With lot of free time on my hands these days, I am reading quite a few books, esp. in Telugu ... One particular story (in Telugu) did impress me well ... So I decided to translate it to English for the benefit of all those who might never read the Telugu storybook and miss out on this wonderful story which a lot of relevance to our current lifestyle ... The telugu story apparently has been inspired from an African folktale ... Here is how it goes:
MOTHER
Once upon a time, the Sun had a daughter. Like her father, she was also bright and resplendent. Sun wanted to give all his light to her. Stars as rings for her fingers, other sparkling heavenly bodies such as comets as bodily ornaments, she used to play in the sky shining brightly. The vast universe pervaded with light was her kingdom.
One day while playing, she crossed several planets, spread like pebbles on riverbank, and approached a distant planet, which was blue and green in color.
“Wow!!! What a beautiful place that is! Wish I could live there forever sitting on a star-studded throne”, she said to her father. He sighed. He could imagine how her future would be if she went there. But he said, “ All the planets in this universe are yours. You can go to any one you wish to. But, to stay on that planet, you should reduce your heat and brightness. Also, it cannot bear your rings, ornaments and dresses. The natural atmosphere there is quite fragile. Your high body temperature would evaporate everything that’s blue around there. Since you have to abandon your current attire, I would like to grant you 3 wishes instead’, said Sun in a dull voice.
“Let me think over”, she replied. A lot of time passed by and finally she expressed, “ I wish to be like a mother to that planet. That’s my only wish for now. Please grant the other 2 when I think of them as need arises.”
“ Your wish is granted, my dear. I have always wanted to see you happy. You can return to me whenever you want. There would not be a single day when I would not wait for you. Once you go there, your eyes may sometimes close to my brightness”, he said lovingly.
Rings, anklets, starry necklaces, and comets, all among the set of ornaments, left by the girl, spread around the Sun like a galaxy so that they remained as guiding landmarks when the girl intended to return to her father.
Carrying a spade, mortar and pestle, basket, axe, mat, blanket, cutlery plate, she mounted a star, and began the journey towards her new home. After traveling on the heavenly skies for a long time, she reached her green planet. Seeing the widespread forests, lush fields, flora and fauna of different varieties there, her mind was filled with joy. She was ecstatic to see such beauty, which she had never seen before, such as flowers of various colors – yellow, orange, red, white, and blue and their mixtures.
“I cannot bear so much happiness alone. I wish to have many children now. A hundred, thousand, maybe a million, no matter how many, I can easily look after them. With all of them howling happily, singing songs, laughing loudly, and their voices reverberating over these mountains, I would love to spend and end my life with them. Her wish was granted immediately. And as she had wished, multitudes of young ones started moving around everywhere. Male, female, short, tall, black, white, fat, thin, all kinds came to their mother and hugged her.
Thus, the shining star that had brightly burned in the sky once, turned into a mother of all the living ones on that green planet.
Whether they were powerful, weak, handsome, ugly, intelligent or dumb, made no difference to her. She loved each one of them without any distinction.
Children walked. Ran. They got involved in various activities. Some wanted everything for themselves. Some said it was enough if the day just passed away normally. Some made mistakes but denied them. Some took over others’ mistakes. Some said they knew everything. Some said they were knew nothing. Some started doing harmful things and some started fighting in self-defense.
Sunshine sent by her loving dad kept her children warm. Rains helped the crops to flourish. The winter chill made them take rest. With her spade, she dug up land and provided enough food for her children. There was nothing that this doting mother did not do for her children.
Years passed by. Gradually, change came over the children.
“No one thinks about me now. They just look after themselves but do not bother about what I may need,” she lamented to her father.
“They are your children. You created them on your own wish. You gave them knowledge and education. But you should also teach them to be mindful of their duties and responsibilities”, advised her father.
But they would no longer listen to her. They always fight amongst themselves. They have also become very greedy and want more and more of everything I give.
“ I am hungry, I am thirsty, so many troubles? I need more happiness,” everyone troubled her all the time now.
A mother’s mind always hurts when any of her children face any kind of problem. Just like how she would provide an ointment if there was a bruise, she gave them more crops for food, new rivers for more water, but their desires had no end. They scratched her, scraped her, dug her all over, there was not a place where they had not hurt her. Not being happy with what their mother has provided, they started killing each other and proclaimed it as their victory.
Mother’s heart sobbed. Her confidence was shattered. The children started blaming their mother for all their troubles. She no longer had her initial enthusiasm. They were cruel to her. They weren’t drinking her milk, but blood. Cutting her open, they started enjoying that tasty food now.
When she was frustrated, fierce winds blew uprooting large trees. When she cried, the seas rose. Instead of sweet sounds of bird chirpings, the world shook with fearsome noises. Torrential rains poured.
She cried looking at her hardly left forests. Where would the children, who have disrobed their mother, be able to seek shelter now? How to stop this disaster?
The mother had no thoughts other than her children. But they dug her heart with crowbars. They needed valuable minerals and ores, it seems. They picked out her muscles. Her blood flowed like rivers. Once upon a time, she used to sing soft and lovely lullabies to make them sleep. But now even her loud cries also fell to deaf ears. Once upon a time, the kids who had played in her lap were now tormenting her with their iron nails. There was enough space for everyone. But the powerful ones came and grabbed the land from the weak and claimed it as theirs. Shouting, “this tree is mine, that river is mine,” they were always fighting.
Birds that used to freely roam in the skies, and animals that happily lived on the land were now trapped and kept in their cages. Fish in the rivers were now put in bowls and tanks in their houses.
With that endless torture and pain, she became weak and gradually wilted. And one day, she passed away. But her children did not even notice that.
After her death, her second wish was fulfilled. Her bodily remains tied up in a black cloth, she returned again to serve her kids. But she now appeared like a pale shadow of herself, almost like a ghost. Nobody recognized her. Anyway, the kids had stopped thinking about their mother long back. Once in a while, within the mountains, in the forests, and on the seas, she sobbed like a hurricane.
Amongst all her kids, only one child still liked her. With black hair and beautiful eyes, she grew up nicely. Her mother’s jumped with joy when she saw her.
At least one among her millions of children still thought and cared about her. The mother was glad that all her efforts were not entirely futile. She felt that kid was enough to carry on with her good work. A big tornado came, turned her into a big stone and carried it into the sky. That stone is the Moon we see.
Soaking in her dad’s sunshine, she blessed her children on the Earth with pleasant things. Its due to her grace that Our planet is still so green and cool.
The mother still cries looking at her children fight everyday. Unable to see the atrocities, she fades away and becomes like a new moon. Expecting a good change in her kids, she also showers enchanting full moonshine once in a month.
But will the children learn to love their Mother? Ever???
- End
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P.S: Thanks for reading. Comments/ suggestions invited ...
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