Huff and Puff

You must have read the story of “The Three Little Pigs” as a child and re-read it to your children or multi-read it to your grandchildren. Well, here is a small recapitulation for my friends who missed reading a wonderful story, around which my blog revolves.

Once upon a time, there were three little pigs. When they grew up, they decided to make houses of their own. The youngest brother built a house of straw, the middle one built his out of sticks and the eldest one built his house of bricks. A big bad wolf plays visitor to the youngest and the middle pigs’ houses and he “HUFFS and PUFFS” and blew their houses down. The younger pigs seek refuge in their elder brother’s house. The wolf “HUFFS AND PUFFS” but is not able to blow the brick house down. So he enters through the chimney and falls into a large cauldron of boiling water. Though there are various versions that a storyteller opts to narrate the story in, I continue with…the wolf’s tail and back get burnt, but he manages to run for his life. The elder pig had conveniently kept the front door open at the turn of events.

Then began the real story…the After story.

There was an ambulance waiting outside with a queue of TV Reporters, who were reporting the incident. Since it had occurred in the outskirts of Mumbai, how could the media not reach on the spot at the right time?

Far TV, Chimes How, you name any TV Channel and you would find them all jumping at the wolf to interview him. The Wild Animals Rights Protection Group emerged with all its power and managed to pull the burnt wolf into the ambulance and rushed him to the hospital. Overnight, the wolf became a star. He derived immense pleasure in giving interviews to the press and media.

A prominent Bollywood director spotted BBW (Big Bad Wolf) giving interview and boasting how bravely he escaped from the pigs, who he referred to as the mafia. The Director felt that the wolf was handsome and wanted to cast him in his next thriller movie. Soon the wolf was romancing one of the most sought after heroines of Bollywood in a lavish apartment with French windows and candles lighting up every space. The movie became a blockbuster hit and made a record as the first entry in the RS.500 crores club.

The wolf focused on his career in the movies and he prided himself at leaving his day with the pigs far behind.

The wolf is a septuagenarian now. He selectively does movies, takes a second look at the script only if it’s a meaty even if small role. He dubs for other characters and even does advertisements. The hush word is he charges a ransom for featuring in advertisements.

His autobiographical book became a bestseller. Let’s say, he became Midas. Anything he touched, kind of turned into gold. He is the social media’s favorite child too…he blogs and tweets and communicates powerful messages to his fans and well-wishers.

Meanwhile, let’s take a look at what happened to the pigs. The elder pig immediately was flooded with offers for his hand in marriage. He leapt at the opportunity and took advantage. He married the daughter of a real estate tycoon. In a couple of years, his brick house was replaced by a 50 storied high rise building with the best of amenities in the city.

The middle pig lost no time and completed his engineering degree from one of the premier institutes in the country. Through campus, he bagged a job in an IT Company. Within a year into the job, he applied for a 10-year bank loan to buy an apartment. He reminisced how easily land was available when he built his house of sticks…but alas! Population, inflation had reduced his opportunities…and all he could afford now was a 650 sq. ft. apartment in the suburbs. He was alarmed when he read the terms of agreement offered by the Builder…everything seemed in favor of the Builder. With his back to the wall, he reluctantly took his pen out of his pocket to sign.

Well what can I say about the youngest pig, our protagonist? His parents who continued to stay in the village gradually succumbed to old age and associated illnesses. The youngest pig decided to be with them.

Whatever little time he got, he started writing fiction stories for little piglets…the category was known as PIG LIT (Piglet Literature). He approached renowned publishing houses and submitted his manuscripts…but without success. He personally went and followed up with Dome Books, Plastic Kids Books, but he realized that they were only interested in publishing books written by celebrities like the Big Bad Wolf. One day he sat and did some brainstorming…. he realized he needed to market himself. His friend, Freddie the frog advised him…Any publicity is good publicity.

The youngest pig changed his approach. He took an appointment with the Senior Editor of Ostrich Books and in the meeting introduced himself by saying, “I am that very pig who built his house of straw that the Big Bad Wolf huffed and puffed away.”

“So?” asked the Senior Editor.

“So my book will sell like hot cake, when you market it that way.” Replied the youngest pig giving an expression as if that was implied.

“What proof do you have that you were that very pig? Can you show me the straw house and proof of residence? Is that address mentioned in your telephone bills? Do you have a WAN Card? How about Sudhaar Card?”

“But how can I prove that? Err…don’t you remember that the Big Bad Wolf blew it away?” said the pig.

“Mr. Pig, we appreciate your efforts in writing this novel. However, at this point in time, we are not entertaining manuscripts in this category. Should a future opportunity arise, we promise to get back to you,”communicated the Senior Editor with a wink and vanished out of the meeting room before the pig could even blink.

The youngest pig felt very dejected and disappointed. His mail just beeped…you have got new mail.

He reluctantly opened it…a reject mail for a blog submission to Puff Post. “Now my blog gets huffed and puffed too!” he said to himself, as a couple of tears rolled down his cheeks.

He decided to give up writing. But what would he do if he did not write? He was not as well educated like his middle brother nor a successful opportunist like his eldest brother.

He decided to go to the Himalayas, because he really wanted to run away from all his failures. But to the world, he said he was going on a journey of self-exploration.

A year later.

Big Bad Wolf, our tech savvy Anti-Hero was browsing through the net and came across a new bestseller. It was titled “The Pig who sold the Straw” and the cover picture showed a pig sitting in the Himalayas surrounded by multiple copies of the book.

He quickly called for his Manager and inquired more.

The Manager provided all the information about how the youngest pig sold all his straw that had been huffed and puffed. With the money that he got, he went on a journey to the Himalayas and on his way back, started a self-publishing house at the foothills. With very little investment, he is publishing literature across the globe, including his own. In a very short time, he has even made it to the list of the top 20 Richest Entrepreneurs under 30 published by the popular business magazine “Game Starters”.

BBW turned on the TV and no matter which channel he switched on, it was the youngest pig everywhere.

Years had flown by and BBW thought bygones were bygones.

He reached for his smartphone and tweeted

Congratulations #YoungestPig..We were two sides of the same coin, when it was “heads”, I had my days of glory, today its “tails”, your day is now! Well done for creating a story…a story that the world will remember.