Quick-reads

Annapur was a small settlement far from the city. The village had few people with small incomes who relied primarily on selling dairy and agricultural products in the city. If you didn’t have arable land or some cows, it was hard to make ends meet.

In this little village, a little girl – Devi – lived with her widowed mother who stitched clothes to make a small living. They had but one meal a day which consisted of roti and milk. Vegetables were for special days. But that didn’t stop Devi from offering a roti every single day to the mother Goddess at the Annapurna temple close to her home.

One morning, Devi was running late for school. She was hungry and her mother quickly stuffed two rotis into her school bag. As always, Devi ran to the temple and offered one roti to the Goddess and prayed that she may pass the science test. She was just scurrying out of the temple when she saw Ramu’s cows bleating and hungry. She tried to ignore them because she had only one roti left for breakfast and lunch. She walked two steps ahead and the bleating and mooing made her feel guilty. Surely, she could feed at least one of them.

An eager, scaly, dark tongue accepted the roti with pleasure from Devi. But a gang of cows quickly surrounded her and started sniffing her school bag. She felt helpless and rummaged for crumbs. But what was this? How? She found another roti and fed it to the big brown cow. They mooed with joy asking for more. She searched her bag curiously. One more roti? She fed it to the cows. This went on. The more the cows, the more the rotis. One after another, she got fresh rotis to feed the cows. This was magic. There was no other explanation. She now had an unlimited supply of rotis for the cows.

There was now a small gathering at Ramu’s cow shed watching the incredible show of unlimited rotis. The people started asking Devi where she got so much food from. She had no answer – only joy at being able to feed the cows.

This continued for many days until Devi was called Annapurna incarnate. People celebrated her and paid their respects to her mother.

Also observing from far away was a Sadhu. He was skinny and lived on the bhiksha people offered him. He was deep in meditation but could not miss the little girl with an endless supply of rotis.

One day, as Devi finished feeding the cows and the stray dogs and birds, the Sadhu called out to her. “Devi, do you have something for me? You are kind and generous. You feed all those who are hungry. I haven’t got a meal today. Do you have something for me?” Devi smiled and immediately rummaged through her bag but there was nothing. She tried again. Still nothing. She was sad and disappointed when she apologized to the Sadhu with folded hands. “Sorry Guruji, there is no more left. Please forgive me. Tomorrow I will come to you first thing with some food.”

The next day, she went straight to the Sadhu and put her hand in her bag to give him rotis but she was shocked. Nothing came out of her bag. She rummaged some more and grimaced because indeed, there was nothing at all. She was about to apologise to the Sadhu Maharaj but before she could say anything, he saw red and unleashed a tirade. “You have so much to feed the cows, dogs and birds but not even a crumb for a bhikshuk? You insult me. Do you only care about animals or am I lower than an animal for you? I curse you. You will always be among animals. You will smell of them and have no friends other than them and no-one will marry you!” Devi begged forgiveness and insisted she meant no insult but to no avail.

The years passed by…

Devi continued to feed the animals for years and when she grew up, she studied hard to prepare for a scholarship exam in the city. She did well for herself and got the scholarship. She moved to the city for high school and took up veterinary science as her major during college. But she sorely missed the animals in Annapur because the magic no longer worked in the city. She wanted to feed them and care for them now that she was a doctor.

When Devi came home, her mother was delighted. There were in better days thanks to Devi’s earnings. She now spent her days at a shed she had built for the animals. Here, she treated them, offered them shelter and never had any problems feeding them thanks to the magic of the unlimited supply of food in her bag. This is what she had been missing.

Although Devi was happy and had everything she wanted, her mother began to worry. There was not a single eligible bachelor in Annapur for Devi. Her mother began to look for suitors from nearby villages but they rejected Devi as she smelt of cow dung and dog fur and spent all her day with animals. Devi eventually refused to move out of Annapur. She told her mother “You know I can feed the animals only when I am in Annapur and no one will come here to live with me. I don’t want to marry anyone and lose this blessing.”

Her mother recalled the curse of the Sadhu and said it is playing out exactly. She urged Devi to meet him and ask for forgiveness again. Devi didn’t mind the curse because she was happy in her life but her mother kept prodding her.

One day, Devi decided to meet him and give him a present. She felt bad she could never give him food. She looked for him and asked around. He had moved to the nearby jungle where he lived in a hut, people told her.

After searching a bit, Devi found the hut in the jungle and called out to the Sadhu. Older now, the Sadhu came out of his hut and was surprised to see a young girl looking for him. Devi reminded him about herself and the curse. “It has played out exactly as you willed.” The Sadhu sniggered. “So now you want a way out?”

“No!” said Devi. “I am very happy with the animals.  I can help them and care for them.” This surprised the Sadhu. “Then what is it?” he asked.

“I’ve come to give thanks for the curse. And I have a small present for you. I am sorry I could never give you food but I have someone who can.”

“I don’t understand…” said the Sadhu.

Devi held his hand kindly and led him out of the thicket. There stood a pure white, young cow. “Her name is also Devi and she will always be with you. I will give her food and she will give milk to sustain you. I am so sorry I couldn’t give you anything earlier. This is to make up for that…”

The Sadhu’s eyes welled with tears as he thanked Devi. He vowed to love the cow and take care of her. He said, “I can’t lift the curse but I say that you will find a suitor just like you who will be willing to come to Annapur and build a facility for animals. Together you will accomplish what you want.”

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