Singh - Moongphali

Published in Red Turtle by

Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd 2017

7/16, Ansari Road, Daryaganj New Delhi 110002

Copyright Neha Singh and Mukesh Chhabra 2017

Illustrations copyright Sonal Gupta Vaswani 2017

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to any actual person, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-81-291-4813-1

First impression 2017

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The moral right of the authors has been asserted.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated, without the publishers prior consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published.

CONTENTS

Neha Singh

Mukesh Chhabra

Neha Singh

Mukesh Chhabra

Mukesh Chhabra

Neha Singh

Mukesh Chhabra

Neha Singh

THE WATERMELON GOD

Neha Singh

A ll those who want to take part in the fancy dress competition tomorrow, raise your hands, Suman Maam said to the students of class one. Nandu raised his hand immediately. Suman Maam noted down his name in her notebook.

Nandu turned to his friend Shivam and asked, Who will you come dressed as tomorrow? I will be king, Shivam replied. Me too! Nandu said. Copy cat! Shivam muttered. I had already decided that I will be the king. You are a copy cat! Nandu complained. Anyhow, I will get the first prize, Shivam retorted. Whats going on there? Stop talking. Finger on your lips! Suman Maam screamed.

Nandu reached home, kept his school bag in his room and rushed to the kitchen where his mother was cooking. Mummy, its fancy dress competition in school tomorrow. Should I go as king? Nandu asked her with excitement. Where will we get a kings costume from, right now? Eat your lunch. Let me figure something out, his mother said as she served him lunch.

Nandus mother brought a large, green costume with her. Nandu couldnt tell if it was a tree or a parrot. How will this be? A large and green watermelon, Mummy chuckled. A watermelon? Nandus dreams of being king were already shattered, but to go dressed as a watermelon didnt appeal to him one bit. Shivam and the others would laugh at him.

Cant you make a kings costume, Mummy? Even a prince would do. Nandu seemed disappointed. If you had told me a day or two earlier I could have made it. I had made this costume for your brother three years ago. And what is wrong with this costume? Bhaiyya had got the first prize that year! Mummy exclaimed.

Suman Maam had already noted his name in her notebook. If he now backed out of the competition, he would get a nice firing. Nandu didnt see how he could escape being a watermelon. The next day Nandu took a bath and then wore the costume. It fit him perfectly. From head to toe, a hard, round and dark green watermelon. When he saw himself in the mirror, he admitted to himself that he looked exactly like a big watermelon. Nandu was happy. The first prize was his today. You are definitely going to win the prize, just like bhaiyya, Mummy said affectionately.

He reached the bus stop. The school bus was approaching. He saw Shivam sitting at the window, dressed like a king. A golden crown, beads around his neck, shiny red coat and he was holding a small sword too. He had even painted a large, bushy moustache on himself. Nandu was sad now. Shivam was sure to laugh at him when he would see him as a watermelon instead of a king.

How could a watermelon match up to a king? The entire school would mock him. And what if Shivam swung his sword on the mere watermelon? That would be really humiliating.

The bus was still at a distance. Nandu ran and hid behind the wall. He spotted a truck close by. He quickly climbed into the truck and lay down on its floor. The bus driver honked, but Nandu didnt move. The bus driver gave up and the bus moved on. Nandu was just about to get off the truck but the truck started moving too.

Now all he could do was to just remain hidden in the truck. The truck was filled with a fruity fragrance. Nandu looked around. Fruits everywhere! Bananas, apples, guavas, pears and watermelons! What luck! Wherever the truck stops now, I will get off and go home. Nandu dozed off as he made these plans.

Come on, get all the stuff off, someone was screaming. Nandus heart sank. How could he escape now? Three, four men opened the back of the truck. Nandu panicked and jumped into one of the baskets with watermelons in it and sat there. Two men got on the truck and started unloading the baskets of fruit one by one.

Oh God, please dont get me into further trouble, Nandu broke into a cold sweat as he prayed silently. The two men were now standing really close to him. They picked up the basket that Nandu was sitting in with the rest of the watermelons.

The watermelons are quite heavy this time, bhaiyya, one of them said. Spoken like a fool again. Watermelons are always heavy, I am yet to see a light watermelon, the other one said.

You are right, bhaiyya, the first one was confused. Are these people thinking that I am a watermelon too? Nandu spoke to himself.

The basket Nandu was sitting in was now unloaded. Nandu peeked out through the holes that were made for eyes in the watermelon costume. He was in the vegetable and fruit market. It was all vegetables and fruit everywhere he looked. The basket was again up, and this time Nandu was just about to fall. Ayiii, watch out! Nandu screamed. Bhaiyya, did you hear something? What? the other one asked. I heard a child talking from among the watermelons, the first one said. Get yours ears checked, and your brains too, the second one replied. You are right, bhaiyya, the first one was confused again.

The two men emptied out the watermelon baskets and placed each watermelon in order at the watermelon shop. Nandu fit perfectly in the row of watermelons. He kept sitting like a statue.

Mummys dress has saved me this time. Now how do I get out of here? Nandu was lost in deep thought. As soon as the shopkeeper looks away, I will escape. But the shopkeeper didnt budge from his stool. Watermelonssweet, juicycooling in this summer heatwatermelonsfifty for a kilo watermelons, he would scream once in a while and then go quiet.

Such a beautiful place this was. Wherever you looked, there were colours. Red, yellow, green, black, orangefruit and vegetables of all kinds. The shopkeepers were sprinkling water on their vegetables and calling out to the people buying vegetables.

I am really hungry. Wish I could eat a banana, Nandu thought. There was a banana cart right next to him. Nandus mouth watered. He slowly extended his hand, picked up a banana and quickly hid it under his dress.