Once upon a time there was a boy named Kirat Singh. Kirat went to school like any other boy, and he was really into animals. They were on his lunchbox, notebook, mural on his bedroom wall and his room was full of animal toys. “Animals are my friends, I love all the animals in my life!” There was something special about Kirat… he had a very unique way of seeing the world… sometimes those animals in his room and in his notebooks would come alive! (animal sounds)
Anyways, his mother would wake him up long before the sun rose and say, “The best time of the day is here, let’s start our day by remembering the almighty Waheguru, Let us chant and be grateful.” Waking up early and being immersed in Guru’s bani certainly helped Kirat stay connected with his intuition and his talent.
"Waheguru, waheguru, waheguru"
One day at school Kirat was waiting in class before the teacher arrived. He looked at the animals on his notebook and they came alive! No one else could see this but Kirat, the animals were actually Kirat’s intuition, his internal guidance.
Monkey: "Oooh oooh aaah aaah, thank you for always seeing me!"
Kirat: "Hello grateful monkey!"
Grateful the Monkey: "I am grateful… I’m also nervous ohh ohhh.. Ahankar the lion is always around... he’s lurking through the jungle right now. He’s full of pride, he’s the most powerful of all and he forces everyone to worship him!"
Kirat: "But we only worship one God, not any person or creature."
Grateful the Monkey: "Maybe the lion doesn’t know about God because he’s always...AHHHHHHH!!!"
Kirat S: "What happened!?"
Grateful the Monkey: "Snake! Snake!!!"
Kirat S: "Don’t be scared, if you chant the name of God you will have nothing to fear. You.. snake, come out. It’s ok, you can talk to me."
Clever the Snake: "Sss, I didn’t mean to scare the monkey… sssss…"
Kirat S: "Hello snake, what’s your name?"
Clever: "My name is ‘Clever.’ I heard you talking about that horrible lion.. I could tell there is something special about you, I know that you can help us."
Kirat S: "I’ll be happy to help, Clever! Everything is possible with Guru ji’s blessing!"
Clever the Snake: "The lion spreads fear throughout the jungle. We are all so afraid of his control over us. We don’t have time to relax and be ourselves."
Kirat S: "Let’s confront the lion! We can do it together!"
Clever the Snake: "Oh no, I can’t…"
Kirat: "Don’t be afraid."
Clever: "I don’t know about this…"
Kirat S: "Everything is possible with Guru ji’s blessing."
It was time for class. As all the students entered the classroom Kirat saw one boy, Mikey, who was always making a scene. Mikey started picking on a kid with glasses before the teacher came in. He started poking him.
Mikey: “Nice glasses FOUR EYES!"
Chanchal: “Ow, stop poking me..”
Mikey: "Stop poking me, stop poking me..Hah!”
Chanchal: “Ooh, ah, oww..”
Kirat immediately protested, "Hey!," he said, "Stop!"
Mikey: “Oh towel-head thinks a hero? I’ll do more than poke you!”
Kirat: “I’m not afraid of you!”
Teacher: “Settle down kids, settle down. I know what you’re thinking, it’s difficult to focus in class today because it’s a Monday…”
As the class went on Mikey looked at Kirat and squinted his eyes in a threatening way a couple of times. Then, during a break in class, the teacher stepped out for a little bit.
Chanchal: "Pssst. Hey, my name is Chanchal."
Kirat: "Hey Chanchal. Mickey was picking on you, I didn’t like it."
Chanchal: "Mikey is so much bigger than the rest of us. I think he’s supposed to be in the class for older kids. He picks on everyone."
Kirat: "Well there’s only one of him, if the rest of us get together and stand up to Mikey there’s no way that he can..."
Mikey: "What are you gonna do, diaper-head?? Yeah, I hear you talkin trash."
Kirat: "I’m not talking trash, you’re the one who’s messing with people."
Mikey: "I’ll mess you up alright."
Teacher: "OK, it’s time for everyone’s favorite subject: MATH!"
Mikey: "See you at recess, PUNK!" Mikey pointed right in Kirat’s face and punched his hand into his fist. "You’re gonna get it!"
Chanchal and Kirat exchanged numbers. You’re not supposed to text in class but they found a way to do it so no one saw them. Then in class Kirat again saw the animals on his notebook and he drifted into the animal world...
Clever the Snake: "Please don’t confront the lion. He might hurt us all…"
Grateful the Monkey: "He is right. The arrogant lion is…"
Kirat: "Grateful... you seem sad?"
Grateful the Monkey: "The arrogant lion has already…. He’s already... eaten my family. They’re all gone now. He did it because he found out they were planning to escape to another jungle."
Clever the Snake: "He’s crazy. Please don’t make any problems. If he finds out we are talking he could eat us all!!!"
Kirat: "Let’s chant God’s Name!"
They all began to chant.
Kirat: "With the Naam in our hearts, nothing can make us fearful."
Grateful the Monkey: "I do feel different after chanting, there is a… a vibration…"
Kirat: "We are protected! May there be victory!"
Clever the Snake: "It’s too dangerous!"
Ahankar: "Grrrr…."
Clever the Snake: "He’s coming! I have to go!!!"
The clever snake slithered away.
Kirat S: "Clever! Before you leave just remember: Chant SatNam Waheguru. With God’s name on our lips we can do anything!"
Teacher saw that Kirat was again looking at the outside of his notebook. "Kirat! Pay attention!"
Kirat: "Yes ma’am."
Teacher: "Thank you. Now where was I? Oh yes, the right triangle’s longest side is called the hypotenuse, and it’s this side here…"
When the teacher wasn’t looking at him anymore Kirat sent a text to Chanchal: "Let’s get a bunch of kids together! Mikey can’t face us all at the same time!"
But Chanchal wasn’t sure about it: "I don’t know if that’s a good idea. Who would join us? It’ll just be the two of us, and he’ll just beat both of us up at recess."
However before recess began it started to rain. So recess happened inside, where Mikey couldn’t do what he wanted without the teacher seeing it.
Chanchal: "You know what Kirat, I have an idea actually..."
Mikey came over to Kirat. Kirat winked at Chanchal.
Kirat: "Ready?"
Chanchal: "Ready!" Chanchal winked back.
Mikey: "You’re lucky it rained, otherwise you’d be hurting right now. I’ve messed up little punks like you before, and I’ll do it again. Tomorrow I’m gonna smash you."
Kirat: "You don’t scare me!"
Then Mikey left.
Kirat: "Did you get it?"
Chanchal: "Mikey threatening you on video? Yep, I recorded the whole thing!"
After school Kirat went home, he did his homework and went to sleep. And this was the dream he had:
Vivek the Elephant: (elephant sound)
Kirat: "Oh what is your name?"
Vivek the Elephant: "I am Vivek, the Elephant. Grateful told me that the snake got scared and ran away so I came to help you. Ahankar the lion, can’t attack me, I’m too big for even him. If you’re going to confront him, at least I should be there."
Kirat: "The lion just doesn’t know about God’s Name. No one ever taught him. He’s sick, and the Naam is the medicine he needs."
Grateful the Monkey: "I am thankful for the opportunity to help Kirat and Vivek cure Ahankar the lion, of his big ego…. Umm…. somehow… heh..."
Vivek the Elephant: "Okay, but let’s be careful from now on. Ahankaar, will be searching for food now. Keep repeating God’s Name and don’t be fearful, for he can smell the fear."
Kirat S: (IN A LOUD AND PASSIONATE VOICE) "AHANKAAR! OH LION! Where are you!?!"
Grateful the Monkey: "Shhhhh What are you doing???"
Kirat S: "We are here to confront the lion. So that’s what I’m doing!"
Grateful the Monkey: "Well, but I didn’t know you were going to do that… He’s going to come very angrily and eat us… I want to go back… I don’t feel good about this…"
Kirat S: "Remember what I told Clever the snake?"
Grateful the Monkey: "Um, oh, oh, oh, to chant Sat Nam Waheguru"
Kirat S: "And fear will leave you!"
Grateful the Monkey: "Sat nam waheguru sat nam waheguru sat nam waheguru…"
Kirat S: "Feel it! The naam is real, it is alive. Feel the love of naam increase inside of you…"
"Sat nam waheguru sat nam waheguru..."
All of them began to feel the light inside them get brighter. They felt warm inside. Then, all of a sudden they were shocked out of that bliss!
Ahankaar the Lion: "Rawwwrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!l"
Grateful the Monkey: "OH OH OH OH NOOOO!!!!!!"
Kirat S: "Remember, Grateful, don’t be afraid of Ahankar!"
Grateful the Monkey: "But… he’s a lion and I’m a monkey…"
Kirat S: "Just sit on top of Vivek, you’ll be safe there, and keep remembering the Lord of the Universe."
Ahankaar: "Who dared to call me by my name and not, 'Your Majesty'?!!"
Kirat S: "It is I, Kirat. I’m here to speak with you."
Ahankaar: "Foolish human!!! You think I want to talk with you!?? Hahahaha, I will eat you!"
Listening to this, fear entered into the mind of Vivek the Elephant.
Vivek the Elephant: “Now that I think about it… maybe he could actually hurt me. And Kirat, well, you made him so angry he could eat you whole! Kirat, I’m also starting to have a bad feeling about this… he really could hurt me, and he could eat you!"
Grateful the Monkey: "Well, I’m feeling full of light! I’m not afraid!"
Vivek the Elephant: "Oh, that’s because you’re on my back, out of reach, and you can jump into a tree at any moment."
Ahankaar: "STOP TALKING!!! I AM IN CHARGE HERE, YOU WILL SPEAK WHEN I TELL YOU TO!!!"
Kirat S: "Oh you poor lion!"
Ahankaar: "POOR!!! I AM THE KING!!! HOW DARE YOU CAN ME POOR, IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO BECOME MY DINNER!!!!"
Grateful the Monkey: "I’ve never seen him this angry before… I think… yep, I’m scared again!"
The lion’s power and his fury were quite scary. Even Kirat was getting afraid, but he tried not to show it.
Kirat S: "I called you poor because you have put such a huge burden on yourself. If you are in charge of everyone, you are responsible for them too. They are God’s responsibility, not yours."
Ahankaar: "RAAAWWRRRRRRRR"
Vivek the Elephant: "Let’s just apologize and get out of here, I think you’re just making him more angry… I’ve never seen such rage before..."
Kirat S: "Ahankar you will be more happy if you drop the burden of..."
Ahankaar: "SILENCE HUMAN!!!"
Then Ahankar lept at Kirat, pinning him on the ground. His eyes were full of fury. Kirat had never been that scared before, but still somehow he knew everything would turn out alright. "Ahankaar, you and I are the same. We are but humble beings under the same One God."
Ahankaar: "Now I will end you! raawrrrrrr"
And that is when everything changed. The lion was about to get the surprise of his life. The dream continued until Kirat finally woke up. He was afraid of confronting Mikey today, but he was sure of what he had to do.
At recess Mikey came over and said: "You ready for the beating of your life?"
Kirat: "Are you ready for the principal of the school to see this?" Kirat showed him a video on his phone. Mikey “I’ve messed up little punks like you before, and I’ll do it again to you. Tomorrow I’m gonna smash you.”
Mikey grabbed the phone, threw it on the ground and stomped on it. Then he grabbed Kirat by the collar and said, "Now you’ve really done it, I’m gonna knock your teeth out!"
But Kirat was not too afraid. Because of the dream, Kirat had a strong feeling how things would go. Do you want to know what the rest of his dream was? Well, remember that Ahankar the lion had pinned Kirat down and was about to eat him?
Ahankaar: "Now I will end you, raawrrrrrr"
Ahankaar opened his mouth, with his big sharp teeth and was just about to chomp down on Kirat. Then all of the sudden...
Clever the Snake: Sat nam waheguru, sat nam waheguru..."
Ahankaar: "WHAT!? Who is saying that?"
Clever the Snake: "Ahankar it is I, Clever, the snake!"
Ahankaar: "You didn’t call me majesty!!!!! You have never dared to do this before!!! I will not tolerate this!!!!
Bird: "Sat Nam! Waheguru!"
Ahankaar: "What!?? The birds too!!!? I will destroy you too!"
Then Ahankar got off of Kirat and started chasing the birds, but he couldn’t catch them, they flew away.
Vivek the Elephant: "You clever, clever snake! What have you been up to this whole time?"
Clever the Snake: "I chanted, 'Sat Nam Waheguru' and released my fear like the human said, then, with the guidance of he Naam, I got everyone else to do the same…"
Chipmunks: "Sat Nam Waheguru..."
Ahankaar: "You, CHIPMUNKS!!! I didn’t say you could talk!!!!"
Then he chased the chipmunks, but they escaped into the trees. Then the other monkeys showed up.
Monkeys: "Sat nam waheguru sat nam waheguru..."
Ahankaar: "You monkeys defy me too???!!!"
Then other elephants showed up, parrots, pigs, prairie dogs, bees, bears, boars and birds showed up. Antelopes, anteaters and everyone with antlers showed up. All were chanting "Sat Nam Waheguru."
Ahankaar: "What are you doing here! I’ll get you. And you too! I’m really gonna get you! What is going on! Stop saying that! Stop Now! There’s too many, I can’t keep up.. Ahem, I mean I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!!!!!"
Until then, Kirat just trusted that things would be ok… but it was only in this very moment he knew exactly what to do
Kirat S: "My dear lion, if you destroy everyone here… you will be the only one left. Do you want to be all alone?"
Ahankaar: "Wha… what?"
It was then that doubt entered the lion’s proud mind for the first time in a very, very long time.
Kirat S: "I know you already do feel alone. I can see your pain. My dear lion, you have so much pain." Kirat looked that lion right in the eyes and sent him all the light he could. "No one here is against you, great lion. From the squirrel to the sloth, we are all here to be with you. You never have to be alone. You don’t have to be in the pain you are in now."
He let out a howl of pain.
Kirat S: "You have a big heart. It takes great courage to show your pain."
Ahankaar: "You… you little human… you don’t even know me but I feel you are my best friend."
Kirat S: "God is the best friend of all, but when you have love for the naam in your big heart, your life will be full of friends, and you will never be alone."
Clever the Snake: "Dear lion, I have brought all these animals to be here... for you..."
That is when the lion broke down, and he burst into tears. "BAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA… little human… you have touched me so deeply… tell me what to do now."
Kirat S: "This clever snake has done the real job, he is now ‘Wise The Snake’. Ask him."
Ahankaar: "I trust you, human, so I will ask him. Ok, Wise the Snake, go ahead, what should I do?"
Clever/Wise the Snake: "I have tasted a little of the naam. My heart was full of fear before, but it is being cleaned and is becoming more fearless."
Ahankaar: "But I have always been fearless. Even crying before you now, I do not fear."
Clever/Wise the Snake: "But you have pain. And when your heart is cleaned with the naam, your pain will become true courage."
Ahankaar: "Thank you, I will do my best."
That is why Kirat woke up in the morning knowing that everything could change for the better today. And it was why, even though he was afraid of Mikey, especially now that Mike had grabbed him by the collar, he knew what to do.
Mikey: "Now you’ve really set me off, I’m gonna knock all your teeth out!"
Kirat: "Look around you."
Mikey saw that several kids were recording him threatening Kirat. "Stop recording me. I’ll crush you all!"
Chanchal: "It doesn’t matter that you broke his phone, we have all saved the video."
Mikey freaked out and started running after the kids.
Kirat: "SCATTER!"
And all the kids with phones run different directions. Mikey couldn’t catch any of them, so he came back to Kirat and said, "I swear if you rat me out, I will end you!"
Kirat: "Why do you hurt other kids?"
Then something surprising happened… Mikey knew that he could get in trouble and there was nothing he could do to silence the other children. So he got emotional. "You don’t know what it’s like…"
Kirat: "To what…?"
Mikey: "You never been expelled… like me... I got kicked out of the last school I was at... because of a rat like you!"
Mikey was full of anger but also tears started forming in his eyes.
Kirat: "All those kids are saving the second video where you threatened me right now Just apologize and stop bullying. All you have to do is apologize to everyone you’ve messed with, and we won’t release the videos."
Mikey: "You’re gonna share it on social media, that’s what rats do."
Kirat: "All of those kids have promised not to share it, if you just apologize. I promise you, you can trust me."
The bell rang and Mikey walked defeatedly to class. Kirat went to the school counselor's office, the one adult he had to tell all this to.
Counselor: “Kirat, you’ve done the right thing by bringing this to me. Now, I need you to give me all the videos of Mikey.”
The next day Mikey had a long talk with the school counselor. Mikey’s father was abusive and took his anger out on Mikey and Mikey’s mother. What he was doing with other children he learned from his father, it was actually coming from his own pain. Mikey was afraid that he would be expelled from this school, like he was from the last. The trouble he got in with his parents was terrifying. So Mikey said, "Kirat had a good idea! How about I apologize to everyone I’ve picked on, but can the videos please not be shared?"
Counselor: “Don’t worry Mikey, all the videos have been deleted. Now, we have a lot of important things to talk about…”
Mikey did proceed to apologize to the other children. He also continued to get counseling on a regular basis. By the end of the year Mikey’s whole family was getting counseling and he was not as angry towards the other children. He even became friends with Kirat.
Mikey: "Kirat, I used to think you were a rat. But you’re a cool dude. I’m glad you can be friends with someone like me."
Kirat: "I just didn’t want you to hurt others, I thought you were a bad guy. I’ve learned that you have a big heart."
Mikey: "That means a lot to me."
As they were walking together they saw someone trying to be a bully to a smaller kid.
Bully: "Hey four-eyes, maybe I’ll give you a black eye?! Hah!"
Kirat: "Hey!"
Bully: "Oh, you want some too?"
Kirat: "You know what… I think my friend here has something to say to you."
Kirat looked at Mikey who nodded in agreement. Mikey stepped between the bully and the smaller kid, "Don’t be like that, man. These guys are not little punks. You could learn a lot from them. You should treat them like your little brothers, with respect."
That night Kirat dreamt of the animals again. In his dream, the lion and all the animals, were chanting the naam.
Ahankaar: "I can feel it now! I do feel more clear! Now I just want to serve and protect all of the animals in the jungle."
Kirat S: "And from now on we will call you SINGH THE LION!"
Vivek the Elephant and Gratitude the Monkey: "Singh the Lion!"
Ahankaar/Singh the Lion: "Thank you so much, little human. From now on this jungle will be a happy place. You saved me!"
Kirat S: "God saved you. But also don’t forget all the other animals… and most of all, Wise the snake!"
Ahankaar: "Oh, Wise Snake, I will always listen to your advice!"
Kirat S: "Perfect. From now on, Singh the Lion, you will be the protector of this jungle, and Wise the Snake will be your advisor. Together you will transform this whole jungle."
All the animals cheered. From then on they lived without fear. The snake and lion didn’t rule, but they managed the jungle with fairness, kindness and wisdom.