When Will the Deer Revolt?

Hounded they fled
And fled and fled.
They had fled for
Years, for decades,
For centuries.

They had been oppressed,
Had been preyed on,
Had been sacrificing
Their lives to feed the
Oppressor. They had
Always stayed scared.

They had always huddled
Together chalking out
Strategies to run, to give
Their predators a slip.

Some had been successful
In doing so. Many others
Had perished in the process.

But they had always accepted
Their predicament. They had
Always subjugated. They had
Always put up with the oppressors,
Without even a murmur of a protest.

They all had lived in the jungle,
Ruled by their king, who devoured
Them to survive. The king
Had always cited
Tradition,
Precedents,
Law of nature,
Practice
Etc.
Etc.
For his act of oppression
As he preyed on his
Subjects to make his
Life comfortable.

But one day, the afraid,
The oppressed, the preyed-on
Subjects decided that
Enough was enough.

They had tolerated enough.
And they should act.

Some suggested they
Should migrate to give
The ruler a slip. Others said
There would be other
Rulers, in other places, so
What was the point
In running away? Some said,
"How can we confront? The
Ruler is supreme!"

But then there was one,
Who said, "Let us take a chance,
Let us do what we do, in reverse."

What are you saying, the others
Questioned. She said in reply,
"Why not we one day run towards
Him, instead of running away
From him? Let us one day, as
He chases us as our death,
Turn around all of a sudden,
And chase him instead and then
We will thrust our "horns" into him.
Some of us may die, but all
of us will live."

And the others accepted.

It was better to die
Fighting, than dying
A prey to the rule


...............................................


One day, as dawn was
Breaking they saw
Their ruler coming out
Of his 'den.' He was in
No mood to 'hunt.'

But one of those preyed-on
Since time immemorial
Jogged towards the ruler,
And then took a u-turn
And began to run. The
Ruler was annoyed.

Angry he decided to go
For a 'kill' and began to
Chase the 'oppressed'!

They had covered some nine
Hundred yards in the process.
The 'bait' was indeed one
Of the best 'runners' among
Those preyed on.

And then it happened!
The Unthinkable, the Never-Before
Scene started to play out, as
Out of the woods, the oppressed,
The preyed-on came out in troops
And from all four directions began
Their run towards their 'ruler,'
With vengeance in their feet.

And as the ruler got circled from
All sides, he was at a loss, as he
Had never dreamt of such a situation.

Perplexed, he stood for a few minutes
And before he could gather his wits
Entered his soft belly
A 'horn'
Then another
Then another
Then another ...

With a death cry the ruler,
The oppressor,
The devourer,
Fell on the ground.

The mighty had 'fallen'
The 'jungle' was now
Freed of its most
Fearsome ruler.

The oppressed had won.
The preyed-on had avenged
All their deaths that
Took place through centuries!

But did it actually
HAPPEN?

Did the meek,
The weak,
The oppressed,
The preyed-on
Actually did the
Unthinkable
The
Unthought-of
The
Impossible
The
Improbable?

The trees
The chroniclers
The pundits
Were all silent.

No one corroborated
No one confirmed
Nor did anyone
Report the 'victory'
Of the oppressed.

Did it at all
Happen
Then ..?