to avoid her. Mona was very upset.

She told her mother what had happened. Instead of consoling her, her mama scolded her. “You must be alert in school. How can you sit under the tree and waste time?” she demanded. Mona was too upset to say anything more. Seeing Mona so sad, her neighbour Mongolina Mongoose told her that there was one person who could solve her problem. And that was Beena Bear.

Mona went to Beena Bear’s cave one afternoon. Beena had just woken up from her nap and was happy to have some company. She sensed that little Mona was sad. She gave her a warm hug. Mona’s eyes filled with tears at this unexpected kindness and she began to cry. Beena Bear wiped Mona’s tears away and held her till she was done with her sniffling! Mona told Beena Bear that she had lost all her friends at school. All the while, Beena Bear simply nodded and held Mona. Soon, it started to get dark and it was time for Mona to leave. After talking to Beena Bear, Mona felt light-hearted. She had a new friend who believed her!

Next day, Mona was back to see Beena. This time Mona was not so teary-eyed. And soon she was telling Beena about how she wanted to find out who the culprit was. She didn’t want to drown in self-pity. She wanted to find the thief and  win back her friends. All the while, Beena held her and nodded in agreement.

Mona thought carefully about the day the fight had broken out in school. She replayed the scene in her mind. And then it occurred to her that Fiona Fox had not attended class after the break. She had seen Fiona slipping away when Gerry Gorilla started looking for the bananas. Mona was sure that it was Fiona who had stolen all the bananas.

She ran to Gerry’s house and told him that she had found the thief. She and Gerry went to Fiona’s house that evening. Fiona lived in a small cave. And, just as Mona suspected, they found a lot of banana peels in the cave! Gerry apologised to Mona. He made sure that all their classmates also apologised to her. Mona suddenly found herself with a lot of friends!

Mona told her mother the whole story. Her mother rushed to Beena’s cave to thank her.

But, when she got there, she found the cave empty. The neighbours told her that Beena Bear had gone for a walk. The neighbours asked Mona’s mother what the matter was.

Mona’s mother told them how Beena Bear had listened to her baby and helped her overcome her sadness. The neighbours were stunned to hear this. They told Mona’s mother a very astonishing fact: Beena was deaf and dumb. She could not have heard a word that Mona had said. Then, how could she have helped Mona?

At that very moment, Mona’s mother understood a very important lesson. Even though Beena Bear had not heard Mona, she had instinctively known that Mona was sad.

All Beena Bear did was to hug her and nod and Mona had felt loved, heard and understood. Beena Bear had helped restore Mona’s confidence by showing her support and love. What a special person Beena was!

If I had a problem, I would go to someone like Beena Bear. What about you? Do you know anyone like Beena Bear?