The Dog Trap - A Fable

Once upon a time there lived a man called Daku. He had interest in doing business but found it difficult to finalise on a business concept and plan that required least investment. He did not inherit any property or wealth and neither did he make enough money working. He worked in a nearby landlord’s barn measuring grains and was getting paid at the end of the day. During the seasonal times, when harvest is done, his wife and eldest of three children also helped him. That earned him an additional income. This life went on and slowly his business aspirations also died.

One day, as he was leaving his house in the morning, a small skinny dog slowly walked towards him with anxiety in his eyes. Yet it was wagging its tail vigorously. Daku felt sympathetic. He called his wife and said, “Raki, bring last night’s leftovers and feed this poor dog.” Having said this Daku left for his work. That evening on returning home, he was surprised to see the dog still at his door step. On seeing him it again resumed wagging its tail. It seemed little more cheerful now. His younger son and daughter were now playing with it and calling him “Timmy”. Daku found no harm in the dog’s presence around his house and Timmy made it his permanent camp.

In the following days Daku’s children would throw tiny dried coconuts, the size of golf balls and instruct Timmy to chase and fetch them. In a few days he mastered this skill. One day when he was in an ever alert mode, waiting for the dried coconut to be thrown, a rat scurried past. He mistook the hairy rat to be a similar ball and ran behind it. In the next couple of minutes he re-appeared in front of the kids with the rat. The kids were thrilled to see his speed and ability. From then on, they took him with them to the nearby fields and showed him the rats. He caught each of them. When the rat population dwindled, Timmy started sniffing them out of holes and chasing them. He now became an expert rat chaser and catcher. That weekend, while having dinner, Daku’s younger son boasted about Timmy’s abilities to everyone in the family. Daku and his wife smiled seeing their son’s happiness and pride.

The subsequent week, Daku’s landlord remarked about the growing rat menace in the barn and lamented that none of the traps were efficient in trapping the rats. Immediately Timmy flashed in Daku’s mind. He approached the landlord and said, “I have a dog at home whom I have specially trained to catch rats. Shall I bring him here for a few days and clear this place of all the rats?” The landlord thought this was a joke but agreed. To make it sound a little more serious he said, “I will pay you Re 1 for every rat that your dog catches. But if he fails to catch atleast 5 rats in a day, then you will forfeit your day’s wages.” Daku reluctantly agreed.

The next day Daku reached the landlord’s house with Timmy. His son also accompanied them as they felt that he could communicate better with Timmy. In a few days, the landlord found that the rat menace was slowly decreasing. He increased the payment per rat and equally increased the minimum limit of rats per day too. By now Timmy met them with ease and he received pats from Daku which he prided. By now, Timmy was making more money than Daku’s daily wage.

One evening, Daku asked his eldest son to find more stray dogs like Timmy and instructed his younger son to train them like Timmy. Within a week they had five more dogs at home. Daku’s wife was given the additional responsibility of taking care of them with timely food. The younger son started training them. To his and everyone’s surprise, one of the dogs, Brownie, was interested in catching locusts and grasshoppers rather than rats. His interest could not be chnaged. Daku then hit upon another idea – “Utilise his own skill to our benefit”, he told his family. By then he also got his younger brother to join him in managing the dogs and their trainings. In a month’s time, four of the five new dogs were also added to the task of sniffing out rats, chasing and catching them at the Landlord’s barn and the nearby warehouse.

The next day Daku approached the landlord and said, “I came to know that a lot of locusts and other insects are infesting our crops and causing huge losses. I have a new trained dog that will catch them from the fields. Do you want to try it for a week?” “Oh! Sure Daku! Why not. Get him to our fields tomorrow. Lets see”, the landlord sounded immediately convinced. By now Daku was not working full time with the landlord anymore but only visiting him two days a week.

The next day, Brownie was taken to the fields and in just three days, the landlord was satisfied with his skills and engaged him permanently. In three months time, Daku’s earnings exceeded his total earnings made during the previous year. The number of dogs also increased multifold. He leased a rundown yard in the outskirts of the village and made it his dog training place. Also by now the primary skill of each dog was assessed and training was imparted accordingly. Within six months Daku’s dogs were servicing not only the landlord but also at five other similar places. And the demand for dogs was increasing every day. Daku had also quit his job to take care of this flourishing “Business”.

Daku discovered a new opportunity when he was conversing with a wealthy grain merchant in a nearby village. “I need both my warehouse and stocking yard rid of cockroaches and rats in one month”, said the merchant. Daku committed to it without mentioning on how many dogs he would use for that. But he did stick to his commitment and the merchant was happy too. On the 30th day, Daku told the merchant, “Now that your warehouse and stocking yard are cleared of cockroaches and rats, why don’t we permanently keep a dog here so that he will ensure that new ones don’t creep in again”. The merchant liked that idea and immediately accepted it. Daku got a dog trained to catch both cockroaches and rats and put him in the merchant’s place. He now took this model as an option to other prospects and made better bargains.

Within a year, several others on seeing Daku’s success ventured into the same business and started making money too. Though competition was becoming intense, Daku’s dogs had a name that stood for commitment, efficiency and dedication. Daku finally retired as a successful businessman. Timmy by now got tired of catching rats but could not stop as he knew nothing else to do. He also got so used to the timely food at Daku’s place that he could not go back to the streets. He continued sleeping in the same cramped space that he shared with eight other dogs now. Is Timmy successful or trapped? The guess is obvious.

Foot note: If you have reached till here, in the fable just replace dogs with people and the various skills of catching rats, locusts, cockroaches etc with Java, DotNet & SQL. Do you see how the Indian IT services industry works now? :)