Two Tales, Three Tellers

Recently, when I spent a brief afternoon with them, Swayam and Samriddhi, my nephew and niece, demanded that I must tell a story. I agreed, but only if each of them also told a story. They, too, readily agreed. I told them the story of MIDAS, the greedy king who had prayed for and had been granted the boon that anything he touched will turn to gold. When his pretty little daughter came running and he picked her up, she turned into a statue of gold. MIDAS realised his stupidity, repented and requested for the boon to be cancelled. Swayam and Samriddhi had not heard or read this story, so they loved it. Then, Swayam told his story. His Teacher Ma'am had written on the black-board the following sentence: 'Once upon a time, a turtle and a swan lived in a pond.....' She had asked the students to write a story on this and read it to the class. Swayam had written and narrated the following story: 'Once upon a time, a Turtle and a Swan lived in a pond. The Turtle always teased and bothered the Swan. She was very, very angry. One day she went to Turtle's home and when Turtle came out, she pecked very hard on his head. Turtle died. Then Swan went to Sapna Beauty Parlour for waxing. Because of waxing, she lost all her feathers and she, too, died.'Teacher praised me for the most creative story, said Swayam.'But why did Swan go to Sapna Beauty Parlour?' I asked. 'Why, don't you watch Kapil Sharma's Comedy Show, the very popular TV serial?' asked Swayam.'No, I don't, ' I admitted.'Well, all my classmates watch the serial. A character in that serial goes to Sapna Beauty Parlour. My classmates immediately got the reference and laughed a lot. Our Teacher, too.''The Swan and the Turtle' is based on the theme suggested by Swayam's Teacher Ma'am to her Class of VII, and inspired by Swayam's creative story. Only, I have kept both Turtle and Swan alive and given a happy ending to the story. Samriddhi told me this story: 'There were two brothers. They were very poor. They had a friend who was rich. Once, the two brothers went and sat in front of a cave. The elder brother sang very well. So, he began singing. As he was singing, a Golden Gate appeared in front of the cave. The brothers were amazed. The elder brother stopped singing. The Golden Gate disappeared. He sang again and the Golden Gate reappeared. He kept singing. The younger brother entered the cave through the Golden Gate. The cave was full of gold, diamond and precious jewels. He stuffed his pockets with gold, diamond and jewels. Then he carried two fistfuls of gold coins and came out of the cave. Both brothers were very happy. They became 'bahut amir' and built a big house. The rich boy who was their friend became very jealous.'Either Samriddhi's story ended here or I had dozed off. Anyway, 'Cave of Joy: Anand Gufa' is based on Samriddhi's story. If Swayam and Samriddhi hadn't told me their stories, these two stories would not have been written. They planted the seeds for these stories, so they are co-creators of these stories. That's why I gift these stories to them. I hope they would create many more beautiful stories of their own as they go along. Just as Swayam and Samriddhi greatly enjoyed these stories, I hope many more children woul