SUDHA MURTY GRANDMA BAGS OF STORIES

Episode 4

........ looking for a long-lost brother. When the two

died without fulfilling this wish, two wonderful plants, unknown to anyone

earlier, had grown at the spot. The leaves and nuts from the trees were so

sweet and refreshing that the villagers decided to build a small temple for the

man and the woman at the place.

Veer listened to the story with growing sorrow. He realized the couple they

talked about was none other than his brother and his wife. Unable to bear the

news, he turned into a statue of limestone.

Do you know how they have all been remembered ever since? The tall tree

grew nuts called areca nuts, the creeper’s leaves were paan or betel leaves and

from the statue came the lime paste that is added to preparations of paan. And

this is how this loving family came together even after death. Together they

taught people the values of love, unity and loyalty, and when people chew

paan they remember this story.

Sharan’s mom was surprised to hear this story. ‘Really, Ajji,’she said, ‘even I

was not aware why these three ingredients are always used to make a paan. I

too will come to listen to your stories from now on!’

Ajji nodded, then she added with that glint in her eyes, ‘Chewing paan is

not good for your teeth. Everyone, off you go to brush your teeth!’

Payasam for a Bear

Ajja and Vishnu Kaka were planning something! They could be spotted

grinning and nodding and whispering. The children were dying to know what

it was. Then one evening, they finally broke the news. They were all going on

a picnic! It would be a picnic at the nearby falls. These waterfalls were really

beautiful, with the river meandering close by and the forest just across. The

children got even more excited when the two grandpas revealed the rest of the

plan. Tomorrow would be a rest day for Ajji and Sharan’s mother, because all

the cooking would be done by them and the children! And they would do it

the traditional way, by gathering firewood and then cooking the meal from

scratch.

The children were so excited they could hardly sleep that night. All they

could talk about was the picnic and what they would cook. Before nodding

off they had decided the menu—pulao and kheer! Payasam or kheer is so easy

to make, and who doesn’t love it?

The next day, even the usual late risers were up and about and ready to set

out for the picnic by seven o’clock. Oh, what a beautiful spot it was! They all

ran around exclaiming over everything and getting ready with their cricket

bats and balls for a game. Ajji sat comfortably under a big tree. Then it was

time to get lunch ready. Everyone started looking for twigs to use as firewood.

Ajji spotted Divya straying towards the dense thicket of trees and called out,

‘Divya, come back, don’t go there. Who knows what animal is there, and on

top of that you all are going to cook payasam . . .’

Minu’s ears pricked up immediately. ‘Why, Ajji, what does payasam have

to do with animals?’

Ajji grinned, ‘But bears love payasam! Don’t you know?’

Everyone declared they had never known this piece of information. So

cooking and games forgotten, young and old gathered around her to hear the

story of a bear who wanted to eat payasam.

Did you know that you must never ever anger a bear? It is true; an angry bear

can do some really awful things, so it is always safer to keep your word to

him. Poor Mohan and Basanti did not know this, and tried to trick a bear, and

see what happened to them!

Mohan had a banana plantation, where he grew delicious bananas. He also

had a huge mango tree that provided him with baskets of juicy mangoes every

summer. He would sell these fruits in the market and lived happily enough

with his wife, Basanti.

Once, his trees yielded an exceptionally large crop of bananas and

mangoes, and he decided to sell them in the market in the city, where he

would get a higher price for them. So off he went with his sacks and baskets

to the city. There he sat in the market, sold everything that he had brought,

and made quite a bit of money. At the market, he ran into an old friend, Amar.

Mohan and Amar were overjoyed to see each other after many years.

‘Come to my house, dear friend,’ insisted Amar. ‘Let us enjoy a good meal

and talk about our childhood days.’

Mohan thought this was a wonderful idea, and went with Amar to his

house. There the two friends ate huge quantities of rice, dal, lovely vegetables

and all kinds of sweets. Then, finally, out came the best part of the meal—the

payasam!

Payasam is known by many names all over India. Some call it kheer, some

payesh, and others, payasam. It is made with milk, rice and jaggery and many

other ingredients, and it is always yummy! So was the payasam that Amar

served his friend. It was made with fragrant rice, creamy milk, sweet-as-sugar

jaggery, and strewn with nuts, cardamoms, saffron and all kinds of wonderful,

mouth-watering things. Mohan ate and ate bowl after bowl of this dessert, till

he was ready to burst.

Then the two friends chatted and rested, till it was time for Mohan to head

back home. When he reached his house, he told his wife about the scrumptious meal, particularly the payasam he had eaten. Oh, how Basanti

sighed and longed to have tasted this dish too! Seeing her face Mohan

suggested, ‘See, I have earned plenty of money by selling the fruits. Why

don’t I buy the things required to make payasam, which you can cook and

both of us will enjoy it together?’

Basanti thought this was a wonderful idea. But first Mohan needed to go to

the forest to collect some firewood. Then he could go to the shop and get all

that was required to make the dessert. So off Mohan went, swinging his axe

and whistling a tune. Now who would be sitting dozing under a tree in the

forest but a big black bear. He had just had some nice berries for lunch and

was enjoying his snooze, when Mohan walked by. First the bear opened one

eye, then another, and watched as Mohan cut a few branches of a nearby tree

and collected twigs for firewood. Just as Mohan was tying it all up in a neat

bundle, the bear spoke up.

‘Hi there, friend. Where are you off to in such a happy mood, and why are

you collecting so much firewood? Tell me, are you cooking a feast tonight?’

Mohan was astonished and a little scared to be addressed like this by a bear.

‘Y-yes, your honour, I mean, dear bear, ss-sir,’ he mumbled and stammered.

The bear was happy after his meal, so he decided to chat some more with

Mohan.

‘So tell me, what are you going to cook tonight?’ he asked, patting his

tummy.

‘P-p-payasam,’ answered Mohan.

‘Paya . . . what?’ The bear was puzzled.

‘Pa-ya-sam,’ Mohan said slowly. ‘It’s a sweet dish.’

‘Tell me more!’ The bear was intrigued.

So Mohan described payasam and how it was made. As he talked about

milk and rice and nuts and jaggery, the bear’s eyes started gleaming, his

stomach started rumbling, and he realized he absolutely, totally needed to

taste this wonderful human food.

‘Oh Mohan, my friend, do let me come and share your payasam tonight,’

the bear begged.

Mohan was astonished. A bear as a guest for dinner! Who knows how

much he would eat! But neither could he say no—that seemed so rude, and

the bear was looking at him hopefully.

He sighed and replied, ‘All right. You can come. But to cook so much

payasam I will need much more firewood. Can you bring that with you?’

Cunning Mohan thought he would make the bear do his work for him, so

he would not need to come to the forest for the next few days.

‘Yes, yes!’ The bear jumped up. ‘Just tell me how much firewood you need.

Ten? Twenty? Thirty bundles?’

‘Umm, fifty would be enough,’ decided Mohan. Then he slung his bundle

of firewood over his shoulder and went back home. On the way he bought lots

of milk, rice and everything else they would need to make the payasam.

When he reached home he told Basanti about the unusual guest who would

come to share their dessert. So Basanti cooked a huge quantity of payasam.

She added lovely nuts, aromatic saffron, sweet cardamoms and many

wonderful things into it as she cooked. Oh, how marvellous the payasam

smelt. Unable to wait any longer, the two started eating helping after helping

of the dish, without waiting for their guest to turn up. They ate and ate and

ate, till they realized they had eaten up everything! There was not a grain of

rice, nor half a nut left for him!

They sat around wondering what to do. What would they say to the bear

when he came expecting to eat payasam? Then, a devious plan entered

Mohan’s head. What if they made payasam with all kinds of other

ingredients? After all, it was only a bear, and he had never tasted this dish

earlier, so how would he know what it really tasted like?

The cunning man and his wife then took a little bit of milk, added lots of

water to it, threw in a handful of rice, and instead of jaggery and nuts and

spices they added pebbles and sand and cardamom husks and stirred and

stirred the mixture till it looked somewhat like payasam. They placed the

brass pot filled with this in front of the house and went and hid in the bushes

somewhere at the back.

As soon as night fell, a huge dark figure appeared down the road. On its

back it carried fifty bundles of firewood. It was the bear, come to dinner!

He reached Mohan’s house and looked around. There was no one. Then,

right in front of the house, he spotted the pot full of payasam. Unable to wait

any longer, he flung down the bundles he had carried and fell upon the

payasam. Only after he had eaten more than half the potful did he realize

something was wrong. The milk was watery, the rice was half cooked and

there was horrible grit and pebbles between his teeth! Ugh!

Oh, how angry he was now! Furious, he shouted out for Mohan. But

Mohan was cowering behind the bushes and did not reply. Now angrier than

ever, the bear spotted the mango tree and rubbed his back against it. The mangoes came raining down, he shook the tree so hard. The bear continued to

stamp and shake the tree, till it fell with a huge crash right on to the banana

field and crushed the best banana plants. Seeing the firewood he had carried

all the way from the forest lying around, the bear started throwing them

around. One fell into the oven in the kitchen and set fire to the house. Soon

Mohan and Basanti’s house was in flames, his field in ruins and his prized

mango tree destroyed.

Finally satisfied that he had taken his revenge the bear stormed back into

the forest. When Mohan and his wife crawled out of their hiding place and

came back home they saw everything was in ruins. How they wailed and wept

and wished they hadn’t been so greedy and left the bear his share of payasam.

But what was the use of lamenting now? The damage was done, and the

greedy couple had learnt what I told you earlier—never anger a bear! And if

you make a promise to one, keep it!

Fire on the Beard

What a grand picnic everyone had! They played and ate and splashed in the

water till late evening. Ajja and Ajji had to drag them back home. That night

the children tumbled into bed and were fast asleep even before Ajji switched

off the lights. Quietly she tucked them in. The next morning there was no sign

of anyone waking up. Ajja and Ajji went about their work, not waking the

children. But when it was ten o’clock, Ajji decided they had to wake up now.

So she came into the room and found all four were up and chatting in bed.

She looked at them for a while with her hands on the hips. Then she said, ‘So,

I think you’ve had enough rest. Now up all of you. Wash up and get ready. I’ll

give you your lunch by noon.’

All the others jumped up except Anand. He grinned at Ajji and said, ‘You

know, I can live without food if I get to lie in bed all day.’

‘Really?’ Ajji said. ‘So be it. Everyone else, lunch will be ready at twelve,

so be there on time. Oh, and those who lie around in bed will also miss the

afternoon story.’ Then she walked off trying to hide a smile. Anand and miss a

meal! He was the one who loved his food the most!

Anand was quiet. The rest sprang out of their beds and went to brush their

teeth and have a bath. Soon the aroma of onion dosa wafted through the

house. It was too delicious to resist. Everyone gathered in the kitchen to help

grind the dosa batter.

By now Anand was bored and hungry, lying alone in bed. He quietly went

and took his bath. He was worried—what if Ajji had taken him seriously and

not kept a share of the dosa for him? And what if he had to miss that day’s

story? When Ajji saw him appear at the kitchen and join in, she laughed and

said, ‘You have become like Brij.’

‘Who is Brij, Ajji?’

So Ajji started the story while the children ate the dosas.

Yaaawwnnn! Brij stretched out in the sun, yawned loud and long, and went

back to sleep. Is Brij a rich man on a holiday; or has he worked hard all day

and just resting for a while? Neither! Brij was the laziest, most good-for-

nothing fellow you’ll ever meet. He would spend entire days just lying around

on his bed doing nothing. He was too lazy to even trim his beard and it had

grown right down to his knees. All day he sat around combing it and admiring

it, doing nothing else. His mother would call him, his wife would scold him,

but Brij was not one to mend his ways.

This is how most conversations with his wife, Shanti, would go:

‘Can you get some water from the well? There is no water in the house.’

‘The well is dry. There’s no water there.’

‘Can you fetch water from the pond, at least?’

‘The pond is too far. I can’t walk so much for a pot of water.’

‘Then pluck those coconuts from the tree.’

‘Oh, those coconuts are still tender. Let’s pluck them next month.’

‘What about getting some areca nuts from the tree then?’

‘Don’t you know, areca nuts are not good for health?’

‘Help me plough the field then.’

‘It is too hot. The sun will burn my skin. It’s better if you too did not go

there.’

‘Can you at least look after the house when I am in the field?’

‘There is nothing to look after in the house.’

And so on and on Brij would make excuses for not doing any work that

was asked of him. Of course he was never too tired to eat! As soon as his wife

would lay out the meal, he would jump out of bed saying, ‘Oh you have

prepared food for me with such love, it is my duty to eat it.’ And then he

would gobble down all that was given.

When evening fell, Brij would roll out of bed, comb his hair and beard and

set off to meet his gang of friends. Seeing how he managed to get out of doing

any work, many others in the village had decided to do the same. All these

people had formed a club, The Idlers’ Club. They would meet every evening and sit around and talk about all kinds of things. They claimed this way they

were improving their general knowledge, but all they were really doing was

gossip and boast.

Brij, as the leader of the club, would get to boast the loudest and longest.

One day, the topic was who was the laziest of all.

‘Bathing every day is such a waste of time and precious water. I take a bath

once in two days. That way I even save water!’said Manoj, the

environmentalist.

‘I never make my bed,’ boasted Suresh, the innkeeper. ‘Why bother when

you have to lie down in it once again at the end of the day?’

‘I eat my food out of the vessel in which it is cooked,’ claimed Raju, the

cook. ‘Putting the food in the plate only increases the work for you will need

to wash it too.’

Now Brij thought he should say something that would beat all these other

tall tales. So he said, ‘I am always cool and calm. Why, even if my beard were

to catch fire I would start digging a well at that time, and never store water

close at hand!’

As these discussions were happening, a real fire broke out in the village! It

burned down buildings and roofs and sheds, crackling and throwing up

sparks, making villagers run helter-skelter looking for water to douse the

flames.

The Idlers’ Club heard all the commotion but no one bothered to step out to

see what was happening. ‘What is going on?’ they only asked each other.

‘Oh nothing,’ Brij dismissed the topic. ‘Must be some circus or the other.

So, what were we talking about?’

By now the fire had spread to their road. It was fast making its way to the

house where the idlers were sitting. It got hotter and hotter. Brij’s friends

started sweating and getting nervous now. Soon the roof of the house caught

fire. Still Brij kept saying, ‘Don’t worry, don’t worry. It will rain now and put

this out.’ Then ‘The wind is blowing in the opposite direction and will blow it

down. We are really cool people, we should not be afraid of a fire!’

Finally his friends could stand it no longer and rushed screaming out of the

house. But Brij was too stubborn, and refused to move. Finally the fire caught

up with him and his beard started getting singed. Now even Brij was scared.

‘Heellp!’ he shouted.

‘Now you can start digging the well,’ his friends suggested.

‘Oh, get me some water from the pond,’ Brij begged.

‘That’s too far away,’ the others shouted from outside. ‘Maybe it will rain,’

they added.

By now the beard was burning away merrily, and all Brij could do was leap

and dance away from the flames. Till suddenly there were splashes and

splashes of water! Someone was emptying cool, cool water on the fire and

putting it out!

Brij could not believe his luck. Who had saved him? Why, it was Shanti

and many other women of the village who had worked hard and drawn water

from wells and ponds to save their homes.

Finally Brij learnt his lesson. Being lazy and pretending to be cool had

certainly not helped him in his hour of need. So he shaved off his half-burnt

beard, woke up early each morning and did all that Shanti told him to do, and

more!

The Way You Look at It

On a sleepy afternoon, while the sun continued to shine, the clouds opened up

and it started to rain. Sharan had fallen asleep after eating at least fifteen

pooris for lunch. When he woke up, he saw a rainbow in the sky. There was a

mild drizzle and the bright sunshine of summer. In the sky was a bold, bright,

clear rainbow. Sharan ran to Ajji’s house and started calling out to his friends.

Suma and Krishna were playing in the garden. Raghu and Divya were

reading. Anand was sleeping. Sharan was so excited he called out to each one,

‘Ajja, Ajji, Suma, Krishna, Raghu, Anand, Divya, come and see this!’

Everyone rushed out to see what was up. The children gazed in amazement at

the rainbow. Living in the city, none of them ever got to see such a vast

expanse of the sky, unhindered by tall buildings. Ajja and Ajji were used to it

and went back to their work.

That evening, while having their milk, the children were talking about

rainbows. ‘The colours of the rainbow are known as VIBGYOR,’said Raghu.

‘A rainbow is called Indra Dhanush in Sanskrit,’said Suma.

‘It is known as Kamanabillu in Kannada—the bow of Lord Kamadeva,’

said Sharan’s mother.

‘In the olden days if the sun and rain came together, we used to say it is the

fox’s wedding and all of us have to go on the rainbow to reach the wedding,’

said Ajji.

‘Ultimately it is the same thing, seven colours that appear in the sky when

the sun’s rays are reflected by the rainwater,’said Ajja. ‘It depends upon the

way you look at it.’

Ajji nodded. ‘The same thing appears different, depending on the way you

look at it, and today I can tell you a story about that.’ Immediately everyone

turned their attention from the sky to Ajji.

During one monsoon season, it rained and rained in Chitpur, a little village by

a mighty river. It rained so hard that the river swelled up. Huge waves lashed

against the riverbanks and carried away trees, houses and big chunks of earth.

The villagers were really scared and prayed hard for the rains to stop.

When finally the skies cleared, one by one people emerged from their

homes. One of them was Raju. He walked down to the riverside. There he

saw something that made him rub his eyes in disbelief. Why, a huge black

rock had appeared there out of nowhere! And what was more, the rock looked

exactly like the head of Ganesha, the god with the elephant head. Raju

immediately prostrated himself in front of the rock. ‘Ganesha not only heard

our prayers and made the rains go away, he has come himself to protect us!’

Raju shouted to no one in particular. ‘I must tell everyone about this!’ he

yelled and ran back to the village to shape the news.

Next came Chetan, the sculptor. He had spent so many days cooped up in

his house waiting for the rains to stop. Now he was glad to be out in the open,

and was thinking of his next piece of work. Suddenly he caught sight of the

new rock by the river. It was just the right colour, worn smooth with age and

river water. It was perfect for the scene he wanted to carve! Giving a whoop

of joy, he ran home to gather his carving tools.

Just as he turned the corner, a merchant came by on his horse. The animal

was thirsty and he stopped there for it to have a drink of water from the river.

He too spotted the stone. ‘What a big stone!’ he remarked. ‘And it is nice and

smooth and flat. Let me sit for a while on it and rest.’ After enjoying a nice

rest on the rock, the merchant decided he would tell his friends about it. They

were travelling together and all of them would be thrilled to be able to sit

there for some time, by the river.

He went off to find his friends.

Just then, Ajit, a soldier, came on his horse. He got down and washed his

face. While his horse was drinking water, he was looking around and the

same stone caught his attention. He was surprised and said to himself, ‘What

a huge stone on the riverbed! Maybe I should get it removed so that in an

emergency it should not become a hindrance on the road. Our army can march better if such obstacles are not there. I must inform my commander.’

Thinking so, he rushed back to his camp to talk to his commander.

Later in the day Bholu, the village washerman, appeared by the river with

his big bundle of clothes. To his astonishment, he found a crowd right around

his favourite washing spot. They were all arguing over a rock! Pushing his

way into the crowd, Bholu spoke in a loud voice, ‘Hey! What do you think

you all are doing?’

Raju now burst out, ‘This rock is a sign from Lord Ganesha, I want to

worship it.’

Chetan raised his voice even louder and said, ‘No no, this rock is going to

be used for my next sculpture.’

The merchant shouted, ‘I have invited all my friends to rest on it! It is

ours!’

Ajit was giving orders to his soldiers to remove the stone.

Bholu now grinned and said, ‘But this rock has been here for years and

years! Earlier half of it was submerged in the mud. Now with the rains the

mud has got washed off, and you are seeing more of it. The washermen of

Chitpur have been using this rock to do our washing for many, many years!

There’s nothing miraculous about it. Now off with all of you, I have work to

do.’

So saying Bholu emptied his bundle of clothes and set to work. What could

the others do? They had to go away grumbling quietly to themselves.

Roopa’s Great Escape

Ajja’s and Vishnu Kaka’s houses were teeming with people! There was a

village festival, and friends and relatives from near and far had come to

Shiggaon. There were people the children had not seen or even heard about

before. Some said, ‘I am your father’s fourth cousin.’ Someone else said, ‘I

am your grandmother’s second cousin.’ The houses were full and there was a

lot of fun and laughter everywhere. Nobody expected a separate bedroom or a

special dish at the dining table. They all ate together and talked to everybody

and slept on the floor on mattresses. The city children were surprised at the

ease with which the guests made themselves at home. The women helped out

in the kitchen in the morning and in the evening they dressed in shining silk

sarees and went to the fair. In fact everyone dressed in their best, put the two

hundred rupees Ajja gave in their pockets and purses and made for the fair.

The fair itself was quite astonishing. The children from Mumbai said, ‘It is

just like Chowpati on Juhu beach.’ The Delhi kids said, ‘It is similar to

Janpath.’ Others said, ‘It is like Karaga or Kallekai Parishe in Bangalore.’

Vishnu Kaka explained, ‘In every village there is a village god or goddess and

once a year we worship them in a grand way. At the festival and fair it is not

just about selling and buying, it is also about meeting people, exchanging

gifts, having a feast and a good time.’

The group moved from shop to shop, peeping into the photo studios,

examining bangles, waiting for a turn on the merry-go-round and clapping

along to the dances, when someone noticed Suma was missing! Somewhere

in the crowd she had got separated from the rest, and now there was no sign of her. Immediately her mother started wailing, and Ajji consoled her. Vishnu

Kaka too looked really worried. The children were scared and thrilled too.

This was just like Home Alone! As Vishnu Kaka was about to make his way

to the police assistance booth, they heard Suma’s voice on the mike! ‘I am at

the police station, Vishnu Ajja please come and fetch me.’ When Suma had

been traced, her mother started scolding her. But Suma was not bothered. ‘I

was not worried,’she said. ‘In the crowd when I realized I was not with you

people, I straightaway went to the police station and told them to make an

announcement.’

Everyone declared she was a very brave and sensible girl, and for a change

that day Vishnu Kaka said, ‘Today I will tell a story about a young girl like

Suma who had a lot of courage. I read this story in a book when I was young.’

Once, there lived a very clever young girl called Roopa. She was an orphan

and had been taken care of all her life by the people of the village in which

she lived. She was very hard-working and once she became old enough, she

lived all by herself and looked after herself. But she always missed having a

family of her own, even though her neighbours were such loving and caring

people. One day, when Roopa was about sixteen years old, she went down to the

river along with some other women and girls to wash clothes and fetch water.

Diwali was around the corner.........

To be continued....