Kaju Katli

Nayantara sat at the table socializing, because that was what she did, as a rule, at social gatherings. It was a strange thing to do, but she was a creature of habit and could not do it any other way. Sometimes, just in case, she had to bring her own table along.

She was having fun, conversing with old friends and new friends, including a wise and mysterious man who was filled with secret knowledge and ancient lore that had been lost over time. He had answers to questions that most people asked. But more often than not the answers were not the kind they sought.

He was speaking, as all wise and mysterious men do, of fake weddings and bearded legs when she happened to discover that her finger was covered in strange shiny silver coating.

“Where did that come from?” she muttered to herself.

“Ah, that is because you used to be a kaju katli.” said the man in a tone that conveyed that nothing was amiss with this statement at all.

“HAHA!” laughed Nayantara.

The man ignored her, as he did so many others, and began his tale.

“Once upon a time there was a young girl who was given a kaju katli by her father to eat. Only this girl had a tendency to play with her food and decided to peel of the silver foil on the top of the kaju katli. And, as the foil came off, lo and behold! A Nayantara emerged!

“Thank you dear girl” said the Nayantara. “An evil witch turned me into a kaju katli, to die of consumption by a little girl. But you have removed the foil that bound me and freed me from my sugary grave.”

“Pray tell, sweet Nayantara”, asked the girl, “why did the witch curse you?”

“Why in order to steal my pudding of course” replied the Nayantara, and flew away whistling to herself.

The poor girl was left kaju katli-less and confused.

But the girl had not finished peeling off the foil completely and hence the Nayantara was left with a shiny finger.  It would always serve as a reminder of that terrible time that she spent as a kaju katri and how the fidgetiness of a little girl saved her life. This would serve her no purpose but aid her deal with her own fidgety kids. She also learned that protecting her pudding was not that important.

And they all lived happily ever after” concluded the wise mysterious man.

“What a wonderful story!” said Nayantara.

“What wonderful pudding!” said the man, and with a cackle of laughter disappeared in a flash of light.

And Nayantara looked down to find that her bowl was indeed now empty.