Grandma's Bag of Stories Read online

  The fruit vendor saw Ajja and said, ‘Namaste Masterji. Oh! You have come with your grandchildren. It is nice to see everyone like this.’ Then he gave each one a mango. When Ajja offered money, he wouldn’t take it. He said, ‘After all you were my masterji, my teacher. Can’t I give seven mangoes as gifts to your grandchildren? They are from my garden, not that I purchased them.’ The children were delighted at his warmth and kindness and returned home very happy that day.

  How the Seasons Got Their Share

  It was an unusually hot afternoon, and there was a power cut. The children were sitting in the house, wiping their foreheads and complaining. ‘How do you stay without electricity, Ajja?’ asked Raghu. ‘In Mumbai, in our apartment, if ever the electricity goes off, the generator comes on automatically. We never even know that the power has gone.’ Ajja looked around at the hot, sweaty faces, and said, ‘All right, I’ll show you a place which is as cool as an AC room. And it stays that way without any electricity! Come on everyone, grab a mat each and follow me.’

  The children were intrigued. Ajja walked out into the garden, crossed it, right till the old neem tree that stood in a corner. Ajja told them to spread their mats under the tree and lie down. It was deliciously cool and comfortable under the tree. Everyone lay down and looked up at the gently moving leaves on the great branches over their heads. This was so much more fun than lying in a closed room! Ajja too had pulled up a comfortable old easy chair and was nodding off. After some time he said, ‘This is why I love summer! What seasons do you children prefer?’

  Immediately Anand said, ‘I too like summer, because there is no school, and we can eat ice cream and mangoes. We can also go swimming.’

  ‘I don’t like summer, I like winter. You can wear colourful sweaters and eat different kinds of fruits. It is nice and cosy to be at home. You can drink hot soup and hot chocolate,’ said Krishna.

  ‘I don’t like winter, I get ear pain. I prefer the rainy season. It is so nice when it rains and all the trees look so fresh and happy,’ said Meenu.

  ‘What about you, Raghu? Why are you silent?’ Ajja asked.

  ‘I like all the seasons, provided someone like you or Ajji is there with us.’

  Ajja smiled. ‘Well, each season has its own beauty and use. We could not do without even one.’

  ‘How is that?’ asked the children.

  ‘Okay, I will tell you a story about what happened once when the seasons starting fighting with one another.’

  God stepped back and looked happily at the Earth he had just created. He had filled it with humans, animals, trees and seas and it looked a wonderful place to be in. But something was missing. After thinking for a while, he called out to six brothers: Day, Night, Summer, Winter, Monsoon and Wind. He commanded the six brothers to go down to Earth and help the creatures there live comfortably and prosper. ‘You must help the creatures on Earth grow food and live comfortably. I have divided Time into two parts—twenty-four hours and 365 days. You must share this among yourselves so that people on Earth get all that they need.’ The six brothers nodded obediently, but no sooner was God’s back turned than they all started quarrelling!

  Everyone wanted a big share of the time available to spend on Earth. Day and Night decided each would get twenty-four hours each. But the seasons kept quarrelling. Summer was the eldest, so he said, ‘I will be on Earth for 365 days first!’

  Rain said, ‘If I don’t show up all the water on Earth will disappear, so I will come next.’

  Winter said, ‘After the rains I help trees to flower, so I will come in the third year.’

  Poor Wind was the youngest and no one paid him any attention, so he got the last year.

  So life started on Earth. For twenty-four hours at a time there was Day, then twenty-four hours of Night. Summer continued for one whole year. While in the beginning the heat helped the crops to grow, soon it became too hot for anyone to do anything. All the water dried up and there was great discomfort. The people of Earth pleaded with Summer to stop and he had to leave before his year was up.

  Then it was the turn of Rain. When he started pouring down, how happy everyone was to get some respite from the year’s summer. But soon the lakes, ponds, rivers, oceans all filled to the brim and started overflowing. The crops got spoilt in the rain and there was nothing for anyone to eat. When people prayed for him to stop, he had to step aside and make way for Winter.

  With relief people greeted Winter. Now there was neither the scorching sun nor the pouring rain. But when day after day went by like this they started falling sick from the constant cold, the plants started dying because of less sunshine. At the people’s request Winter too had to stop.

  Now it was the turn of Wind. Within a few days of his constant huffing and puffing people were scared to step out anywhere. Trees were uprooted, the roofs of houses went flying and there was chaos all around.

  The brothers realized what they had done would displease God mightily. So they decided to change their ways. Instead of each taking a year they decided to share one year among each other. But again, Wind being the youngest got left out and got no time for himself. He sat in a corner and sulked.

  During summer time people sowed their crops and waited for the rains. Rain came with loads of water but there was no wind to distribute it equally. Some parts of Earth got buckets of rain and other parts none at all. Now everyone realized that Wind was as important. They called out to him and he finally agreed to do his work. But he did not get a separate time for himself. He was allowed to blow all through the year. So in Summer he blew and helped reduce the heat. During rains he blew the clouds from one place to another and took rainwater everywhere. In Winter he still blew and made it even colder!

  Day and Night too learnt from the four brothers and decided to divide the twenty-four hours equally. So one half was Day and the other was Night.

  Now everyone on Earth was happy, and the six brothers learnt to share their time.

  By this time Ajji called from the house, ‘The electricity is back. You can come inside now.’ But the children were happy to remain outside and enjoy the breeze.

  The Island of Statues

  One day, early in the morning, the children heard a loud voice booming outside. ‘Where are your grandchildren? I have come to take them to my place.’ They went running out to see a very tall man with twinkling eyes and a grey beard sipping coffee with their grandparents. He wore a crisp white dhoti and shirt and a black cap. His smile was so charming that the children instantly warmed to him. Ajji was shaking her head and saying, ‘Rehmat, there’s no way Peerambhi can manage four children. Take them out for the day, why do you want to have them over for the night?’ But the man called Rehmat shook his head. ‘No no, I will take them for a night’s stay. My Usman is a great cook and will look after everything. Peerambhi will not be troubled at all.’

  Ajji saw the questioning look on the children’s faces and explained, ‘This is Rehmat. A long time back when your Ajja was a schoolteacher, he was your Ajja’s student. He lives a little far away now. He has a mango grove there, and a large house. All his children live abroad. In his house there’s a large library of books and what can be called a mini zoo with goats, cows, peacocks, pigeons and parrots. He wants to have you all over for the night. I’m sure you’ll have a good time, but do you want to go?’

  ‘He also tells very beautiful stories,’ added Ajja.

  Rehmat grinned and said, ‘Masterji, don’t exaggerate. I started reading children’s storybooks only after my grandchildren were born. Then I remembered the stories you used to tell us in school and passed off some of them as my own.’ He turned to the children and said, ‘So what do you think, kids, will you come with me? I will show you a different part of the village.’

  Everyone was thinking, when Raghu spoke up, ‘Can we bring our friends with us?’

  ‘Oh, you mean Vishnu Kaka’s grandchildren? Of course they can come. The more the merrier. Peerambhi will love having so many children i