Saturday, August 18, 2012

Tale of Two Best Friends


This story is dated long, long time ago when India was divided into many kingdoms and was ruled by Kings. There was a small kingdom in the central part of India, which was ruled by Maharaja Pratap Singh. Maharaja Pratap Singh was very rich and had a small family. His wife's name was Maharani Roshni and they had a 7 years old son, Ajay Singh. They also had a pet lion named Sher Khan. Ajay Singh was taught to live like a prince. There were strict rules in the kingdom that he had to follow. One of the rules was that he was not supposed to be with the low-income group class of kids. He was not supposed to talk to them or even go near them.

Om Prakash, a poor man worked as a servant at Maharaja Pratap Singh's palace. He also had a 7 years old son named Raju. Raju was very playful and behaved exactly the way a child did. He was lovable and enjoyed his life with no strict rules.

It was the time of the year when India's most intense weather events, the Monsoon were on the way. During this season, it was common to see children running around and dancing in the rain.

Prince Ajay was staying indoors on a rainy day and following the rules of the palace. He was painting and Sher Khan was sitting beside him. Suddenly, he saw a shadow splashing in the rain. He ran to the window and saw that the shadow was none other than Raju. Sher Khan got very excited and started to twirl around near the window. Ajay spoke to himself, "Oh! My God! Raju is just wearing shorts and a vest and he is jumping in the muddy puddles. I think his mother will get very upset. He is doing the most untidy act one could ever do". The next minute Ajay saw that Sher Khan had ran out of the back door and joined Raju. Sher Khan was running around in the muddy puddles and enjoying the rain as well. Ajay was getting worried that his mother, Maharani Roshni will be very upset if Sher Khan walked with muddy paws on the carpet inside the palace. He thought that he should make an effort to get Sher Khan into the palace before his mother saw it. He wore his rain boots, took an umbrella and went outside. He said to Sher Khan, "Sher Khan, Come! Follow me". But Sher Khan was having a lot of fun twirling around in the water that he hardly heard anything. Ajay repeated his words but Sher Khan was roaring and running around. He tried to pull Sher Khan, but Sher Khan pulled himself back so hard that Ajay fell down.

As Prince Ajay fell in the mud, he got upset at first, but lying there he saw that Raju and Sher Khan were still playing together, getting wet and dancing in the rain. Ajay realized that it was really fun to step in the puddles and splash the rainwater everywhere. It was indeed fun playing in the rain. He took off his rain boots and joined Raju and Sher Khan. The three of them continued the fun even after the rain stopped. When it started to get dark, Raju went to his house. Prince Ajay and Sher Khan returned to the palace. Maharani Roshni saw everything from the palace window. She got upset not only on the fact that Prince Ajay and Sher Khan were muddy and wet, but she was also upset on the fact that Ajay was playing with Raju while he was not supposed to. Ajay was punished for his deed. He was made to stay in his room whole night without dinner.

Raju had enjoyed playing with Prince Ajay so much on that rainy day, that the following week, Raju came back to Prince Ajay's palace and knocked on the window in his room. Ajay was still in bed but reached out to see that it was Raju holding a little kitten in his two hands and petting it. He was tempted to go to Raju and pet the kitten but he remembered that if he did so, his mother would get upset again, have him stay in the room and he will be punished. However, the kitten was so cute that Ajay could not resist. He went out of the window and stayed in the backyard petting the kitten with Raju. Unfortunately, Maharani Roshni spotted him again with Raju. Prince Ajay was called back inside the palace and this time, he was punished even harder. He was told to stay in his room and was not offered any breakfast or lunch. Raju overheard about Ajay's punishment. He could not bear the fact that Ajay would have to stay hungry that long. Raju went to his house and brought a plateful of lunch for Ajay. Raju quietly went to Ajay's window, creeped inside the palace and shared his food with Ajay. Prince Ajay ate hard, old wheat tortillas, which were probably cooked by Raju's mother the night before. He ate those with curry, the flavors of which were different but delicious. After Ajay ate, Raju quietly slipped away.

Even though, Prince Ajay saw Raju now and then, he tried to stay away from Raju and avoided getting close to him for fear of being spotted by his mother and getting in trouble. One Sunday afternoon, Maharaja Pratap Singh and Maharani Roshni had gone to the neighboring kingdom to visit a friend's palace. Ajay got out of his palace and spotted Raju climbing a tree. Raju taught Ajay how to climb a tree and played with him. Before Maharaja Pratap Singh and Maharani Roshni came back to the palace, Ajay was already home and no one came to know that he had a play date with Raju.

One day Prince Ajay was walking back to the palace, when some flowers in the bush attracted him. He went closer to the bush and to his utmost surprise, those flowers turned into a snake. The snake climbed the nearby tree branch and it appeared that the snake was going to bite Ajay with its head outstretched. Suddenly, Raju came from behind and quickly broke the branch off the tree and threw it away, far deeper behind in the bushes. He held Ajay's hand and made him run away with him.

Prince Ajay came back to the palace and told this happening to his father and mother. Maharani Roshni was impressed on how Raju saved Prince Ajay's life. Since that day, she allowed Prince Ajay to be Raju's friend. She herself invited Raju over to the palace and thanked him for saving her son's life.

Prince Ajay and Raju became best friends inspite of the caste and income barriers. They played together, climbed trees together and petted animals around. They also danced in the rain and jumped in the muddy puddles together every Monsoon season.