Turn Off The Spotlight

The flooded savannahs glittered with a million life forms. All of them were lying still as the midday sun wrecked its vengeance, except for a Common Rhea, who was feeding Tupi a leaf. With her beak, she most servilely held out that tasty tidbit for Tupi’s front two teeth to nibble. He lazily chewed, looked at her pleading eyes and grunted, ‘Okay’.

The Common Rhea flew off most excited. Now, her pardee was sure to be a success. Tupi, the capybara had been blessed with the brightest pair of teeth. His front two pearly whites rivalled the sun in its brilliance.

He was the most popular animal around the grasslands during those dismal summer-flooded months. After dark, the creatures would ask him to sit in a corner and flash his dentures as they grooved away, half in water, half dry.

In case a young one was lost he would head the search party, his strong beam of teeth leading the way. Occasionally, just for fun, the fish would invite him to the murky river bed and there, with his help, they would uncover lost treasures, boat wrecks and forgotten ghosts.

As long as Tupi was around life was never boring. One day, when Tupi was off looking for a baby deer, he suddenly noticed his light dimming a bit. He shook off a mushrooming fear and scurried deeper and deeper into the woods but with every step the darkness increased, overpowering the light. Finally, just as he was about to give up, he spotted the fawn trembling in a bat-filled cave. Reunited with its Mama, it licked her nose and vowed never to leave her again (Ah-ha!).

That was the last time Tupi was used as a flashlight. When morning came, with a dread familiar to those who have lost it all, he dragged his feet to the water and parted his lips, a simulation of a smile. His teeth looked dull yellow with not a trace of its illustrious white. Slowly, the animals stopped coming to him with a million requests.

In a month he was left all alone. He would just stay in water. Swim, summersault, try to break his own underwater record (four minutes, 49 seconds) He saw the leaves change colour, the baby animals shoot-up into adults. He could gaze at the sky the whole day without anyone disturbing him. Or hunt a particular kind of leaf, the one he loved (Before, because of the number of requests he would just gobble whatever was offered). It took him awhile to come to the conclusion but he finally did. Life was better after his teeth had lost their sheen.



Moral: Falling off the popularity charts means more ‘me time’.

Tupi is drawn by the fabulous Bijoy Venugopal. You can find more of his wonderful stuff here bijoyvenugopal.com