Who will bell Tomcat?

Sometimes it beats my imagination, the values, morals and lessons entrenched in various folklores we read as kids and funny enough how relevant their contents are, even now. Really enjoyed this ‘rhetorical’ story and hope you would also, as we add some remix to it further than the line.

There lived a generation of rats whose habitation was in a barn and whose main job was the satisfaction of their belly to the detriment of the wares and frustration of the owner. The owner had no choice than to get a cop who will bring all these culprits to book. The following week, Inspector Bobcat arrived the barn to resume its official duties. He did his job so well that rats preferred death by poison or suicide to death by Bobcat; he had them for breakfast, brunch, lunch, “lundin”, dinner at will.

When the massacre and genocidal act by Inspector Bobcat was becoming unbearable, the rats had no choice than to call for an emergency meeting to find a way out. After loads and loads of deliberations, consultations and suggestions alike, a very young mouse stood up and said, why not let us get a bell and tie it around Bobcat’s neck so that once he is near, the bell would serve as an alarm for us and we would leave our heels to judge us? Wild jubilation and celebration engulfed the air as the ecstatic rats thanked their stars that a very viable solution has been provided.

Then an elderly rat stood up and asked that singular history defining question.
Who will bell the Bobcat?
The answer? Everyone all left the place, heads bowed in shame and grossly disappointed. 
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When the heat had gotten past its elastic limits and coasting towards breakage, another emergency meeting was called, and this time to choose a ‘beller’, either by hook or crook. The oldest rat was chosen but he diplomatically rejected it saying ‘I am more useful to you here as an elderstate rat than in the belly of a cat’, the youngest rat was chosen and he said ‘I am just starting out life, why do you want to untimely end it? After much tussling here and there, a young rat volunteered to bell the cat much to the delight of the rest with the pastor and Imam praying for him to go in peace and come back in one piece.

Well, the rat went, belled the Bobcat but lost an eye!!!
Lucky rat, isn’t it?

Soldiers go, soldiers come but barrack remain the same. Generations come and go, but the earth’s still spherical. The generation of the rats and cat alike passed on giving way for the emergence of a new generation who were fazed with a similar and complicated dilemma but this time with Inspector Tomcat.
Why not let us check out the books of history to see what our forefathers did when faced with similar situation? Opined a wise rat. The historical book was consulted and they shouted for joy when they found out that the belling strategy was still a relevant one, but the nightmarish and cowardice revealing question surfaced again!!!

Who will bell Tomcat?

****************************THE END ****************************************

That fantastic idea! Who will bell Tomcat?
That troubled family! Who will bell Tomcat?
That crumbling legacy! Who will bell Tomcat?
That wobbling nation! Who will bell Tomcat?
Interestingly, at various points of our lives, some people belled the cat on our behalf,  lo and behold, at a point, some others will subtly or openly lookup to us for the belling. Hope we won’t shirk in our responsibility? Hope we won’t shrink in cowardice? Hope we won’t fail them?
Those who dared death don’t go down easily.

If not now, then when?
If not us, then who?

“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it.Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. To keep our faces towards change and behave like free spirits, in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.” –Helen keller