In this episode, we’re finishing up the story of Gauri and her magic grove.
In the two previous episodes, we met a stereotypically oppressed stepdaughter who had to do all the chores and then walk for miles minding her cows.
She rescued a snake from some villagers. And she got rewarded for that action when it turned out that the Snake was a God! Who actually could have very well defended himself. Gauri asked Naag the snake god 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, 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 with 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. Bhola and Gauri were soon married. And even though Buree got a massive upgrade in her lifestyle thanks to Gauri, her resentment towards the girl grew. So much so, that she attempted to poison Gauri. Naag came to her rescue every time.
Finally though when Gauri was at her parents’ home with her newly born baby girl, Buree waited for the right opportunity and pushed Gauri into a deep well.
We’ll continue the story at this point
As Gauri fell headed straight for the bottom of the very very deep well, she remembered her guardian angel. The moment she did he appeared out of thin air and grabbed her gently. He set her down on a ledge near the bottom of the well.
Gauri looked up. She could barely see a tiny point of light that appeared miles above her. That must be the opening of the well.
Up at the surface, Buree had a shock of her own. The tree cover she thought she had was gone. The trees were part of the grove. And when Gauri fell, the Grove disappeared. The house was clearly visible from where she stood, and standing there between the well and the house were a pair of eyes staring at her in shock. It was Mouni.
Gauri’s faith in humans had been shaken to the core. She had not realized her Stepmom could do this to her. Who could have thought someone who made those yummy gulab jamoons could also commit such a terrible crime?
“About that” said Naag, “she actually did try to kill you then, but I swapped out the poisoned Gulab Jamoons for the non-poisoned variety from Haldiram’s”
“And you didn’t think to tell me?” asked Gauri.
“Hmm, I had a sticky note to remind myself about it, now where is it?” he fumbled in his pockets.
“Never mind! What do I do now? How do I get back to my baby?” asked Gauri
“Well, let me explain. A few things have changed since we last met. For one thing, I’ve retired. I can no longer do much magic. At least not in the daytime”
“Congratulations” muttered Gauri “but you magically appeared and saved me”
“Because you were in clear and present danger. I can’t do much else anymore”
“You can take me out of the well!”
“Not tonight. I used up all my energy just getting here. I need to rest and recharge”
“What will I do till then? How will I survive? And my baby?
Do you at least have WiFi? Or at least a telephone?”
Naag touched a hidden button on the well walls. A section slid open and revealed – a massive palace! It was well furnished with all the comforts one might expect from a palace under the ground. Except with no WiFi.
Reluctantly, Gauri entered and decided to wait it out until Naag was ready to work his magic.
Meanwhile, up on the surface Buree had gotten the next phase of her plan going. She coaxed Mouni to slip into the Queen’s clothes, complete with veil and everything. She was going to be Queen!
Not wanting her mother to be thrown into prison for the sake of the stepsister she didnt really care much for, Mouni played along. She was careful to avoid speaking to the domestic staff and her personal bodyguards. And it mostly worked. Thanks to a strong culture that forced domestic staff to keep their eyes to the ground when addressing or being addressed by royalty.
She couldn’t do much with the baby though. Gauri’s baby clearly did not think Mouni was mummy. Even if she was wearing Mummy’s clothes. The baby clearly expressed all she could about her theory that Mummy had disappeared and that this was an impostor, but her nanny didn’t pay attention. Maybe the Nanny just didn’t understand baby language.
Mouni announced to the staff “As your Queen, I command that we head back to the palace tonight. We don’t need to wait till tomorrow. Did I mention I’m your Queen?”
“As you please your majesty. Should we not wait for your Grove to return?” asked one maid.
“You mean Gau… Of course my grove. Yes. I mean no. It’ll catch up. Poor Grove hadn’t had a vacation in years. I gave it a week off”
That seemed to suffice. For now.
Mouni, her staff and security detail returned to the palace. Mouni was careful to avoid the King at all costs. She also avoided the baby and the other maids. In fact, she just wanted to disappear. This was going to be hard with a veil on her face all the time.
The poor baby cried for her mom all the time. And this was noticed by everyone. Even the King. He wanted to talk to his wife about it, but she wasn’t meeting his gaze, hiding behind that veil of hers. She said she was feeling a bit under the weather. That was making the baby cry all the time she went near her. And she’d also like to keep her very sick face hidden if he didn’t mind.
He did mind, but he couldn’t argue.
He walked away, but with lingering doubt in his mind
Gauri had seemed about a foot taller. And her hair was a completely different color and length. And the Grove no longer seemed to be anywhere.
But he thought it was all probably okay. I mean what’s the possibility that someone would actually be silly enough to substitute in for Gauri at the cost of great personal risk to themselves. Gauri had probably gone in for a new hair color at the local salon. And she was probably wearing high heels now. That’s why she must have seemed taller.
And her sickness, maybe that did explain why the baby was crying all the time.
The larger problem he thought was the Grove. Why did she have to send it on vacation?
Truth be told he was desparate for those lovely fruits from the Grove. That’d been the worst part of his wife being away.
Days passed andthen suddenly one day the baby princess wasnt crying anymore. As the King was passing by, he was surprised to see the cradle was minus one less crying baby and plus one smiling baby. And plus a lot of fruits!
He was thrilled. In a fit of joy, he said “come to papa!” and grabbed a handful of fruits and began gobbling them down. Within a bite or two, he was positive! These were fruits from the Grove. He knew the taste!
Bhola rushed to the window, but the Grove was not in its usual spot.
He asked Mouni who said the Grove was still on vacation.
“Give it a break, will you?” She told him.
This was getting more and more suspicious. The same thing happened the next morning. And the morning after. Smiling baby. Cradle full of fruits.
Then Bhola decided to take matters into his own hands. He hid in the baby’s room at night. And right in the middle of the night, a figure came in from the window and approached the cradle. Somehow the security alarm did not trigger. This was strange. He thought he had armed it himself. Grabbing his flashlight he screamed “Freeze! Hands in the air. Step away from the cradle!”
But when he shone his flashlight on her face, he was the one who froze. Because in front of him stood Gauri. Yes! Gauri had been helped into the palace by Naag. Why she hadn’t simply gone straight to the King the first night is a glaring plot hole in this story. The excuse she used was that she didn’t want the King to harm her sister, Mouni, who was masquerading as the Queen. But that was a pretty weak excuse if you ask me.
Having heard the screams Mouni came into the room as well. Somehow Gauri convinced Bhola not to punish Mouni and even Buree. Which was a terrible mistake. But she would never again have anything to do with the family that had wronged her all her life and that had almost destroyed her, her baby and the King and by extension the entire Kingdom.
That’s all for now
Some notes on the show
Buree means evil in Hindi. Laachar is helpless. Mouni is silent.
Bhola is innocent. He lacks the ability to identify Mouni as an impostor despite all the glaring signs. This story as I mentioned earlier is from Jain literature.
The original tale had Naag setting a midnight curfew for Gauri to return from meeting her baby daughter. Exactly like Cinderella’s midnight deadline.
That’s all for now.
Next Time
In the next episode, we’ll switch back to the Mahabharat. We’ll see what happens when King Shantanu tries to take care of a pest problem!