The Environmental Influence Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

On a summer hot midday,
Under a Banyan tree shady,
A king of a remote place,
Was taking a deep nap, once.

Suddenly, a voice broke,
In a screech tone it spoke,
'Cut the head, peel the skin,
Allow the blood to drain.'

Scared by this threat,
For some more rest,
He went to another tree,
And slept there, care free.

Here also, from the tree top,
A kind voice woke him up,
'Oh King, please drink,
This sweet cow's milk.'

But there was nothing to drink,
And this made him think,
In his disturbed mind,
What was the story behind?

He sent his wise minister,
As he was quite eager,
With his orders to find out,
And let him know the fact.

Inside a nearby cottage,
The minister met a sage,
And asked for the story,
To answer his king's query.

'Two parrots were born,
To the same mother one,
In my cottage ceiling'
Said the sage, smiling.

'One young parrot flew away,
To a butcher's shop, to stay.
It picked up what the butcher spoke,
While carrying out his day's work.'

'That was what your king heard,
From the first tree', the sage said,
'The other parrot grew in this cottage,
And learnt our sweet language.'

'It is the place of environment,
That counts and not the parent,
To influence the character,
Of any person, world over.'

The minister thanked the sage,
And took leave of his cottage.
The king heard the story,
And got rid of his worry.