‘Look well! Look well!’ It’s RISGO Centennial…!
View(s):The morning sun was peeping through the tree tops in the nearby forest. I’ve just started climbing the steep Dharmaraja Hill with the hope of reaching the destination before the meeting starts. Suddenly I hear a groan from behind. Startled I looked back over my shoulder to see ‘Baloo Bear’ following me in awkward strides.
“Ah it’s you, ‘Baloo,’ what’s up?”
“I’m sorry. I have mistaken you for ‘Mowgli.’ But how do you know my name, ‘Man Cub?’”
“I have read enough of you in the ‘Jungle Book,’ and, of course, I can recognize you anywhere.”
So we resumed the journey together. Since the bear was with me, I chose the jungle path avoiding man cubs as much as possible.
“In fact, the two of us are not alone,” said ‘Baloo.’
I was about to ask why he said so, when ‘Bagheera,’ the black panther appeared from nowhere in his graceful (cat) walk.
Even before I introduced myself to him, he sprang back at the monkey troop that frequented this area to make them run away for dear life.
“We the ‘jungle people’ hate these ‘Bandar-log’ animals,” he turned back to me and said. “Yesss, yesss, that’sss true,” said ‘Kaa,’ the great python, gliding his massive weight down the tree tops.
So now there is enough company to climb up the hill without feeling tired. We have got to hurry up before the sun begins to show us his full face over the tree tops. But I wonder why all the ‘jungle book people’ are haunting our territory today.
A creepy feeling warns me that ‘Shere Khan,’ the tiger must also be somewhere around here taking a parallel path.
As we reached the Lakeview Park, the mist is thinning, but the dew drops formed overnight on the Lakeview meadow glitter in the sunshine, showing a myriad of colourful miniature rainbows.
What a fine morning it is!
Observing the panoramic view from the hill top, ‘Bagheera’ commented “Ah! The entire ‘Seeonee’ is visible from here.”
Puzzled I said, that’s not the ‘Seeonee Jungle,’ it’s the Udawattakelle Sanctuary”
“Why not, ‘Man Cub,’ what do you know? And that’s the ‘Waingunga River’ far away if you are tall enough to see,” said ‘Baloo.’
“You all are mistaken. That’s not the ‘Waingunga.’ It’s the Mahaweli, the longest river here.”
“Be sssilent, ‘Man Cub’” ‘Kaa’ hissed this time. “We are almossst on the ‘Councssil Rock.’”
“But we are on the BP Hill and not on the ‘Council Rock,’” I tried to explain.
“‘Akela’ will come up any moment now with ‘Mowgli’ for the pack meeting, and you too can join if you want to, but you’d better keep quiet” grunted ‘Baloo’ in a harsh voice.
Suddenly I realize what they all have got wrong.
Laughing, I said, “What pack meeting. It is our RISGO grand opening today!”
“RISGO, what’s that?” they asked in unison.
“We, the Rajans pack, are going to celebrate our scouting centennial.”
“I ssseeee, it’sss RISSSGO, ssso we are on the wrong hill,” hissed ‘Kaa’ with a tired and disappointed note.
“No, no, ‘Kaa,’ don’t worry. We welcome you all to the RISGO and let the entire ‘Seeonee’ pack join us for the celebrations.”
“Look well, look well!”
On hearing this familiar sound, we all look up to see ‘Akela’s appearance on the ‘Council Rock,’ no, on the BP Hill at the Lakeview Park.
“Look well, look well!
It’s RISGO Centennial!”
By Rumal Rathnasiri
(10 years)
and Nirmal Rathnasiri (14 years )
Dharmaraja College, Kandy
(Names of characters and places are from the cub scouts’ much loved story ‘The Jungle Book’ by Rudyard Kipling, with the intention of popularizing it among the newcomers, and inspiring the cub scouts towards the RISGO Centennial.)
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