Meaning: You cannot change who you are.
Once upon a time there lived a young 10 year old boy Mohan in a small town. He belonged to a middle class family. Mohan was very ambitious and often dreamt big dreams.
In school he had a friend Rohit who belonged to a rich merchant. Rohit was always flooded with expensive things from across the world being the only child of his parents. Rohit never kept account of his belongings and often shared his things with Mohan.
As time passed Mohan started to envy his friend and even started stealing his toys and stationary. Initially Rohit failed to keep track of his things going missing but one day he was very upset on not being able to find his favorite pen that his mother had gifted him.
It was a silver emerald studded pen. Rohit always considered it to be his lucky charm and preferred to write his exam with it. His parents tired to pacify him by giving him assurance to get another pen for him but there was nothing that could make him happy.
With a heavy heart he went to school and met Mohan who was all excited for the exam. Rohit shared his grief with him but was taken aback seeing Mohan’s lukewarm attitude. The bell rang and soon the exam began. Everyone started to write their paper but Rohit was stuck and looking here and there as he just saw that Mohan had his pen. After the exam was over he confronted him and recalled that during his last visit Rohit had shown him his pen which he was fascinated with and asked for it to which Rohit declined and hence Mohan stole it.
The strong bond of friendship between the two just broke and both parted ways. Rohit was very upset by being let down by his friend and started to stay gloomy all the time. His health began to deteriorate and he stopped socializing with other people.
Almost a year passed and seeing that Rohit’s condition was not getting better, his parents called for Mohan and asked him to talk to their son. Rohit was very happy to see Mohan but soon pervious bad experience was recalled in his mind.
Rohit’s parents made him understand that it was a mistake on Mohan’s part and that he was really sorry about it. Rohit decided to give his friend another chance.
Time went by and things became normal between both of them. They both again started to share the same old warmth and were very happy in each other’s company.
One fine day Rohit was going through his watches and again found his expensive gold watch missing. He was again upset as once again Mohan had let him down. He just accepted the fact that A LEOPARD CAN’T CHANGE HIS SPOTS and no matter how many chances Mohan will be given he will always be same. His ambition and big dreams had made him a thief and he will always remain one.
©Ritanjali Hastir
