THE RAT RACE

THE RAT RACE

"Who has won the race?"

"It's me, obviously!" ' said the other rat.

"But I think I've won it. Let us see the photo finish."

They saw the video again and again but could not come to any conclusion. It was a little bit difficult to decide the issue because one was running a hundred metre race while the other was competing for a high jump event. They felt puzzled. The problem remaining undecided, they became unhappy and passed sleepless nights. So, they went to the ombudsman. The ombudsman saw the clippings carefully with all his attention and said,

"It is very difficult to take a conclusive decision on any matter in this age of confusion. We have a dog and a parrot. The parrot often disturbs the dog. My wife loves parrots and I love dogs. She says the parrots are far better than the dogs. I think dogs are better because they have utilities and they don't disturb others like parrots. I do not dare to tell my wife all these logics and the problem remains unresolved."

Being unsatisfied with the judgement of the ombudsman, the rats went to the Quazi. He was a somber looking man with profound knowledge. He heard both of them solemnly, saw the video and then said,

"Hmmm! This is not a question of law but a problem of ethics. As you all know ethics is based on moral principles, we have to find out the root cause of the differences of attitude towards the life among us before solving this problem. Suppose you have a pain in the chest. Who would you go to?"

"To the doctor, sir" ' said both the rats.

"And if you have a falling bridge, who would you.."

"To an engineer"

"So if you have a pain and you go to an engineer that would not solve your problem. Similarly, every ethical value has some basic tenets practised through the ages on trial and error basis. It varies from place to place, nation to nation and race to race. So your problem is not a question as to who has won the race but the problem of our race as to how we look at things in our life."

The rats came out more confused and decided to go to the king for an ultimate solution. The king patiently listened to their contentions. He watched the video clip and was terribly amused. He thought for a while and then said,

"I cannot see any picture in it."

"But there is a clipping in it, His Highness. We can clearly see it" ' both the rats yelled at once.

"But I don't find anything in it. The race was in your mind. It was an illusion. Since there was no race at all, there arises no question of winning it. Now go and be happy and merry. Life is like a spring. However frisky it may be in the beginning, it would ultimately join the river and pour itself into the vast seas and oceans."

The rats got back to their places satisfied because nobody won or, lost the race.