Once upon a time in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, there lived a little girl, Radha. She loved to dress up in pretty clothes. Her favorite was the red chaniya choli (maxi skirt and blouse) her nani had made for her.
It is Rakshabandhan, Radha wears her red chaniya choli and gets ready to tie her brother a rakhi.
Her mom calls out to her:
“Radha, Nani can not come to us today, she is not well. We need to take her some food. Would you run along with some khichdee and kadhi for her. We can tie the rakhi after you get back.”
Radha is disappointed and excited, and asks her mom: “Where do I go?”
Mom makes a map for her and explains to her how to get there, ” Radha, you will step out of our building, make a right turn, keep walking till you reach the street light, cross the road , pass the park on the right and when you reach the end of the park, turn left into the building named “Ghar” aka house. Nani lives there on the second floor.”
“And two more things, follow safety rules when you cross the street and do not talk to strangers”
Radha hardly listens and she quickly gets the thela (bag) and leaves for Nani’s home. She steps out of her building, turns right, reaches the street light, then stops to check her map. She checks to the left and then to the right, sees no cars and crosses the road. She sees the park in front of her and decides to walk through the park to get to Nani’s “Ghar”.
In the park, she is enchanted by the flowers, green trees,ducks and geese and waterfalls. Silently, a wolf is watching Radha.
He gets close to her and imagine her surprise when he starts talking to her,
“Little girl, that is a pretty red dress.”
She drops her bag a.k.a thela and map. She almost turns to run away when the wolf says, ” Do not be scared. I will not hurt you. What is your name?”
“Radha” she replies.
“Where are you off to on Rakshabandhan?”
“Visiting my grand mom who is sick” she replies.
“Where does she live?”
Radha shows him the map.
“Why don’t you get some flowers for her? It will make her feel better.”
Radha thinks to herself, “Oh! Why did I not think of that?” and starts collecting flowers.
The wolf leaves quietly and quickly heads to Nani’s home a.k.a Ghar.
When the wolf arrives, he rings the bell. Nani asks “Who is it?”
“It is Radha” responds the wolf.
Nani opens the door. The wolf jumps in and swallows her in one big gulp. He then wears Nani’s clothes and waits for Radha.
Radha arrives shortly. She sees the door open and walk in.
Nani is in bed. She looks at Nani and asks “Nani, what big ears you have!”
“So I can hear you well.”
“Nani, what big eyes you have!”
“So I can see you well.”
“Nani, what a big mouth you have!”
“So I can eat you up.” and the wolf pounces on Radha and swallows her too in one big gulp.
The wolf is getting ready to leave when he feels a whack on his head and falls down.
Radha’s brother had been quietly following his sister to ensure her safety. He then opens the wolf’s mouth. Radha and Nani jump out of the wolf’s mouth and who do they see…
Radha’s brother…
He has a cut on his hand and Radha promptly cuts a piece of fabric from her outfit and ties it to his wound.
THE END
Life, a daily exploration 