by Sudha Murty
‘I don’t have any skills. Whatever I manage to earn, I use it to buy food and feed it to these strays.’
‘Come and join us here on the ship. I am going to hand this over to the king and I will request him to help you take care of the strays,’ said Vishnu, and the man agreed.
When the five men reached the capital, the king came to see the ship. He was joyous and extremely pleased. Not only was it a sailing ship but the décor was also much better than his palace. He took a tour of the ship, saw how it worked and finally met Vishnu, the carpenter’s son. Vishnu wore regular clothing and so did his friends. The king thought, How can I give a royal position to this ordinary man? I will test him first.
So he said, ‘Vishnu, I want to award you the royal position, but I have some conditions.’
Vishnu nodded.
The king pointed to a big pond of water and said, ‘This must be empty by tomorrow morning.’
He pointed to a big pile of bread and said, ‘This must be eaten by tomorrow morning.’
He pointed to a group of trees and said, ‘All these must be cut into pieces by tomorrow morning.’
He pointed to a big playground and said, ‘This must be full of cats and dogs by tomorrow morning.’
Though it wasn’t part of the contract or the announcement that was made, Vishnu smiled and said, ‘I will try to complete the tasks, sire.’
The king left Vishnu and his friends and went back to his duties for the day.
Vishnu’s friends turned to him and said, ‘We can do all these things for you. Wait and watch.’
The thirsty man drank all the water from the pond and quenched his thirst.
The hungry man ate all the bread and satisfied his hunger.
The strong man cut the wood in no time and realized that he could make enough money by himself and didn’t need to go back to his stepmother.
The kind man whistled and called all his dog and cat friends, filling the playground within minutes.
The next day, when the king came, all the tasks were completed and done well. Vishnu and his friends stood nearby.
The king realized that it is not the appearance or the clothing that matters but the skill and talent of a person. ‘I will be honoured to have all of you in my court. The five of you will be given royal positions, you will be my trusted advisers and rewarded handsomely for your work in the court and the kingdom.’
This is how Vishnu made his father proud and made new friends who would stay with him for a lifetime.
Two Blind Beggars
Now almost forty days had passed. Still, the lockdown continued. There were no flights, trains or buses running to take people back home. Many schools had informed parents that online classes would start in June if the situation didn’t improve. The children were not looking forward to online classes because they wanted to see their friends and play with them.
Ajja remarked, ‘The online classes will lead to excessive screen time—it might cause addiction or at the very least, eye strain. But right now, I can’t think of a solution to this problem.’
Ajja closely followed the developments around Covid-19 in India.
One evening, while Ajja was watching the news, the children decided to play hide-and-seek with a twist—the seeker had to keep his or her eyes covered with a handkerchief while seeking. The children found a handkerchief and decided that Meenu would be the first to seek.
Meenu rebelled, ‘I don’t want to be the first one.’
‘Come on, everyone will have to do it. Start, Meenu!’ they all started to clamour.
Reluctantly, she agreed. Everyone ran away from her at first and she wasn’t able to seek anyone. After some time, Anoushka felt sorry for her and touched her just so that it would be her turn, and Meenu would be free.
Now Anoushka had to blind herself. She found it hard to catch anyone too. Soon, she pretended to be super tired and stood quietly in a corner. Soon enough, Aditi tripped on her foot and was caught. When it was Aditi’s turn, she caught Raghu immediately!
Meenu sighed, ‘I am short. Besides, I find it hard to run fast. I was afraid to go first because I really felt that I could never seek anyone and would have to remain blind for the rest of the game!’
Aditi said, ‘Let me tell you a secret—the handkerchief was not tied properly and I could easily see your shadows in front of my eyes. It was easy for me to catch Raghu.’
‘Have you ever thought about how hard it is for someone who is born blind, or becomes visually challenged for any reason? We must thank God for whatever we have been blessed with—eyes to see, ears to hear, tongue to taste, legs to walk and a brain to think. Being at the right place at the right time can change our lives!’ said Ajja.
‘Yes,’ added Ajji, ‘like the two blind beggars.’
Once upon a time, there lived a blind beggar Ravi, who begged from door to door every day.
One day, he met another beggar Vivek, who was also blind like him. They decided to beg together.
Vivek would always take the better portion of the food that they received. Every day, he would take the soft portion of the bread and leave the crust for Ravi. Time passed, and Ravi grew tired of this.
One day, Vivek left Ravi near a forest after they had walked for miles. He said, ‘Brother, I have some work in a village nearby. Rest here and I will be back soon.’
Ravi was feeling tired and sat down on a rock to wait for Vivek. Hours passed and there was no sign of Vivek. The day turned into night and Ravi realized that Vivek was never coming back. Hungry and with no place to go, Ravi decided to walk and see if he would run into someone who could help. Unfortunately, his path took him straight into the middle of a thick forest.
After he had entered the forest, he realized through his senses where he was. It was the middle of the night. Suddenly, Ravi heard some footsteps and managed to find a huge bush. He hid behind it.
The footsteps came closer. A fox, a wolf, a rhino and a lion gathered for a meeting.
The fox announced, ‘I know a secret.’
The wolf said, ‘So do I.’
The rhino added, ‘Me too!’
‘I am the king of the forest, but I don’t know any secrets,’ remarked the lion. ‘But tell me. I order you to!’
The fox said, ‘There is a river one hundred footsteps from here. Months ago, I had become blind in one eye. When I went to this river and had a bath, I got my vision back. That’s the useful secret I know!’
‘I know a different one,’ said the wolf. ‘The king’s palace doesn’t get any water. What the king’s people don’t know is that there is a big, round rock in the royal gardens. If you move the rock and dig underneath it, they will find a spring—that water is healthy and enough to take care of the needs of the palace and the capital city of the kingdom!’
‘Listen to this one,’ said the rhino. ‘The king’s wife is unwell. Doctors have tried their best, but nothing has helped her. The medicine for her disease lies below a stream near the king’s palace. If she eats five leaves from the plant that grows near the oak tree next to the stream, she will be well again.’
‘I will keep these in mind,’ said the lion. ‘These are safe with me.’
The fox suggested, ‘Keep them for a time when we might need to share one to make our lives better in the forest.’
‘Let us meet back here after two months,’ said the lion, and the meeting ended.
Ravi, who had been listening to this conversation, wanted his eyesight back desperately. He came out from behind the bush and walked a hundred steps in one direction. There was nothing there. He walked back a hundred steps to his original location. He did this twice more before he heard the sound of water and found the river. Carefully, he entered the river and had a bath. He began to see a little bit. He bathed for a little longer and saw clearly again. He was very thankful to the animals and the gods.
Now that he could see, he went to the capital city and requested for an audience with the king. He said, ‘Sire, please give me
some time. I will help you get water for the city and also cure your wife.’
The king was hopeful and allowed him to do as he pleased.
The same day, Ravi went to the royal gardens, removed the big, round rock in one corner and kept digging until he found water. Soon, there was a beautiful spring in the gardens.
Next, he found the oak tree near the stream that was close to the king’s palace. Under the oak tree, he found a medicinal plant. He gave five of its leaves to the queen, which she ate and became much better the next day.
The king, pleased with his service, gave him plenty of money and Ravi bought a mansion and lived happily in the capital.
Almost two months passed. One day, when Ravi was standing near the gate of his house, he saw a blind man wandering around the street. He took pity on the beggar and called him to his gate to give food. When he heard his voice, Ravi recognized him immediately—it was Vivek, his blind beggar friend. Ravi modulated his voice and said, ‘Some time ago, I saw you with another blind man. Where is he?’
For a few seconds, Vivek thought that he was hearing a familiar voice, but since he wasn’t sure, he ignored it and replied, ‘Sir, he is dead.’
‘How did he die?’ asked Ravi, surprised at his reply.
‘There was a stormy night and the floods must have come and taken him away. Later, someone from our village found his dead body,’ said Vivek with sadness.
Ravi took pity on his friend. He was lucky to have received his sight back, but Vivek hadn’t. Ravi disclosed the truth, ‘I am Ravi, old friend. You were instrumental in changing my life, so I will not hold what you have said against you. You left me in the forest and that’s when my transformation began.’
Truthfully, Ravi shared the whole story. ‘I happened to be at the right place at the right time,’ he said. He advised Vivek not to betray anyone again.
Vivek asked, ‘Will you take me to the river? I can’t imagine what it would be like to get my vision back.’
‘Animals can be cruel. Somehow, I managed to escape. If I go there, I am sure they will smell me and realize that I am the one who heard all their secrets. But I will come with you till a certain point and show you the way to the tree. After that, you are on your own, I’m afraid.’
True to his word, Ravi walked with Vivek till a certain distance and then pointed him in the right direction. Vivek started walking quickly, but he was scared of the animals. By the time he reached the tree, it was night. Though the time of day didn’t make a difference to him, it makes a difference to the animals. So he decided to wait behind a bush until the morning.
In the middle of the night, a fox, a wolf, a rhino and a lion gathered for a meeting. They seemed worried.
The fox said, ‘It has been two months since we met. Since then, I heard someone has found the location of the healing river. Only I knew the secret. Who has disclosed this to the humans?’
The wolf and rhino agreed that their secrets had also been revealed.
The three animals turned to the lion, ‘We all had secrets, and it was a collective benefit to keep the secrets of others. You are the only one who didn’t have a secret to tell. You must be responsible for revealing them!’
The lion snapped, ‘I am the king of the forest, not a cheater. A king will not betray his subjects’ trust.’
‘Then who else knew the secrets?’ wondered the fox.
‘Perhaps someone heard us talking,’ said the wolf, smelling the air. He used all his senses and the animals found Vivek hiding behind a bush nearby. He was petrified when he saw the animals with their menacing glares. Too late, he realized he was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
‘He’s the one responsible for disclosing our secrets!’ roared the lion with anger. The animals attacked Vivek and killed him.
An Apple for Nothing
In the evening, Ajji was sitting with the children and showing them how to use their hands to make shadow-like figures on the wall in dim light. Though she was an amateur, it was still delightful for the children to see. Ajji taught them how to make different animals and shapes too. She said, ‘I learnt all this in my childhood. Those days, I had no electricity and very few books. So I had to find ways to entertain myself. These days, there are so many mediums and so many animated stories for the kids to see—it is considered art and a big field on its own. People often fantasized about magic when I was young. When a magician came to our village, all of us used to gather around him and watch him in amazement. It was much later that we realized that it was simply art and science, and that anyone could learn and excel in it.’
‘Ajji, you barely told us any stories about magic. Come, please tell us one about magic,’ said Krishna. ‘I looooove magic!’
‘And don’t try to teach us anything through this! Please, Ajji,’ pleaded Anoushka.
Once upon a time, there lived a farmer named Madhu. He was a good farmer but also a miser. He worked very hard and grew a lot of apples. He put them all in a cart and took them to the market to sell.
There was a poor old man sitting in the market square. He looked famished. He asked Madhu, ‘O farmer! Will you give me one apple? I am very hungry.’
‘No,’ said Madhu.
‘But I am starving and I haven’t eaten in more than a day. You have so many apples in your cart. Will you not give me one?’ asked the old man, unfazed.
‘Of course not! I have worked really hard to nurture each one for sale. Go ask someone else.’
‘Please, farmer!’
‘Go away, old man!’ snapped Madhu.
‘Give me one apple and you will have my blessings.’
‘I don’t need your blessings, old man. I need money,’ said Madhu harshly.
The old man smiled at him. He said, ‘Everyone needs blessings, child.’
‘Blessings will not bring me profit,’ said Madhu and began to argue with him.
A kind, compassionate woman who was passing by bought one apple and gave it to the old man.
Before the old man started to eat, he made an announcement in the market square, ‘I invite all of you to come here and eat as many apples as you want.’
People chuckled. What was the poor man talking about?
Madhu laughed at him. ‘If you had anything to eat or give, you would not have begged me for an apple.’
‘Wait. Let me eat.’
The old man finished the apple, took the seeds and planted them in a pit nearby and covered it with mud. He asked for water and someone from the market square gave him a pot of water. He poured it on the apple seeds.
Within a few seconds, a sapling appeared.
Within a few minutes, it became a tree.
Within a half-hour, red and tempting apples were hanging from the tree. By then, a big crowd had gathered around the man.
The old man announced, ‘Come, eat the apples from the tree.’
People were pleasantly surprised to get a free apple. Many took one and went their ways while eating it. Madhu also took one apple from the tree and placed it in his pocket, wondering what he had just seen.
The old man cut the tree down with an axe and began to get ready to leave the market with the pieces of wood on his shoulder.
Madhu was frustrated. He thought, Why should I work so hard for a cart of apples? This old man distributed more than a cart of apples to everyone in less than an hour. I must learn this trick from him so that I can also grow fruits and become rich quickly.
He saw the old man leaving the market.
Madhu turned to his cart, asked the mango vendor standing next to him to look after his apples, and turned towards the direction of the old man. But there was no sign of the old man, the tree, its leaves or the axe.
Madhu wondered, Did I see what I did? Was it really true or perhaps just my imagination?
He went back to his cart—his apples had disappeared too! Madhu scratched his head. Absent-mindedly, he put his hand in one of his pockets. He found an apple—the one that he had taken from the old man’s tree.
He ate it—it tasted the same as the ones he had grown in his garden.
Oh no! The apples that had been distributed were his! The old man had created an illusion! It was magic! A great magician had cheated him.
I wish I had just given him one apple in the beginning when he had asked for it. Then I might have saved my entire cart. I have been penny wise and pound foolish, thought Madhu.
The Four Dolls
Soon, the news of the easing of the lockdown was announced. Flights, trains and buses had started moving again. Ajji felt relieved, but it was a bittersweet feeling. She was happy and sad—happy because life was going to inch back to normalcy over time and sad because Kamlu Ajji and the kids were leaving the next day.
The kids had been in their company for the last two months and had brought sunshine into their regimented lives.
‘I wish the kids could stay here permanently,’ Ajji said.
‘It is always good to have cake,’ said Ajja with a smile. ‘But you can’t eat it all the time now, can you?’
‘I understand,’ said Ajji, sighing. She thought of the country and the children’s future and knew that it was better for them to return to their homes and schools. ‘Life must go on,’ she said. ‘We have to be careful, and yet, continue our work.’
She wanted to send something back for the children. She looked at Kamlu Ajji, ‘Damu is here. We are here. Let’s make obbattu (a type of sweet chapati filled with jaggery, ghee, chana and other ingredients). Each family can carry a few packets, and we’ll also send two big extra packets—one for Salma and one for George.’
‘You make poha well, too,’ said Kamlu Ajji.
‘Then I will also make packets of those, and Meenu can take some extra for her friends in Mumbai.’
Ajja added, ‘I like kodbale, the specialty of Karnataka. I am brilliant at eating but useless at making these snacks.’
Everyone laughed.
Damu offered his services. He said, ‘Ajji, I will make it.’