The monkey that did everything
on his own
Illustrations by
Nandini Mundada
Developed by
Malay Vasa
It was a cold winter morning, the forest was covered in a thick fog.
The wise owl, sat on a branch and looked down on the forest floor.
He saw the animals curled up together, trying to save all the warmth they had.
In this bunch, there was a monkey in the corner.
Even though he was
shivering,
he did not sit with the others.
The animals, all wanted to find an escape from the cold. After a lot of discussion, they decided to build a bonfire.
The monkey remembered that he had seen a bunch of humans build a bonfire before.
He needed three things to build one :
stones, sticks and dry hay.
He decided to set out on building a perfect bonfire all by himself.
To get the first ingredient, he went to the lake.
Although he did not know how to swim he was determined to get the stones from the bottom of the lake himself.
Seeing how well the crocodile was swimming, he tries to copy him.
After several failed attempts he was approached by the otter.
I can help you get the large stones from the bottom of the lake, I know how to swim.
No I'm learning from the crocodile, I can do it myself.
The monkey continues to copy the crocodile but isn't able to get deeper.
Disappointed by his inability to swim, he picks up the smaller rocks from the edge of the lake.
Next, He starts looking for hay. The forest floor is cold and damp, and he is unable to find anything dry.
He climbs on trees and looks all over the place, while doing so a crow notices and approaches him.
I have seen dry leaves by the large oak tree, that should also help with the fire.
No, I've only seen the humans use hay, leaves won't help
He picks up damp hay and moves ahead.
To get the last ingredient, the sticks, he climbs onto the tree and jumps on the branch hoping to break it.
But in doing that he ends up falling and hurting himself.
Seeing him hurt, an elephant approaches him.
You'll hurt yourself if you keep doing that. I can break some branches for you with my trunk, let me help you.
No you can't get sticks that way, I'll do it myself
He again tries and is only able to take the few branches he could collect.
At night, tired and disappointed, he tries making the bonfire.
I've failed, this isn't anything like what I saw the humans make
Frustrated, he curls up and sulks in the corner trying to fall asleep.
Looking at the entire situation the owl comes to the monkey.
Why did you not let the otter help you? He could have gotten the you the stones you needed
I didn't trust the otters skills as I thought it would be better to learn swimming from the crocodile and get them myself.
But you trusted the birds skill of flying, why did you not take her suggestion and use dry leaves?
I didn't trust her idea for replacing the hay, as I had only seen the humans use dry hay.
You understood the elephants idea. Why did you not take his help?
I didn't trust their process of getting the branch, as I had not done or seen that before.
The first step in working with others is trust.
Doing everything on your own can be overwhelming, getting help makes it much easier.
Soon the other animals come with the materials, and together they made the bonfire.
As they sit around the bonfire
I should have trusted you with your skills and ideas, just because they were different from what I do it doesn't make them wrong.
Thank you for making me realise this
It wasn't me that helped you, you realised it yourself.
You reflected on your actions and that led you to the answer