In this episode, we’re continuing the story of Gauri and her magic grove.
In the previous episode, we met a stereotypically oppressed step daughter who had to do all the chores and then walk for miles minding her cows.
She rescued a snake from being turned into a belt or a purse by some villagers. And she got rewarded for that when it turned out that the Snake was a God! Who could have very well defended himself. Nevertheless, Gauri very selflessly asked for a magic grove for her cows. A voice-activated, environmentally friendly grove that also had robotic wheels so that it could follow her around everywhere. And because she’d cared more about the comfort of her cows than of herself, Naag, the Snake God threw in a bonus – that he would be her guardian angel all the time. Like, her own personal genie. But without the burden of a lamp. And no limit on wishes. She only had to think of Naag and he would appear.
Gauri kept the grove hidden from her evil Stepmother Buree, her sister Mouni and even her father Laachar.
But the King of the land, King Bhola stumbled on it once while hunting. Impressed with her… personality he asked to marry her. I’m sure his motive had nothing to do with her stunning good looks and the fact that she owned a mobile, self-contained ecosphere the likes of which the world had never seen. Gauri said yes, and they were
So the two were married. And even though Buree got a massive upgrade in her lifestyle, instead of thanking Gauri, her resentment grew. It’s hard to understand why. Being a stereotypical evil stepmother, it’s possible that what Buree missed was the ability to crush Gauri’s spirit, and any number of comforts could not change that. Even if it included a personal movie theater, bowling alley, racetrack, swimming pool all within her mansion.
Diwali was coming up in the story, just like it is in real life. That gave Buree an idea to be rid of Gauri. Even though she was nowhere on the scene. She insisted to her husband Laachar that she would send her favorite stepdaughter her favorite sweets.
“Favorite?” asked Laachar. “She’s your only stepdaughter”
“All the more reason to care about her! So I’m going to make Gulab Jamoons for her myself”
Laachar pursed his lips and recalled what a terrible cook his wife was. Instead he tried to tactfully suggest that Gauri had every possible comfort in the palace. She could probably get every possible kind of sweet for herself. But Buree’s mind was made up.
“I have made up my mind, I’m going to send her poisoned Gulab Jamoons,” she said.
“Oops did I say that out loud?” she added as Laachar looked at her shocked. “Oh yes, I’m going to send her payasam-ed Gulab Jamoons, you know Gulab Jamoons stuffed with Payasam or porridge for those unfamiliar with the term”. Buree also swore that that’s what she had said the first time as well. And that Laachar just needed to get his ears checked if he was confusing Payasam with Poison.
Laachar wasn’t a very bright guy so he didn’t pick up on that. Even after Buree warned him at least a dozen times not to eat any of the Gulab Jamoons himself and to only give them to Gauri and no one else. “Those Gulab Jamoons are bad for you” she told Laachar “you’re getting older, and your hearing is much worse if you’re confusing Payasam and Poison. You need to not make it worse”
He did get to the palace and met his daughter. There was the usual banter about how different Gauri looked, and how royal she was in her mannerisms. Eventually he wished her a Happy Diwali, gave her the box of Gulab Jamoons and left, refusing to share even after Gauri offered him one.
Buree had gotten one thing right. Gauri loved Gulab Jamoons! Gauri pretty much wolfed down all the Gulab Jamoons in a manner very unbecoming that of a Queen.
She did not leave even a single one for King Bhola, her husband.
And nothing happened to her!
If your instinct says that maybe Buree had had a change of heart and did not actually poison the sweets, the reality is sadly different.
Remember the guardian angel – Naag, the Snake god? Well, he got into the action. Snakes as you know are Venom experts. And Naag was no exception. Without Laachar realizing it, Naag had sneakily managed to switch the gulab jamuns for non-poisoned ones.
Buree waited for days and when she did not hear any news of the Queen’s untimely death, she began to suspect that maybe she had not used a strong enough poison.
She tried again. But Naag was watching and swapped the sweets again.
Buree kept trying to think of ways to hurt the Queen, but ultimately it was a piece of news that Laachar brought back from the palace that gave her a new idea.
The news was that the Queen was expecting a baby.
She asked Laachar to turn around and head right back to the palace!
“What! Why? I just got back after two whole days of walking” he protested
But Buree insisted that it was tradition. A woman’s first baby must be born in her parents’ home.
“Surely, there should be an exception in this case for the Queen!” complained Laachar. But as usual, Buree had her way
Laachar did go back to the palace, and convinced Gauri and Bhola that Gauri’s baby must be born in her childhood home. Even though it was not actually her childhood home now that it had been upgraded from a hut to a mansion.
Reluctantly, and to avoid offending tradition, Bhola and Gauri agreed.
Of course, the Grove went along too. So on the way back, they had plenty of shade, lots of delicious fruit to eat.
When they returned Buree was actually nice to Gauri. Even though she was just pretending. Buree’s daughter Mouni remained her usual quiet self, but treated her stepsister like the Queen she was.
Soon, the baby was born, and everyone was happy! Even the Grove had lots of new flowers as if it was celebrating Gauri’s baby’s birth.
Except Buree. But she did a good job of hiding it.
A few weeks passed. One evening, the day before Gauri and her baby girl were due to return to the palace, Buree made her final attempt on Gauri’s life.
When the baby was sleeping inside, she took Gauri for a walk. It was just the two of them. Buree made casual conversation and they kept walking until they happened on a well. Gauri, remembering one of the few happy memories of her childhood, rushed to the well to hear her voice echo. Buree glanced around quickly. There were trees all around so no one could see. She rushed forward and shoved Gauri into the well.
Next Time
We’ll conclude this story in the next episode. We’ll see how easy it is to trick King Bhola