| Chhutki :Gosh, Riki,
there are so many tunnels all around us!
Riki : Well, they are all
empty.
Chhutki : How do you know
which one to take ?
Riki : Ha, Ha! All I can
say is, it comes naturally
when you're a rat!
( All chuckle . They keep moving till
they come to a small underground cave where several white rocks seem to glow light up the
place. Baadshah and Chhutki get off Riki's back, down on to the floor.)
Chhutki : Ooooh... it's so
lovely and cool down here.
Baadshah :Yes, cool, that's
just what we are looking for. Riki, do you smell water anywhere close by?
Riki : (Riki lifts his
nose up and wiggles
his whiskers
left and right, then stops suddenly, facing the right corner of the cave.) This side
seems to smell wetter. In fact ,I can even hear a very faint sound coming from down below.
Baadshah : Dig Riki, dig -
as fast as you can, down-wards, in this direction. We will keep removing the earth as you
dig.
( Work begins. Riki digs downwards at
great speed, while Baadshah and Chhutki keep removing the earth he digs up. Suddenly they
hear Riki calling from way down.)
Riki : ( From somewhere
underground) Hellooo, Baadshah... Chhutki.... can you hear me?
Chhutki : Yeeeesss , we
caaann Rikiiii!
Riki : Hey, I've found
water, but it is really very deep down.
Chhutki : Come back, Riki!
It is now quite clear that if we have to find water, we will have to dig really deep.
Think of all the effort we have to make now just because we were not careful about conserving
water earlier.
Riki : Yes !!!! Now,
Baadshah and Chhutki, grab my tail, we're going up!
( They both hold on to Riki's tail, and
move through the tunnels to the surface. Pia comes swooping
to greet them in the sun for a while. Soon it is time to leave.)
Baadshah : Well, it's time
we moved on. Thank you, Pia and Riki, for the rides and all your help.
Chhutki : Yes, you were
wonderful . I shall miss you. I have learnt such a lot today. I hope everyone realizes
soon that if they are not careful, the water table, which has alrready gone down will soon
be out of reach. I have learnt this lesson the hard way. And, I pray that everyone
remembers it as well.
Pia : We shall miss you
too, but you will come back sometime ?
Riki : You will, won't you?
Baadshah : Oh yes, we will.
( They wave goodbye as Pia flies into the
sky and Riki runs off into another hole nearby.)
Chhutki : Baadshah, have
you forgotten something?
Baadshah : Oh yes, I nearly
did.
Just close your eyes and count till
three
Back to normal size we'll be.
Chhutki : This is much
better now. My neck was beginning to hurt, looking up at everything all the time . (
Both chuckle.)
Baadshah : Yes, Chhutki,
now that we've seen how things are on one side, let's go and see how they are on the other
side as well.
Chhutki : Other side ?
Baadshah : Shut your
eyes again, and count till three
On the other side we shall be. |
