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| Sunday, 26 September 2004 |
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The White Jaggery maker Sunanda Parable by Sunanda Mahendra "Is this what you call Jaggery?" asked the King while trying to take one piece of the substance that was lying on a plate. "Yes it's so sweet." said the Queen, who had tasted it earlier. "But Jaggery is normally brown, but this is white." "This is called white Jaggery (Sudu Hakuru), made out of palm sap, I believe." Then the King tasted a piece and said, "Oh this is quite tasty I have never tasted it before." "I think the white Jaggery is a rare kind of sugar candy." "Who brought it?" "A poor man. Can't you remember?" "Oh yes, now I remember. I want to eat some more of this Sudu Hakuru, it's so tasty." The Queen had a tender smile cast on her face, when the King tasted more and more of the Sudu Hakuru. The Queen cannot possibly stop him from eating. "I want to see this maker of Sudu Hakuru." Said the King. Then the King requested his men to ask him to see him. The poor Jaggery maker who in a way was delighted to see the King. At the same time there was a certain degree of fear that lurked within him. "Is he going to punish me for some offence?" thought the poor jaggery maker. "No there's no apparent reason why he should do so." The poor jaggery maker clad in his best clothes appeared before the King. "I came to see you on your request Great Majesty." Said the Jaggery maker. "Yes the Queen and I enjoyed your Suduu Hakuru, to the extent that I felt like ordering some more, and help develop your projet." "How great of you, Your Honour, may you live a thousand years." The King felt happy over the blessings and asked several simple questions. "Where do you make this white Jaggery?" "Oh Great King, there is a special clean, well lit kitchen where I do it." "Tell me more about it." "When I make this special white Jaggery, I make it a point to do it under a great canopy and I dress myself in the best of clothes, and use the best of utensils, get the best of honey in the country, and purify it in the best possible method, followed over the years, keeping in terms with the age old sacred traditions." The King was wonderstruck at the utterances of the white Jaggery maker. "Alright, keep these hundred gold coins, and bring us another despatch of your white Jaggery." "May you live long Great Majesty." said the Jaggery maker, saluted and then departed. The King was pondering over what the Jaggery maker said. Can this be really true?"I wish to see him in action." The King thought. "But it's not fair to visit his place of work in royal garb. As such I must disguise myself, and I should not inform anybody." The King got to know where the Jaggery maker lived. One morning, the King clad in civilian dress walked towards the house of the Jaggery maker. Nobody could recognise him as the King. The two kinsmen who accompanied him too were disguised like ordinary people. As the disguised King walked closer to the Jaggery maker's house, he saw a bare bodied man, who was recognizably enough, the Jaggery maker, churning a great big cauldron with a ladle which was placed on a fire made in the most unclean manner possible. The Jaggery maker too was clad in a dirty loin cloth, kindling the fire. There were flies swarming all over the place. The King felt disgusted. But he asked several questions without revealing his identity. "Is this the workplace of the Royal white Jaggery maker?" "Yes. Who are you?" "I am an ordinary man. Do you have any other place where you make your Jaggery which you take to the palace?" "Are you mad? How can I have any other place when I am so poor and ill conditioned?" The disguised King was worried, "He had cheated me," He thought. "I must reveal my real self now." Taking off his disguised, "Can't you make me out? I am the King. Why did you tell me lies?" "I have never told you any lies Great Majesty!" "You said that you prepare the white Jaggery under the best of conditions, so is this what you claim to as the best conditions." To the surprise of the King the Jaggery maker was quiet, but cast an image of innocence. "What have you got to say?" Asked the King. In response the Jaggery maker said. "Oh Great King, Your Highness should not misunderstand me for I adhere to great traditional sayings of our elders." "What's that?" "It's how we say, and this is how we do. (Kiyanakota ehemai. Karanakota mehemai.)" |
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