J For JACK FRUIT – We all have read about it in our pre-school days. Jack fruit is a large, green and spiky fruit
Jack fruits have always influenced the
delivery of the justice in judicial system. . Wonder "HOWWW"? Read
the following story…
Long, long ago, there was a jungle
under the monarchy of a BEAR as there were no tigers and lions in it. It was
inhabited by animals, insects, reptiles and birds who believed in peaceful
co-existence.
Once, it was spring season and a
black drongo (Black drongo is a small Asian passerine bird of the drongo family
Dicruridae) flew into a tree and sat on a branch. After a few moments, basking
itself with the golden sun rays, a little bird which was sitting on another
branch with a poignant face caught the attention of it. It was a BLACK HOODED
GOLDEN ORIOLE, a bird that builds its nest, lays eggs and sings happy songs in
the spring season.
The black drongo was surprised to see
the gloomy face of the golden oriole as it was supposed to be happy and singing.
So, it went over to her and asked about the reason. The black hooded golden
oriole said to it that whenever it tries to build a nest on a branch of the
tree, a mischievous monkey breaks down it. She had pleaded so many times to it
to spare the branch where the nest was built but the monkey didn't give a heed.
Moreover, the monkey – who has become too adamant- makes it a point to destroy
that particular branch where she builds her nest. And that had made her
helpless and sad.
The black drongo was an activist kind
of bird. It felt that it should make the monkey understand its mistake. After
all, Forest is a place for serenity and co-existence. Isn’t it? So, it tried to
talk to the Monkey. But, the monkey was
too ill-behaved and rowdy to even hear about it, let alone realizing its
mistake.
The black drongo decided take a stand
and discussed the matter with other living creatures of the jungle. . Everybody
nodded in affirmation that it was an unjust act and the monkey had broken the
law of jungle. So it should be punished for troubling the little bird. Finally
it was decided to take the matter to the king.
At last, the matter was brought to
the BEAR's (The king of the jungle) court. Black drongo was the prosecutor advocate
for the golden oriole while Mr JACKAL was the defender for the monkey. Debates
went on. Finally, The KING Bear was convinced that "The monkey" was a
culprit and it should be convicted and reprimanded.
Just as The Bear was about to give the
verdict, Mr Jackal suddenly stood and with folded hands pleaded The King to
adjourn verdict till the next day so that they can produce some more
facts/witnesses to prove the monkey innocent. Mr Jackal was granted a
"date – the typical characteristic of the judicial system (yeah I believe …Tarreekh
pe Tareekh, Tareeekh Pe Tareekh….exist
since those days) " and the proceedings were rescheduled for the next day.
The next day at the court, With much ado The KING Bear looked at
Mr Jackal and asked it to put across fresh facts, if any. The Jackal stood up
and said, "Your honor, it will be wrong if you give your verdict looking
at one side. You should look at both the sides of the matter and then proclaim
your judgment – aap ko agge pichhe dekh kar aapna faisala sunana
chahiyes" And it signaled the bear to look
behind. The Bear followed it and looked back. There it saw a "big ripen
jackfruit" was kept under its throne. The mouth of the bear started
watering. It looked up and forward and gave a harsh look at both the birds,
particularly at the black hooded golden oriole.
Then, the verdict was delivered. The
bear said that the monkey was an animal with a natural instinct of hopping on
the branches and it had the right to hop on any branch it wished to. Golden
oriole was the CULPRIT who had brought the matter to the court to DEFAME the
monkey. So, it should be punished for that. The Punishment would be decided next
day.
All of a sudden at
that moment, a sparrow came to them and disclosed the real matter. It was a
sinister plan of the duo, the monkey and the jackal who had kept that "big
ripe jackfruit" the night before as a bribe for the king that had changed
the game, overnight. As the sparrow lived on the same tree, it was aware of the
plan.
What happened next
was bound to happen. All the creatures were united against the king and went to
the court to confront. But what they saw there was the last thing to test and
break their patience. They saw the king gulping the jackfruit bulbs
extracted by the monkey and being served by Mr Jackal. The scene infuriated
them even more and they simply banged and thrashed them up and expelled them
from the jungle.
The elephant was
made the king. Peace and justice were established and the jungle echoed with
the songs of the black hooded golden oriole once again.
I had read this
story in a text book of Odia language in my elementary school. The name of the
story was "Vihanga Biplav – Bird Revolution". The moral of the story
that was taught to us was that we should stand united against "injustice
and unfairness" as an entity in a civilized society, to put an end to it.
But today, looking at the judicial system of our country I feel that the actual
moral of the story is "jackfruits (read money) always have a strong
influence in the delivery of the justice or judicial system as they have the
power to change verdicts".
Looking at some of
the recent verdicts by courts, Not only I felt it mocks the judiciary but also
it reaffirmed the fact that if you have enough jackfruits (read money) to feed
the people involved in the judicial proceedings, you can "certainly"
swing the verdict in your favor.
Wisdom demands a
"revolution" in Indian judiciary, so that it can utter justice. We
claim ourselves to be civilized, but don't have the guts to challenge
injustice.
I wish we would
have been living in a jungle to bring about a revolution in our judicial
system. But, the reality is that "jack fruits will keep influencing justice
and the judiciary". #Fact.
This is my Post for DAY – 10
For the Alphabet J In #ATozChallenge by #Blogchatter #BlogchatterA2Z
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