Kukku Crow lived on a Neem tree. He had the habit of showing off. Sharmaji’s family lived in a bungalow near the tree. Sharmaji had bought a new red-coloured car. He began parking his car under the tree.
Kukku loved the car. Every day Sharmaji would drive in it to his shop. By the time he returned, Kukku would have fallen asleep. So the crow used to get up early every morning to play on the car.
One morning, when Kukku woke up, he saw Sharmaji and his entire family boarding a taxi. They had a lot of luggage. Kukku realised that they must be going for a long vacation. He knew that the car would be parked all the time under the tree. He spent the entire day on the car.
A pigeon, who lived on a tree nearby, asked, “What is the matter, Kukku? Why are you sitting on this car?”
Kukku told him that he had bought the car. Hence, he would stay on it.
“Really? Where did you get so much money from?” the pigeon questioned.
“I had saved money. Who are you to ask?” Kukku said.
The pigeon wondered, “We can’t even save a few grains. How could he have saved so much money?”
Chinchin Sparrow asked, “Won’t you go for a ride in it?”
Kukku replied, “What fun can we high-fliers have on the road? I have bought it to spend some time on it.”
Within three days, all the birds living nearby got the news. They came together and asked, “Kukku, won’t you let us sit in your car?”
“First go and look at your face in the car mirror. Are you worthy of sitting in it? Don’t you even dare to look at it,” said Kukku.
Everybody went back, disappointed.
The next Sunday, Kukku informed his relatives and friends that he was giving a party on his new car. In the evening, nearly 20 crows were perched on top of the car. They were feasting on the food brought by Kukku. Their cawing could be heard everywhere.
Meanwhile, Sharmaji’s family returned from their trip.
Sharmaji thought, “What is this noise?”
When he saw the crows on top of his car, he was furious. He waved his stick towards the crows. He chased them away shouting, “How dare you dirty my car!”
Kukku fled. His guests also flew away after making fun of him. Sharmaji soon built a garage in his bungalow’s backyard. He began parking his car in it.
Kukku didn’t have the guts to meet anyone or show off.
All his neighbours were saying, “This is what happens when one tries to show off.”
Kukku had learnt his lesson.
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