Chapter 8: chapter 8

The Lazy Boy Who Had to Be Told Every Single ThingBalu wasn’t the brightest of boys. He didn’t ever stop to think or use common sense, so he often got into all sorts of scrapes. Balu lived in a small village in Maharashtra with his mother. They were very poor, and Balu’s mother could put food on the table only by weaving cotton textiles and grazing a few cows and sheep.She dreamed of Balu studying and one day getting a job to give them more money. But although Balu was very hard-working, he had to be told to do everything. He would never do anything on his own.If water was placed in front of him, Balu would only lift the glass to drink if he was told to.When his mother scolded him for not bringing home the cattle, he would say, ‘But you just asked me to take the cows grazing. You didn’t tell me to bring them home.’When his teachers asked him where his homework was, he would respond, ‘It’s at home. You never told me to bring it to school.’Not knowing why everyone constantly got irritated with him, Balu would often bunk school, run behind the village dogs and sit around in the chowk in the evenings. He could have helped his mum with her weaving work, but he had to be given every single instruction for every step of the way, which his mother found very tiresome. How could he help with her work when he had to be reminded of even simple everyday tasks like bathing, washing his clothes, tying up the cattle and locking the gate, again and again?One day, at the end of her tether, his mother said, ‘Why do you have to be told every single task every single day? Are you a saangkaamya, the one who has to be told to work all the time? You just don’t do anything. From tomorrow on, if you want to live in this house and eat any food, you better start working!’Scared that his mother would really make good on her threats, Balu found a job at a nearby farm. The farmer agreed to pay him a four anna coin for every day of work. But the very first day, because no one had asked him to keep the coin safely in his pocket, Balu lost the coin while returning home.‘How could you have lost your first day’s earnings? Didn’t you put the coin safely in your pocket?’ his mother asked.‘But you didn’t tell me that. Next time I will,’ Balu meekly replied.The next day, Balu went out and found a job with a dairy farmer. After a day’s hard labour, the farmer gave him a jar of milk and some butter as payment. Remembering his mother’s instructions, Balu tucked the milk jar inside his jacket and put the butter inside his trouser pocket. Half the milk spilled all over Balu on the way home, while the butter melted and soaked into his trousers.‘Deva, deva!’ said his mother as she frustratedly tried to scrape the butter off his pants. ‘Couldn’t you have carried these on your head?’‘But you didn’t tell me that. Next time I will,’ replied Balu.After a week or so, Balu found a job at a poultry farm. After a long day’s work, the farmer gave him a puppy to take home as payment. Remembering his mother’s instructions, Balu tried balancing the puppy on his head. But the pup would not sit still and kept jumping off. Balu returned home with a struggling puppy and crimson scratches and bruises on his hands and head.‘Couldn’t you have tied a leash on the pup while coming home?’ his mother asked, while cleaning his wounds.‘But you didn’t tell me that. Next time I will,’ replied Balu sadly.The next day, Balu found work at the butcher’s, who gave him a big shoulder of lamb as payment. Remembering his mother’s instructions, Balu tied a length of rope around the lamb and dragged it home in the dirt. By the time he came home, the cut of meat was completely filthy.His mother had lost her patience with Balu by then. ‘You should have carried the piece of lamb on your shoulder,’ she said to him.‘But you didn’t tell me that. Next time I will,’ replied Balu.The next day, Balu went to a cattle keeper. After a few days of work, the owner gave him a donkey as payment. Balu decided to carry the donkey on his shoulders. Now, carrying a wriggling donkey around isn’t easy, but Balu was determined to follow his mother’s instructions.His attempt to carry the donkey became a source of amusement for everyone he crossed paths with on the way home. It so happened that a rich landlord from the neighbouring village had come with his daughter to consult the doctor in Balu’s village. The daughter was a kind soul, but she had been terribly sad ever since her mother died a few years ago—so much so that she refused to talk to anyone. She had not even cracked a smile in years. The landlord wanted to consult the doctor to find out what treatment would make her happy again.The landlord was so desperate that he announced a handsome reward of Rs 25,000 for anyone who made his daughter talk and smile again. It was when the landlord and his daughter were waiting in the village chowk that Balu passed by.Balu’s ridiculous antics and everyone’s amusement first drew the daughter’s attention to him. Looking at Balu, struggling to hold a large, wriggling donkey with its feet up in the air, on his shoulders, while maintaining his balance, the landlord’s daughter burst into sudden peals of laughter.‘Oh, Papa, see this young boy. How funny he is!’ she blurted out happily. The landlord was delighted to see his daughter laughing and talking.He followed the struggling Balu back home and offered him a job at his homestead and farm, where he could be a farmhand, do odd jobs and tasks, and entertain his daughter in his free time. He offered Balu and his mother an outhouse on his farm, where they could live comfortably and where she could continue her work weaving cotton. It was like this that Balu Saangkame got a job where he would be instructed and trained in detail, and his mother got a secure income and a roof over her head.Balu and his mother lived happily ever after.