August 1, 2018

"Take any poem or short story you find anywhere. Rewrite it in your own words."

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Once upon a time, there lived an orphan Brahmin boy who wanted to study the scriptures, and when he chanced upon a childless couple, where the husband was a learned Brahmin, he begged for a chance to be taught, in return for which he offered his services.

The wife took a liking to the young boy and the husband too was soon impressed by the boy's intelligence. A few years passed by in harmony, the couple so pleased with their adopted son that they no longer felt sorry for not having any children. It was then that the wife, much to her surprise and joy, discovered that she was pregnant.

Unfortunately, as the day of her delivery neared, the man had to travel to the nearby village, which he was not willing to do so but finally undertook the journey on reassurance of his son who promised that he would look after his mother.

The son paced the tiny garden outside the hut, from where he could here the moans of his mother and the stern commands of the midwife, and he prayed that there would be no danger to either the mother or child. It was at this moment that he saw an old man, of glowing complexion and a long glistening beard trying to enter the hut.

Furious that someone would dare encroach at such a time, the young boy rushed forward, grasped the old man's wrist and demanded, "Who are you, and how dare you enter the hut?"

The old man was startled, "How can you see me?"

"As plain as day, but that is not the answer to my question. Who are you and why are you sneaking in like a thief?"

The old man gave a weary sigh, in the eternal history of time, there were rare mortals who could glimpse him, "I am Brahma, and I have to be there when the baby emerges from the mother's womb, it is at the precise moment that my iron styles will inscribe the child's destiny."

The young disciple thought over it, though it sounded incredulous he had to admit that the old man did have an divine aura but he was not willing to concede so soon, "fine, I will let you go only on the condition that you will tell me what you have written for the child."

Lord Brahma, realising that there was no way out from this fix, agreed to the condition and true to his word came out a few minutes after the child was born, though his face was paler than before, for he knew that the child's destiny was a troublesome one. However, he was not going back on his promise so it was with a heavy heart that he told the disciple, "I am sorry, the young man, though he will grow up to be learned and respected, will have to live in poverty. All his life, however hard he works, however generous the people are to him, he will never own more than one bag of grains and one cow."

The young disciple was equally disheartened to hear what destiny had in store for his master's son but kept quiet for he realised there was nothing he could do and pushing his new found knowledge aside, focused on his studies and chores.

A few years later, history repeated itself, though this time it was an ashen faced Lord Brahma who mumbled the fate of the new born daughter, "she will be forced to live her life as a prostitute, selling herself to the highest bidder."

This shook the young disciple to the core and a few months later, he took leave of the elderly couple; they were not willing to let him go but could not deny his reasoning that he would have to leave them if he wished to pursue higher education. That was partly true, though the real reason was that he was growing quite attached to the children and it pained him to know the fate that awaited them.

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Eighteen years later, the young disciple, now a scholar of repute, chanced upon that village and on an impulse decided to check up on the couple who were the closest he had to parents. It was not difficult to track down the son and as he neared the decrepit hut on the edge of the village, he realised that Brahma's writ had run true.

The scholar was saddened to learn that the elderly couple had passed away a few years ago and though the young man in front of him had vague recollections of the scholar who stood in front of him, he did not hesitate in welcoming him and sharing their meagre meals with him. However, he balked at the request of granting him shelter, the hut was cramped with his small family but reluctantly agreed to let the scholar sleep in the ramshackle cowshed.

The scholar spent a restlessness night, he did not care for material comforts but the piteous condition of the boy he had once loved as a younger brother disturbed him. Despite being aware of Brahma's Writ, he pondered on how he could improve the lot of his brother. It was towards the wee hours of the night that he had an idea and slept for an hour in peace.

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The young man was aghast at the scholar's suggestion and vehemently opposed him till his wife drew him aside, "I know what he is saying is risky, but then you and even your parents often spoke of him in admiration. There is no way he would want to ruin us and we do not even have much to lose. At least this way, we would have the opportunity of feeding some people and also a chance to eat one full meal."

Sighing at the wisdom of his wife, the young man agreed to do as the scholar suggested. He took his haggard cow to the marketplace, sold her for what he felt was a reasonable price and spent all the money in buying provisions so that his wife could cook a meal for at least a dozen people, not counting his family. Despite the grave misgivings, he kept quiet as his wife used up all the provision and the entire bag of grains, in preparing a feast.

That night, the family slept in peace, for they had eaten a full meal; they had almost forgotten how it was to have a complete meal. The next morning saw the return of despondency as the man now wondered what he would do, there was no cow nor grains, and in accordance with the stern instructions, not a single coin or grain had been kept aside. He walked to the cowshed, only to collapse in shock, inside stood a healthy cow and a big fat sack of grains. His elation was short lived when the scholar instructed him to do exactly as he had done yesterday, sell the cow and use the proceeds to cook a feast. The young man agreed, with far less reluctance.

This continued for a few weeks; each morning there would a healthy cow and a sack of grains in the cowshed and all the coin would be completely spent by nightfall. A couple of months later, when the scholar was convinced that the habit was well ingrained in the young man, he decided to take his leave, repeating his stern warning, "Never try to save any coin or grain, for if you do that you will go back to your old state of having one sick cow and bag of grains. And now tell me about your sister."

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Though aware of Brahma's Writ, the scholar was saddened to learn that the young girl was indeed a prostitute in the neighbouring village, but determined to see if he could better her lot, made his way to her house.

If she was surprised to see a scholar visit her in broad daylight, she hid it well, the professional courtesy of welcoming any visitor was too deeply embedded in her. However, she was stunned to hear what the scholar had to say and finally agreed to do it as she felt it offered her a chance to escape her sorry fate.

Her closed door did not receive any knocks that night, not after every visitor read the message on the slate, "Only he who is young and can give me a glass of pearls will be entertained."

Close to dawn, the girl answered the door, to find a handsome young man who held the price she wanted, a glass of pearls; and the next day, in accordance with the scholar's instructions, she spent all of them in preparing a feast and feeding the hungry and needy.

The scholar stayed nearby for a few months and noted with a glad heart that the young girl had no more nocturnal visitors, except for the young handsome man with his glass of pearls. As news of her new paramour spread and her habit of feeding people reached the other villages, people slowly stopped remembering that she was a prostitute.

It was at this time that the scholar decided to take his leave, careful to repeat his instructions to the daughter, who promised to abide by the rule of not saving a single paisa, "You are now a wife to a prince, the only man who has a right over your body and mind. But remember, spend every coin you earn; you save one and you will go back to being a prostitute."

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In order to cover a good distance, the scholar had left some time before daybreak and at some distance met a familiar young man; who carried a sack of grains on his head, had a glass of pearls in his pocket and was leading a healthy cow. As soon as the man caught sight of the scholar, he dropped his bag and clutching the scholar's hands, pleaded, "Please, please stop this. Ask those two children not to follow your instructions; I am tired of making the Writ come true."

It was then that the scholar recognised the man to be Lord Brahma, who had to take the disguise of a young man to enable his Writ to be run. Seizing his chance, the scholar refused to do so, till Brahma cancelled that Writ and blessed them to live a normal life. Lord Brahma, seeing that he was cornered, changed the Writ, blessing them with a long and peaceful life.

And thus did the clever scholar thwart the destiny of the two children.

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Word count 1748

This is an Indian Folktale that I read in a book "Folktales from India by A K Ramanujan" and I just love it. It has been quite some years since I last read it, but I hope that I have managed to convey the story. There are quite many stories in the anthology, but none left a lasting impression as this one.