by Sudha Murty
Veenu’s mother gave the old woman good food and the old lady stayed the night under the tree.
The next day, when she was about to leave, the doctor asked her, ‘Sister, you must have seen such diseases before when you were young. What do you think? Will all of us perish?’ He pointed to the stacks of books in his house, ‘I have gone through many books, but I still don’t have an answer.’
The old lady smiled and said, ‘Yes, I have heard stories about such diseases from my grandmother. They say that a disease like this occurs every hundred years. There is no medicine that will work for this. Only the god of medicine can help.’
Veenu, who was standing at a distance, was enthusiastic to hear more about this and asked, ‘Where does he or she reside?’
‘It is a long journey, boy. One must travel through thick forests across the river and climb a mountain there. Behind the mountain, you will find the god of medicine. It is a difficult journey and perhaps even impossible. It must be completed within seven days. That is all that I have heard, though I have never seen anyone who has taken this path.’
‘It doesn’t matter. I will go,’ said Veenu.
‘Are you a fool? It is hearsay. You are a young boy. How can you travel such a long distance alone?’ said his father, brushing his idea off.
The old lady said goodbye and left.
That entire night, Veenu could not sleep. He thought about the agony of people coughing, older people dying and children being left as orphans. ‘Why can’t I go and meet god? The worst that can happen is that I may not meet god, but I have to take that chance.’
The next day, Veenu said to his father and mother, ‘Give me some dry fruits sufficient for a week. I am determined to travel and meet the god of medicine and return with a solution. Pray for my success.’
With a heavy heart, they agreed and wished him all the best. His mother had tears in her eyes.
‘I will be back in two weeks,’ assured Veenu and began his journey.
He crossed the river and went into the thick forest. It was difficult to cross the forest. Veenu chanted god’s name and continued. ‘If my intentions are good, please help me, Lord.’
That evening, he came across a young and beautiful girl crying under a tree. Surprised to see another human being in the dark forest, he asked her, ‘Young lady, who are you? Why are you crying?’
‘I am the angel of this forest. My father is unable to come and help me, and I must carry the wood home by myself. Today, I am unwell and unable to carry this heavy load.’
‘I will help you,’ said Veenu. He carried the bundle of wood and together, the duo travelled to a small palace.
After they had settled, the girl made soup for Veenu and said, ‘You can rest here tonight. Father will arrive tomorrow.’
They talked and laughed for a long time.
Veenu slept like a log that night. In the morning, he said to the girl, ‘Thank you for your hospitality. I need to continue my journey.’
‘Stay here, please, my father will come soon. You were so helpful. Please meet my father. In fact, you can stay here forever.’
‘My parents are in the village.’
‘You can bring them to stay here too!’ said the girl.
‘No, I am sorry,’ said Veenu. ‘I have a duty to my people and I cannot live here forever. I must go!’
Despite repeated requests, Veenu did not agree to stay and left to continue his journey.
He travelled all day. Late that evening, when it looked like it was about to rain, he came to a valley and met an old man, who was walking slowly with a stick. Veenu asked, ‘Grandfather! Do you need help?’
The old man laughed. ‘What a nice change it is to have someone to help me! Hold my hand and guide me so that I can reach home as early as possible before it starts pouring.’
Veenu took the old man’s hand and they walked together. By the time they reached a nice well-kept hut, it had begun raining. There was dal and rice in the oven and the old man shared the food with Veenu.
‘Grandfather, why are you staying here alone?’ asked Veenu.
‘I am the god of the valley. My ancestors have lived here forever. Where are you going?’ asked the old man.
Veenu explained his mission.
The old man said, ‘You are a kind boy. If you stay here, I will make sure that the whole land becomes yours. You can marry anyone, bring your village people here and your parents too. The water here is like nectar and the air is so refreshing. There are no diseases here.’
Veenu refused, ‘No, sir, I want to go back and help my people, and others too. Please, give me your blessing instead.’
The old man tried his best, but Veenu did not budge.
In the end, the old man gave in and Veenu left the next morning. He reached the mountain the old lady spoke of and climbed it. By the end of the day, he was at the top. There, he approached a tree, wanting to sit under it to rest.
To his surprise, he saw a couple resting on the other side of the tree. When they heard footsteps, they stood up. They asked him, ‘No one has ever come here before. Who are you? Why are you here?’
‘I am Veenu. I am here in search of a solution for a disease. But who are you?’
The man laughed. ‘I hear many people are in search of many things. But I am glad you are here. I am the king of the mountain. This is not a mere mountain—there are gold nuggets and diamonds inside it. Come and have a meal with us.’
Rubies and stones lined both sides of the road, leading to a golden palace. Immediately, lunch was served. While they were eating, the king said, ‘Look, I need someone like you—someone who is adventurous and young and helpful. You can stay here and be the future successor of the mountain. You can stay here for six months and you can spend the other six months of the year in your village.’
Veenu explained the details of why he had come and declined the offer.
The next morning, he woke up. He got up and didn’t touch a single ruby or emerald or diamond pebble as he walked to the other side of the mountain.
He was quite disappointed with his journey so far.
A few hours later, he spotted a hut. He knocked at the door to ask for water. To his surprise, two men opened the door. They called him inside and offered him food.
Veenu was uncomfortable and declined the meal. His main aim was to gather the right medicine and go back. Four days had already gone by. He had to complete his task and return.
He shared his story with the two men and said, ‘I am in search of a medicine that can cure everyone.’
The men laughed. It was a familiar sound.
One of the men said, ‘There is no medicine, my boy. This is a case of humans destroying nature and creating problems for themselves. When they become greedy, such things happen. And it does happen once a century. The villagers were so greedy to buy the items that they didn’t notice that the man was unwell. The merchant who came to the village is a destroyer who came in human form. When he was coughing and sneezing and touching things, people did not care about hygiene or him. They were immersed in increasing their material wealth. So the destroyer could easily spread the germs.’
The other added, ‘People must keep their house and villages clean. Only then can the destroyer be stopped. If someone is sick, they must be kept in a separate area where there is ventilation. Provide them with healthy food and kindness in words to encourage positive thoughts. But hygiene must be followed. Hands should be washed often, bed sheets changed every day and baths should be taken twice a day. That is the only way to avoid spreading diseases to others. Hygiene is the greatest medicine of all.’
Together, they said, ‘Go back to your village and practise this. Be kind to patients. If you do all these things and hurt them with words, the purpose is lost.’
Veenu listened carefully and nodded.
‘When you both laughed, I could see the familiarity. Who are you both?’
‘We are Ashwini Kumaras, the gods of medicine. We are the same ones wh
o took the form of an old lady and came to your village. So when I laughed, it reminded you of her,’ said one of the men. ‘I am also the beautiful young girl in the forest.’
‘I am the old man, or the king of the valley, and also the king of the mountain. We are pleased by your dedication to help others. Any normal human being would have accepted the offer to stay back,’ said the other.
Veenu was happy he had learnt something that would help his people. He smiled and said, ‘Sirs, I don’t have much time. I must return quickly.’
‘Don’t worry, we will transport you back right now. But first, tell us, why did you take on such a journey?’
Veenu replied, ‘I have been taught that a tree stands in the sun and gives shade to others. It also gives fruits to others, and shelter to birds and animals even though he’s alone. I want to be like a tree.’
The loud honking from the car outside broke through everyone’s thoughts.
The office manager had arrived.
‘What a story,’ said Raghu. ‘That was beautiful, Ajji!’
The children agreed and crowded around their grandparents for one last group hug.
Kamlu Ajji held Ajji’s hands tightly and said, ‘I’ll see you soon!’
Ajji nodded, unable to speak. She was going to miss her and the kids.
‘Come on, children, it’s time to go,’ said Ajja and helped them load the bags in the car.
Within minutes, the car began to move. The children waved and said goodbye.
‘They will see a whole different world now,’ said Ajji.
‘We are old and we must still be careful with our activities for some more time,’ said Ajja.
Ajji nodded and Ajja patted her on the back, reassuring her that he was there for her even though the children had gone.
The two of them stood for some time watching the car until it reached the end of the road and disappeared from view. Then they turned around and slowly went back inside the house.
* Even today, people who grow rice offer the first produce (or Akshar) of the season to the gods and goddesses. This uncooked rice is used in auspicious occasions such as weddings and is known as Akshata, the finest offering one can make. Then they offer payasam with milk and white rice to Goddess Annapurna.
* History has revealed to us that Princess Rudrama Devi of the Kakatiya dynasty was raised as a boy and the subjects of the land always thought that the king had a son. This was a rare occurrence, but it did happen. The princess wore men’s clothing and trained as a warrior, and later, she fell in love with a prince from the Chalukya dynasty and ruled her kingdom extremely well.
THE BEGINNING
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This collection published 2020
Text copyright © Sudha Murty 2020
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Jacket images © Priya Kuriyan
This digital edition published in 2020.
e-ISBN: 978-8-19452-590-5
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