Chickens and Eagle

A long time ago in a remote valley, there lived a farmer. One day he got tired of the daily routine of running the farm and decided to climb the cliffs that brooded above the valley to see what lay beyond.

He climbed all day until he reached a ledge just below the top of the cliff; there, to his amazement was a nest, full of eggs.

Immediately he knew they were eagle's eggs and, even though he knew it was profoundly un-ecological and almost certainly illegal, he carefully took one and stowed it in his pack; then seeing the sun was low in the sky, he realized it was too late in the day to make the top and slowly began to make his way down the cliff to his farm.

When he got home he put the egg in with the few chickens he kept in the yard. The mother hen was the proudest chicken you ever saw, sitting atop this magnificent egg; and the cockerel couldn't have been prouder.

Sure enough, some weeks later, from the egg emerged a fine, healthy egret. And as is in the gentle nature of chickens, they didn't balk at the stranger in their midst and raised the majestic bird as one of their own.

So it was that the eagle grew up with its brother and sister chicks. It learned to do all the things chickens do: it clucked and cackled, scratching in the dirt for grits and worms, flapping its wings furiously, flying just a few feet in the air before crashing down to earth in a pile of dust and feathers.

It believed resolutely and absolutely it was a chicken.

One day, late in its life, the eagle-who-thought-he-was-a-chicken happened to look up at the sky. High overhead, soaring majestically and effortlessly on the thermals with scarcely a single beat of its powerful golden wings was an eagle!

"What's that?!” cried the old eagle in awe. "It's magnificent! So much power and grace! It’s beautiful!"

"That's an eagle", replied a nearby chicken, "That's the King of the Birds. It's a bird of the air... not for the likes of us. We’re only chickens; we're birds of the earth".

With that, they all cast their eyes downwards once more and continued digging in the dirt.

And so it was that the eagle lived and died a chicken... because that's all it believed itself to be.

I am sure you would have read this story a number of times. I have also come across this and told my students encouraging them to identify their potential and pursue their dreams.

Recently when I re-read this story I got the following thoughts in my mind…..I may sound different but this also requires to be pondered…hence I decided to share my thoughts.

The farmer stole the egg of an eagle and brought it home. The reason may be to tame an eagle as per his desires. This act is wrong and illegal. In real life situation we have heard children being kidnapped or abducted to make them beggars, these barbarians also go to the extent of removing the eyes or making them limp or trafficking them for profit. The lesson: never leave you children unguarded. 

After the egg hatched the farmer did not take any steps to make the egret realize its strength and potential. He failed to be a mentor to the eagle. In real life situation we come across many experienced or learned men/women who would have faced many challenges but will not share their expertise. They will want the youngsters to fight their way out. 

Wikipedia defines: Mentoring as a

“process for the informal transmission of knowledge, social capital, and the psychosocial support perceived by the recipient as relevant to work, career, or professional development; mentoring entails informal communication, usually face-to-face and during a sustained period of time, between a person who is perceived to have greater relevant knowledge, wisdom, or experience (the mentor) and a person who is perceived to have less (the protégé)".

Mentoring helps the individual to understand his or her potential. The mentoring has to start from a very young age. In this story the farmer did not help the egret to realize that it is capable of flying high and it is the king of birds.  He just wanted the eagle to remain a chicken. He probably was scared that if the egret learnt its abilities it will eat away his chickens……his source of income will be lost. The farmers vested interest prevented him from not mentoring. In our everyday life, whether it is at home or professional life we do come across people like the farmer who do not help the able persons to grow to their fullest potentials. Around you there are people like the “Dhronacharya’s” who will take away your thumb, or people like the “Sakuni” who will feed you with the wrong ideologies.  But we must be like the great “Prahalatha” who despite not having a right environment had only one objective in mind, to chant “Narayana”

You will never get a conducive, all pervasive, perfect environment to grow, but will face only tough challenges. If only the eagle had been more curious and observant it would have realized its ability earlier. Nobody will nurture your talent unless you show case it. 

The lesson: when you realize that you are not allowed to grow by others …beware and take the risk of drawing your own road map.

If you do not rise up you will die as a chicken even if you are born an eagle. You have no one to blame but yourself for it. 

To conclude remember this quote by Devdutt Pattanaik, “Realizing our potential is our Dharma.”