rat sense

a trader was always losing
despite good knowledge
of technical indicators
and operator tactics.

soon
he got frustrated.

he stopped trading
and went to his ancestral house
in the remote village.

cool breeze
lush green fields
zero pollution....

everything felt so great
except
irritating
rats!

a lot many were there!

one evening
he took out a mousetrap
stuck a piece of bread in the hook
stretched the trap ready
and went to sleep.

he was woken up
abruptly
not by the alarm clock
but by the loud clap
of the mousetrap!

the trader jumped out of his bed
switched on the light
looked down
and saw his prize
- a small lean mouse!

he was feeling so good!
just like he used to feel
when he used to book
the rare profit
in stock market!

--

he switched off the lights
and got down relaxed
to resume his sleep!

hardly had he lied down
when he noticed
chik-chik sounds
of rats!

he turned on the light in a jiffy
and looked at the trap again!

three fat rats
sitting besides the dead body of their poor lean buddy
were merrily enjoying the piece of bread!

as he got closer
they all vanished!

the trader was red in the face
just as he used to feel
when operators used to take his money
in the market!

next evening
he again laid the mousetrap.

as expected
he was again awakened
right in the dead of the night!

this time
he kept lying in the bed for some minutes
and turned on the light
only when he heard the screeching
of the rats again!

as he looked at the crime scene
he was shocked to see what he saw!

though the trap had got its prize
-a lean small rat
with his neck in the trap,

four fat rats
were sitting by the ringside
feasting on the bread!

instead of getting angry
the trader was amused!

he was amazed to see the
cunning strategy of the fat rats!

the fat rats wanted the piece of bread
but they were aware of the trap too!

they didn't know what the trap was
they didn't know when or how the trap will go off!

all they knew was
that there was a trap
and that this trap usually went off
only once per night
and thereafter
it was always safe to eat the bread!

therefore
they had decided
to always wait
till the hidden trap went-off!

their wait had always paid-off.

some lean hungry greedy desperate mouse
would always fail the patience test
and enter the trap first
...sniffing the bread
inviting a certain death!

and once the trap was exposed
the fat rats would arrive
for their share of the bread!

--

a big smile
beamed on the face of
the dejected, rejected and ejected trader....

he had realised that this precisely was his problem as well!

he was one of the lean hungry desperate traders
who
despite having good technical knowledge
despite having the ability to predict a movement
couldn't see the trap
couldn't wait for the operator trap to be exposed
and went in
always first!

their sacrifice
always exposed the trap before the fat rats
who would then jump in
for the party!

---

next morning
trader woke up
to a new lease of life!

he was ready to go back to mumbai
to trade with the newly acquired
rat sense!