In this episode, we’re doing a Gujarati Folk Tale. It’s a story set in medieval India that features magical transformations, the effects of feeding your fish too much food, an unlikely marriage, and a seven headed cobra.
So let’s dive right in.
Yet another succession problem
A frequent problem that keeps coming up on many stories on this show is a problem of who gets to sit next on the throne. Today’s story is not an exception.
If you asked the King of the land, he would tell you it wasn’t a problem, even though it really was.
You see, the King had two sons and no daughters. The boys were diametrically opposite when it came to personalities and appearance. The younger boy, Bhola, was charming, wise, and gullible. The older one, Dhoorth, was usually rude, and a little arbitrar, sometimes silly. The differences increased when Dhoorth got married, because his wife, Daayan, started participating in his decisions, and Daayan was sly.
But all these differences mattered less to the King. The only thing he cared about was that Bhola was handsome and Dhoorth was not. Even though Dhoorth was the older child, the King was clear that he wanted Bhola to rule.
“How is your face going to look on all our coins and notes?” he asked Dhoorth. “I gotta be practical here. People are not going to want to trade with us if our currency doesn’t look amazing”
The way out
Dhoorth wasn’t happy with the King’s reply but he could see that there was no further point in arguing with his dad.
Dhoorth remarked to Daayan that night “at least I’m second in line to the throne. I still get some privilege from that”
Daayan gave him a wicked grin and said “yes, being second in line is actually perfect. Especially if the person first in line gets drunk, falls off his palace balcony and plunges to his death into the raging river below”
“Wow Daayan, that’s oddly specific. Do you have something in mind?”
“Indeed I do,” Daayan replied. “But before we talk, can you take these samosas that I made for Bhola? You know how much he loves to eat them as he hits on his balcony, watching the sunset. And while you’re about it, take this full bottle of alcohol, and from his balcony pour half of it into the raging river below, and leave the bottle for Bhola”
“But Bhola doesn’t drink,” protested Dhoorth.
“There’s always a first time” his wife told him
Hangover
I’m pretty certain all of you listeners are smarter than Dhoorth, so you know what was going on here. Daayan wanted Bhola eliminated and wanted to make it look like an accident. That way there would be no suspicious stares at Dhoorth and Daayan when they became King and Queen.
Bhola really loved Samosas, which if you didn’t know are these delicious snacks common in India.
As the Crown Prince sat watching the beautiful sunset, he made a decision that his first act as King was to Commission a painting of this scene. It was a pity that cameras and Instagram hadn’t been invented yet.
But his first act right now was to finish this tray of delicious Samosas. How thoughtful of Daayan to do that. But even as he was thinking that it became harder and harder for him to breathe. Instinctively his fins reached his gills to see if they were blocked or something. Wait a minute! Fins? Gills?! Omg he had changed into a fish. He needed water, or he wouldn’t survive. He saw the bottle of alcohol and decided no, he would not be able to breathe in that. There was only one thing. He flopped on the floor, slowly moving towards the edge of the balcony. Bhola the fish launched off from there and dove straight into the raging river below. He almost passed out on the way down, but quickly recovered in the water.
Only then he could gather his thoughts and start wondering why he had changed into a fish in the first place. Only now Some warning signs began to make sense to him. How Daayan was nasty to him all the time and today sending him samosas was her first peace offering. If he didnt know better he could have sworn she was a witch. Daayan was always wearing a pointy hat and carrying a wand. And she claimed to have studied at Hothal school of witchcraft and wizardry. They had dismissed it as a joke, but what if it was true? And not to mention a little recipe fragment he found amongst the samosas which said how to transform people into fish.
It all sounded a little fishy to him.
Caught
Bhola swam on. Not by choice, the current was just too strong. He began wondering if he was purely a freshwater fish or if he might survive in saltwater. He didn’t get to find out because before the river emptied into the sea, he was caught. He hadn’t meant to be caught. He could see the net, he just thought he was a little bit tinier than he actually was. He could still have maneuvered and escaped but he had no wiggle room absolutely. He was caught between a catfish and a dwarf shark. The shark yelled “quit shoving” when he tried to get out and Bhola decided to stay put. Each of the shark’s teeth were bigger than Bhola.
Aquarium
There was an advantage to being so little. And that soon became apparent after the fishermen and fisherwomen sorted through their catch. The catfish, the shark were quickly gutted and dumped on the restaurant pile. Bhola was deemed to be too little to eat. But he couldn’t just be released. Consistently releasing smaller fish would give smaller fish an evolutionary advantage and that would reduce the size of the catch later for these fishermen and fisherwomen.
So they dropped him into a little bowl that said “Ornamental”. He really looked like a lovely little fish he would certainly look good in an aquarium.
Queen’s pet
Fortunately for Bhola, the Queen was on the lookout for a fish. Her cat had helped himself to the last couple of fish she had. Bhola didn’t mind the risky accommodations because he got to be in a palace again. Maybe he could find a way to send a message to Dhoorth or his father and they could come rescue him.
But it’s not like Bhola got a say in the matter. The Queen’s maid was lazy to walk all the way to the market to buy a fish. Fortunately for her and for Bhola she met the very same people who had captured Bhola. Examining their catch, the maid hesitated at the size of the fish. But that was the only option she had. And he was cheap, so she could keep more of the change for herself.
The Queen was delighted by how cute this little fish looked. Depending on the angle you looked at him, he looked green or blue or red or yellow. She had never seen any fish like Bhola before. The Queen loved this fish and took care of him and fed him. And maybe overfed him. Because soon the fish was too big for his bowl. Not really a problem though. When the entire resources of a kingdom and limitless taxpayer money are available this is an easy problem to solve. A bigger pond was constructed in the Queen’s garden and then yet another and another when Bhola continued to grow.
A search for a bride
The Queen was proud. She was by Bhola’s one day. She happened to wonder out loud when he would stop growing.
“Soon enough” said Bhola
“You….you can talk? But you never said you could” asked the Queen shocked.
“You didn’t ask,” Bhola replied.
Seeing as the fish was sentient, the Queen immediately had a whole bunch of questions for the fish. And full of empathy, she asked if the fish was comfortable.
“Yes mom,” replied Bhola. “You have thought of everything, I have every possible comfort and I have had more love from you than my own parents”
He was certainly an accomplished politician because he knew exactly how to pull the heartstrings of the Queen.
“There is one thing I was wondering about though”
The Queen had tears in her eyes at this point. Being addressed “mom” had made her day, or maybe even her week or month. “Name it son, what do you want, I’ll get you anything”
“You see mum, I’m getting a little older and I want to settle down, get married. So if you could find a suitable bride for me I will be oh so happy!”
That was enough for the Queen. She said she would send her soldiers far and wide to find the perfect bride for him. Only, could Bhola teach her how to identify a girl fish from a boy fish? It was kinda embarrassing, the Queen admitted but she had thought that Bhola was a gir fishl until he just revealed to her he was not.
Ah no such trouble for you mum. I want a human bride. A girl, my age, which is about 21 years.
The Queen was a little worried how she would find a girl who would agree to marry a fish. She took out an ad on bharat matrimonial that went something like this- “Rich Queen seeks girl for her adoptive son and sole heir to her Kingdom. Groom is a patient listener, excellent swimmer, is vegetarian and does not smoke or drink.”
A girl is chosen
As you can imagine, that advertisement drew a lot of responses. Some asked for portraits but most just showed up at the palace door. Sadly for Bhola, every one of his prospective brides rejected him outright when they saw that he was a fish.
One girl lingered and asked the Queenswhether Bhola might taste better fried or grilled. Upon which the Queen had her kicked out.
The Queen had to change her advertisement a few times. Finally in utter desperation she promised a million gold coins to anyone willing to marry the fish. That’s when a neglectful father stepped forward and said his daughter, Bholi, was perfect for the job. He hadn’t saved a penny for her marriage but this offer from the Queen was a win-win. I mean a win for the Queen and a win for the father. He didn’t care what the girl thought about her marriage to a fish. He didn’t even think of asking her.
The Snake’s suggestion
When the girl found out she was devastated. She didn’t want to marry a fish. Why was she being used like a pawn here just so her father could pay off his debts?
She despaired and went to her only friend in the world. Everyday when she went to fill water from the river she would talk to a snake that lived nearby in a hole. The snake was an unusual one. It had seven heads. She supposed it made him wise. But she didn’t know. She didn’t have a benchmark for what being wise meant.
So when the snake offered Bholi a solution, she just accepted it.
The snake gave her three rocks and said she needed to throw the rocks one at a time into the fish’s mouth every time it rose to the surface. Each rock would make it sink and then rise again. She must not miss.
“And? What then?” Asked Bholi, unclear what these instructions had to do with anything.
“And that will solve your problem and Bhola’s as well”
Wedding Day
The wedding day arrived. Going seven times around a fire proved to be a bit of a challenge. The pandit conducting the marriage got a little worried that the muhurta or auspicious time was passing quickly and the groom needed to be summoned asap.
Finally, the Queen’s soldiers managed it by putting Bhola in a tank on wheels, and building a circular track around the fire. The rest of the marriage was uneventful.
Happily ever after
Right after all the wedding guests departed Bholi leaned over the tank as the massive fish approached her. He opened his mouth to speak and she immediately tossed in a rock. Bhola immediately sank to the floor. He was annoyed. He rose to the surface again and was about to scold her for throwing rocks at him, but when he opened his mouth to skip, she did it again!
He sank and then rose again this time deciding to eat her up. But when he approached her mouth open she hit him with the third rock. Bhola instantly transformed back into his human self again.
So that was that for Bhola and Bholi. They lived together as regular human husband and wife and Bhola even got to rule the kingdom after the Queen retired. The only thing is- he had to get surgery to remove the stones in his stomach!
That’s all for now
Some notes on the show
We have done a couple of Gujarati Folk Tales before. Check the links out on the site sfipodcast.com: https://sfipodcast.com/category/folk-tales/gujarat/
In keeping with the tradition of this show, the characters are named for the roles they play. The words Bhola and Bholi both mean someone who is gullible. Dhoorth is for someone who is sly or deceitful. And Daayan means witch.
The fish growing in size may remind you of Vishnu’s Matsya avatar, or Unicorn Fish from Episode 1 of this show.
That’s all for now.
Next Time
In the next episode we’ll dip back into mythology. We’ll do a story about Ambarish, a King who did something many other Kings were unable to. He humiliated Durvasa. You probably know of Durvasa from a bunch of stories we have done before. And if you do you’ll know that putting Durvasa in trouble is nearly impossible. But Ambarisha was able to do it, thanks to a very special gift from a very special God.