Cow, Calf and a Tiger

One of most emotional classes of my child hood was probably 3rd standard. I do not exactly remember the class. I guess it should be 3rd. This was a Kannada song that we had in our textbooks of Kannada language (language of karnataka). I guess the name of the song is "PunyaKoti". This was a song on Cow, Calf and Tiger. The song starts like "dharani mandala madya dolage....". the tone of the song was so touching and the story the teacher narrated was so emotional that at the end of the 1 hr class, i was crying.....:)
The story of the poem goes like this...(I remember we used to have a subject called Moral Science. This book was cool and my favorite subject as it had very nice short stories. Not sure whether we have it now) Enjoy the story
(taken from some article googlin)

It happened in a town called Karaamati (Or Teraavati, according to a different version). There lived a cow by name Ganga with a calf. Nearby was a forest, wherein lived a tiger. The cruel animal thrived on eating one cow each day. Everyday the cows would decide whose turn would be.

And the day arrived, when the turn of Ganga came. She gave a promise to the tiger that she would ready to be its prey for the day, but sought permission to come back after meeting the car and sisters for the last time. The tiger agreed.

And Ganga visited the manger for the last time. And she moved towards the forest area where the hungry tiger was waiting for the cow of the day. She wanted to see her calf for one more time, as she wanted to pour her love as much as possible. Ganga asks her sisters to take care of the calf during her absence. As soon as she reached home, Ganga hugged held the calf in her bosom, and told that no more milk will be available for the little one. The calf was innocent and anxious, and therefore asked what is the reason. Ganga explained that she is going to be eaten by the tiger and would not come back. The little calf offered to go in place of the mother, so that the tiger will have its food for the day, and mother can live on. But Ganga would not agree. She said that she is committed to the tiger for her turn on that day, and has to keep up the word. The little one insists to be eaten by the tiger in place of the mother cow. And Ganga again emphasizes on the promise made. Finally both the mother cow and calf together walk up to the tiger. As she was putting her steps on and on, her sisters, aunts and other relatives also followed her, to bid her farewell.

It was a touching moment. Tears rolled from the eyes of the cows. The tiger was looking on to the crowd of cows, the hugging scene and the dialogue that took place between the sister-cows. Even the tiger’s heart moved a bit and had a change of mind. It is said that the tiger decided not to eat the cows anymore, as the feeling of motherly love and care touched him closely. Tiger remarks that Ganga would be his sister, and the calf therefore becomes his niece. “Let us live together in peace” - the final statement of the tiger pulled the curtains down for the episode.

Like many other stories, this also is a moral story with a lesson. The lesson of love, tolerance, Non-violence (Ahimsa). Love between mother and child. Affection among sisters and relatives. Non-violence that the cows followed. Ahimsa that the tiger observed upon change of heart. The virtue of keeping up a promise is also demonstrated here. Sacrificing spirit of the little calf to take over mother’s place at a deadly moment is worth noticing. And the mother’s willingness to forgo the world to protect and save her baby too.

hope no one has cried at the end of the narration