The Talking Idol by PVV Satyanarayana (phonics reader TXT) 📕

THE TALKING IDOL

Shivaiah was a poor man. He was in his early thirties and an illiterate. His meagre earnings as a farm labourer were hardly sufficient to feed himself and his old mother. So Shivaiah had decided to go to the capital of the kingdom to find a suitable job. Taking leave of his mother, he had ventured out in search of a new life.

There was a forest on the way to the capital. When Shivaiah was passing through the forest, suddenly cyclone had hit the place with heavy gale and rain. Many trees got uprooted and fell to the ground. Also the entire area was inundated with the rain water. So Shivaiah could not proceed further. He had decided to spend the night there. He found a small, dilapidated temple with the idol of Hanuman, the monkey-God, in it. He could see that Hanuman was sculpted on a big, flat stone. He took shelter inside this temple. Tired, he had soon drifted into deep sleep.

When Shivaiah woke up the next day, the cyclone had gone and the entire place was quiet. The sun-rays were peeping into the temple through the holes on the temple walls.
As Shivaiah tried to get up from behind the idol, he heard voices outside the temple. He checked himself and peeped out a little. He saw two persons sitting at the threshold of the temple and talking. He listened to their conversation carefully. Soon he learnt that their names were Aadeyya and Boodayya, who had stolen a buffalo belonging to the head of a nearby village. They had hidden it in the cattle shed of one Potharaju in Garudapalem village. They were planning to sell the animal away at the weekly cattle fair held in the capital.

After these persons left the place, Shivaiah had emerged from behind the idol. He had finished his morning chorus. After helping himself with the fruits from the trees, he surveyed the conditions obtaining the forest. The cyclone had left a trail. With the rain- waters yet to recede, it was difficult to resume the journey. He had decided to stay there till the conditions improved, lest he might be lost in the woods.

After a while two other persons came there and sat at the temple. From their talk, Shivaiah had gathered that they were in search of the lost buffalo.

“Oop, there is no place where we have not searched for the buffalo. Unless we find it soon, we will not be able to go home,” yammered one of them.

“Yes, our boss will simply kill us. It is our carelessness that is responsible for the theft, after all” lamented the other.

Shivaiah felt pity at their plight. “Aadeyya and Boodayya are the culprits. They have hidden the buffalo in Potharaju’s cattle shed in Garudapalem,” these words came out of his mouth unconsciously.

The men were astonished at hearing these words. They looked around to trace out the source of the voice. They could not see anyone, for by now Shivaiah had realized his folly and carefully hid himself behind the idol. The men had decided that the idol had spoken. So they had at once headed for Garudapalem village. There they could trace the buffalo, as was told. They took the buffalo home and narrated the whole thing to their employer. Everyone was amazed at the episode.

On another day, a small kid got separated from its parents and found by a couple from a different village. With their efforts at finding the kid’s parents proving futile, the couple took the child along with them. En route, they stopped at the temple in the forest. Shivaiah heard about it as the couple talked about it. The next day, the kid’s parents too came to the temple while searching for the child. Shivaiah gave them the information about their child, from behind the idol.

Assuming that the idol had spoken, the couple went straight to the other village and found their child.

There were quite a few such incidents during Shivaiah’s stay there, with the result the villagers firmly believed that the Hanuman idol in the temple was talking! So whenever they were in trouble or difficulties, they would go to the temple and seek solutions and blessings.

By now, Shivaiah had decided to settle down there itself, as there was plenty of food for him – both in the form of tasty fruits and the offerings from the villagers. Intelligent as he was, he would answer the queries and requests of the villagers in a befitting manner. The faith of the people was so deep that even a few failures did not matter to them.

Even as Shivaiah was planning to renovate the temple and install himself as a priest there, an incident had happened – derailing his good plans.

A burglary had occurred at a jewelry shop in a nearby town. The loot included some fine jewelry, costly gems and diamonds. The thieves came to the temple in the forest and started sharing the loot among them.

Shivaiah watched it with awe from behind the idol. His eyes dazzled at the sight of the precious stones and the jewelry. Suddenly he was possessed by greed. So he said instantly, “If you do not want to be caught for the theft, leave some of your loot here as a gift”.

The thieves were stunned at the voice, which appeared to come from thin air. In the past they had heard about the talking idol and its divine power. So they believed that it was Hanuman who talked to them.

They prayed to Hanuman not to expose them and in return, presented some of the loot to Him. As soon as the thieves left the place, Shivaiah came out of hiding and grabbed his share. His happiness knew no bounds at the prospect of his becoming rich with these precious stones and the jewels.

The next day when the proprietor of the jewelry shop which was looted, came to the temple and sought blessings of Hanuman to recover his stolen property, Shivaiah had cleverly misled him.

Shivaiah had kept quiet for a few days and then, one fine day, ventured out into the capital to convert his share of the loot into cash. However, the luck was otherwise. As he tried to sell the gems and the diamonds, the traders got suspicious and informed the kotwal. Soon the kotwal’s men came and arrested him.

On interrogation, Shivaiah had revealed everything – right from his trek to the capital till his tricking the thieves into parting with some of their loot. As it became clear that he had been cheating people in the name of God, the kotwal became furious and put him in the jail. The thieves were also nabbed soon, based on their description provided by Shivaiah, and the stolen items recovered from them.

While healing his wounds in the jail, Shivaiah had realized that it was his greed
that had landed him in trouble, and repented for his foolishness.
The villagers too had learnt their lessons. Having faith in God was one thing and possessing blind faith and nurturing superstitions is another, they had realized. But for his foolish act of sharing of the loot, Shivaiah did not do any harm to them. Rather they got benefited from his deeds. As they learnt of his background, they took pity on him.
So when Shivaiah had completed his sentence and was released from the prison, they volunteered to help him. They had renovated the temple in the forest and appointed Shivaiah as its priest.
Overwhelmed by the kind gesture of the villagers, Shivaiah showed his gratitude by maintaining good conduct and devoting himself to the development of the temple. He had brought his old mother and kept her with him. Soon he was married to a pious girl from a traditional family and lived happily.
So, children, let us not allow greed to seize us, lest it may destroy us.

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Publication Date: 08-20-2010

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