The Cute Tale of 3 Cute Bears

Friends, three cute bears set out on a breakfast trip, but the outcome is so unexpected!

Welcome, dear children.

I am happy to share a new story with you today. It is a story of three cute bears.

The first was the mother bear, Neetu, who happily lived in the forest of Ambikapur that was spread all around the low hills of the Shivalik range. She lived with her two little cubs, Gublu and Tublu in a cave there at the foot of the hills, with Gublu being the elder one. Neetu looked solemn with a shiny black coat contrasted by a prominent white snout, while the kids had a greyish black coat with a tiny white snout.

Neetu loved these naughty kids, though if the truth be told, they used to try her patience at times. But, then, at their age, which kids are not naughty, you tell me? After their day-long mischief, they loved to hear their mom sweet a lullaby every night as they fell asleep in their cosy cave. Surprisingly, even the fellow-creatures living in their cave, such as moths and other insects, seemed to calm down with Neetu’s soothing music.

Now, these two kids were fond of eating as well. I would often see them pestering their mother for a change in their daily menu which usually consisted of fruits, etc. A calm Neetu, however, used to hear their demands with one ear and cast them out with her other ear. One day, however, she relented and decided to take the kids the next morning into an unexplored part deep into the forest. A nice surprise lay in store for them. Ah! How much would they enjoy the treat there!

The next day dawned bright and clear. It was a lovely autumn morning with beautiful blue sky and golden sunshine. Neetu woke up the two kids and asked them to get ready: today, they were going to a place where a special treat awaited them. The kids happily complied with the instructions and set off with their mummy in a jolly mood. They were curious to know where they were going. However, the smiling Neetu would give no clue whatsoever.

After walking for half an hour or so, she brought her family to the bank of a small river that flowed at a leisurely pace through the middle of the forest. At the places where the river came up against the rocks, it made a soft, gurgling noise that was sweet to hear. This serene river was called Ambika, after which the forest derived its name.

On its bank grew a majestic mango tree. A small pond was also there at a nearby distance. Now, a mango tree is an unusual find in a forest as it needs to be cultivated. It so happened that many decades ago, a woodcutter had casually thrown away the seed of a mango he was eating while passing through the jungle. A small sprout had sprang from it and grown into this huge tree with a wide canopy of glossy, deep green leaves glistening in the sun.

It so happened that as the tree was growing, bees had taken shelter in it. Mind you, they were not ordinary bees. No, my dear children, they were not your run-of-the-mill bees by any means. There were special bees that produced a special kind of honey that was intense in flavour. Over the decades, these hardworking bees had built a gigantic hive that stretched across the whole length of a thick branch of the tree and hung so low that it almost touched the ground. Neetu had brought her kids to this very spot. She had tasted its unique brand of honey once many years earlier and knew that her children would also love it.

As the bear family reached the spot, Neetu pointed out the huge hive to a delighted Gublu and Tublu. Led by Neetu, the cubs began climbing up the tree in a slow and calibrated manner. After reaching the edge of the hive, the careful mother broke open a very small part of the enormous hive. Of course, they faced intense opposition from the soldier bees, but their thick fur and equally thick skin won for the moment. Soon they were relishing the delectable taste of the honey and enjoying themselves to the hilt!

Just as they were savouring the last drops, however, events took the wrong turn. The young Tublu, greedy and inexperienced, suddenly broke open a bigger chunk with one swipe of his sharp claws. All hell broke loose as a platoon of angry bees came out and attacked the bear family at once.

Heavily outnumbered this time, the trio had to rush down the tree in a pell-mell manner to escape the wrath of vicious stings, with Tublu getting the worst. Getting continuously stung in their vulnerable areas like faces, snouts, and tongues, a fast escape was the only way out for the bears.

In the chaos, however, the bear family faced even more trouble. When a fleeing Neetu slowed down after gaining a little distance from the tree, she was alarmed to find that while Gublu had been faithfully running behind her, his younger brother was nowhere to be seen. Mom and the elder cub launched an immediate search, but there was no trace of Tublu.

It was a moment of desperation, and the frantic mother began to sing her lullaby to calm her nerves. To her great relief, the bees started calming down and flying back to their hive. And only then, the poor Tublu, who had slipped into the slimy pond to escape the revengeful bees, dared to come out all trembling. He was overjoyed to be reunited with his relieved mother and brother. And soaking wet and covered in green muck, what a sight he presented! Neetu wiped him clean as much as she could with her tongue before they began their return journey home. All of them longed to get back to their peaceful cave as soon as possible.

Children, let's now take leave of the three weary bears as they make their way home. You can be sure that the cubs will remember this adventurous breakfast trip for a long time to come. And you can be equally confident that they will not pester their mom for a change in their breakfast menu. Their old menu will be good enough for a pretty long time to come!

See you soon with the next story.
Goodbye and God bless my dears.