The Tale of Glabanore

Chapter 1 : The Rise of Glabanore

Once upon a time, a long long time ago, in a land far far away, there was – in the kingdom of Indo - a magical city called Glabanore. Never too hot nor too cold, it was a land of quiet fun and frolic. In the middle of the gentle city, there was a fountain from which flowed the most wonderful liquids, bubbly and frothy. The freely flowing fountain was a centre of popular attraction, where everyone - especially the youth - made much merry, partaking of the drink known as the Public Utility Bubble-water.

At this time, there was another land distant from Glabanore – the Unified Sovereign of Actionmen. In this land, where people were constantly active, there emerged a new type of work, which wasn’t quite work. It was called Innovative Thinking, and it required people to sit in front of colourless boxes with attached pads, and creatively tap away on the pads while in deep thought. Through this creative tapping, a new Paradise would evolve once in a while. It was felt that this work – and the fast paradisiacal changes - would transform all lands, all lads, all LDs – all these and more.

With such a wonderful opportunity beckoning, more and more of the action men wanted to be part of this. They set up a Sacred Village, in a place where there was no summer or winter, and where everything flowed freely. Here all men who wanted to be in Innovative Thinking could do so with ease and pleasure. Such was the energy of this place, this abode of Innovative Thinking that the predictions indeed began to come true. Using the hyper-powers of P2C2E (processes too complicated to explain), the men would continually create M2C2D (machines too complicated to describe), changing lives everywhere in indescribable ways.

All over the country, the message went over as if by wireless, “Be wired to the new age of Innovative Thinking.” The lands became more and more wired, the lads became more and more wired, and the LDs became more and more weird. The green parchments - with which people in those days measured their worth - flowed toward the Sacred Village.

With success came its price: more and more people rushed to this village to be part of this boom. And the wise old Elders realised that their own Sacred Village would soon be overrun, and the beauty of the place – its hectic hum with its inspirational thoughtful buzz – might fall a victim to the crowds that came in.

In their wisdom, the Elders searched for a place that could mirror the Sacred Village. They searched high and low, far and wide and found a distant land that seemed to match their dreams. And this land was none but Glabanore, the city where our tale is set. Here, in this land of no-summer-no-winter, they decided to set up centres for Innovative Thinking, promising them fun and frolic while being officially at work, a pile of green parchments after work, and - to those who were exceptionally good - the thick green boxes which magically allowed entry to the Sacred Village and other places in the Unified Sovereign land.

People in Glabanore were attracted to the offer. At first slowly, they flowed into Innovative Thinking, in search of the new Paradise. Soon, stories of stupendous success began to spread. There were stories of people creating new Paradise, floating in green oceans, and finding gifts in stockings – as if it was Christmas throughout the year. Stories of frolic beyond limits, fast and furious fun became commonplace. The trickle of people into Innovative Thinking became a steady stream, and soon a flood.

Over a few years, Glabanore changed. The quiet and gentle city changed into a constantly buzzing hive of Innovative Thinking. It brought throngs of youths, with a faster lifestyle. And it brought a flood of green parchments. And it created a whole new way of life in this once-quiet city.

Chapter 2: The Coming of the Giants

 In the kingdom of Indo - of which the city of Glabanore was a part – a change was taking place.  For many years, while many kings and queens, rulers and rebels had come and gone, the Doors of Indo had been closed, guarded carefully by powerful Brook Rats. They were highly suspicious of the foreign powers that tried to creep into the country. These Rats sat on the walls, at the coasts, and were even found in the underground. They protected every entrance and exit; without their checks, no person, no box, no parchment could get in or out of the country of Indo.

As they were so busy checking everything that went in and out, out and in, they forgot to check what was happening outside, in the area of Innovative Thinking. Indeed, one of the Innovative Thoughts had been to transfer things through the wire. The Brook Rats could not find any way to get into the wires; they tried to chew up the wires but the transfer was then done wirelessly. Worried by these new ways beyond their control, the Rats began to give up on protecting the Doors of Indo and moved to other areas.

In the land of the Unified Sovereign, there were several Giants who lived on Risk, who ate Risk, provided there was enough green Parchment to cook it with. This – to an extent - suited the populace. They could clear their lives of Risk, which they did not want and had no place to throw away. But the Risk-eaters also needed the same quantity of green Parchment, which the populace had to grudgingly provide.

As these Giants grew more and more, their appetites were not sated by the local food. In search of more and more growth, they decided to check out the market of Indo. From the outside, they smelled Risk, and they were happy; they could not see the Parchment (which has no odour) but they assumed there must be lots of it. The doors of Indo could not be opened just from the outside, so they looked for support from inside Indo. After a few years of pushing and pulling, the joint attempts succeeded. Some Giants came in with their local partners: among these were huge Taigres, headless Jings, bilious Unlifes and icky Kipruts.

When these Giants entered Indo through the newly opened doors, they came upon a land they had not seen before, and knew little of. But they knew what they wanted: the Risk and the Parchment. They took deep breaths and smelled the country. All over the land they found the smell of Risk: salty Risk in the seas and oceans around, spicy Risk in the rich green farmlands, musty Risk in the foundations of buildings, sour Risk in the stock markets, and the almost-odourless Risk in the hospitals and clinics. Indeed, the overpowering smell of Risk was what had brought them so far to this distant land.

But alas! They could not find too many places where the green Parchment was present as well. One of the places where they found it in abundance was in the city of Glabanore, among the men and women who were in Innovative Thinking. Here, they thought to themselves, is a crowd that is close to our dream: living a life of Risk and full of green Parchment. All we have to do, they thought, is to ask them for the Risk and green – in equal proportion.

Being naturally averse to taking Risk without the green Parchments, the Giants were cautious; they checked out their ideas with small groups. To their shock and horror, the people in Glabanore seemed not to want the Giants. They thought they did not have Risks to get rid of! They had lived for years without any Giants who could consume such Risks, and their noses had lost the sense of smelling Risk. When they smelled themselves, they did not perceive any odour of Risk. And they did not want to give up the precious Parchments for nothing.

Now, the Giants were caught in a trap. They had travelled so far and they did not understand the local problems. Their local partners had no experience in anything but opening doors. What could they do?  Who could help them? Who could find a way that would make the local populace give up its treasured parchments and live a life with less Risk?

Chapter 3: The Tribe of the Iimbis

Near the city of Glabanore, there lived a tribe of Iimbis. For years, they had lived in their stone monasteries, soaking up knowledge and the occasional bubbly liquid from the fountain. They had acquired a reputation of being worldly-wise and well-read, of being sharp and smart. They read of the world outside the Doors, it was said. They knew strange strategies, it was whispered. And being in Glabanore, they knew the people of Glabanore: how they felt, what they thought. With this mix of global gyan and local lifestyle, the tribe of Iimbis were the perfect choice for coming up with a solution to the problem that faced the Giants, and their local partners.

It was one of the locals – Mr. Muggles - who stumbled on the idea of calling the Iimbis. He knew one of the gurus of the Iimbis, who had provided him useful advice – for a price, of course – on opening the Doors of Indo, and on venturing into the unknown that lay beyond the doors. Maybe, he thought, he can help me with this too. He checked the Iimbi cyber-site, and found – to his great surprise, and overwhelming relief – that a batch of the Iimbis were specialising in parchment-paper-problems, and some had chosen to smell out the paths of Risk. He quickly called his Giant partner, and the two approached the guru of the Iimbis, explained the predicament they were in and begged for a solution.

Recognising the seriousness of the problem, the guru agreed that a creative and effective solution needed to be found urgently. He convened a meeting of senior Iimbis specially chosen for the occasion. He chose only those who specialised in understanding the problems of parchments, and those who were learning the odour of Risk. The meeting was to be held in the Sanctum Sandstonum building. To ensure that all were fully prepared for the session, a background paper on the problem was prepared in advance and circulated to the Iimbis.

There were many aspects to the problem that faced the Risk-eaters. The guru had followed the So-Crack-It method of teaching for years: find the right Unknowns to crack and this will lead to greater sharing of knowledge, and perhaps, through creative discussions, to a variety of possible answers. With worldly wisdom, the guru identified three different Unknowns that he would put to the senior Iimbis.

First of all, there were many types of Risk: which ones should the Risk-eaters search out among the Innovative Thinkers? Or should they just go for all types of Risk they could find in the crowd?

Secondly, how should they inculcate in the citizens of Glabanore a sense of smelling Risk? The more they smelled Risk, the more likely they would be to get rid of it, the more likely they would be to give up some of their precious green Parchment.

Thirdly, how should they spread their tentacles to reach out?  The Giant and the local partner had just set up one Workplace in Glabanore so far.  They could create different types of tentacles: Eye-gents who specialised with sharp eyes in spotting the green, Orgs who searched for large collections of Risk, Barks who had skills in dealing in green Parchment in large quantities. Which of these would succeed, or should they create some new variations of tentacles to suit Glabanore?

The guru included these three Unknowns among the papers to the chosen Iimbis. Meanwhile, with bated breath, the Risk-eaters awaited the scheduled meeting of the senior Iimbis. Would it solve the problems that confronted them, made their growth a dreaded Unknown and put their own existence at Risk?

Chapter 4: The Ideas of the Iimbis

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