Veranda Tales-Seven wives of a parrot prince
Storytelling has been an integral part of my life since childhood. I grew up listening to stories during the hot summer evenings and nights with my cousins. Mothers and grandmothers would gather all of us children for story time. It was usually pitch dark except for a very faint light coming from the flickering candle. Power cuts were as frequent as the hot and humid summer days. We all spread out on a cool concrete floor or bamboo mats on the veranda intently listening to fascinating stories about kings, queens, princes, princesses, and peasants alike. Stories about love, life, families, and people entertained and taught us life skills. These stories transported us to distant worlds, strange yet familiar. Often the same story told by two people sounded different as storytellers added new twists and turns adding their personal style and flair to the stories.
Storytelling wasn’t limited to summer evenings and bedtime. I was surrounded by adults who didn’t pass up an opportunity to share their wisdom using the art of storytelling. These rich vibrant oral traditions include songs, poems, stories, and సామెతలు (Sametalu are proverbs in Telugu). Men and women sing songs as they work in the fields, grinding grains and spices and doing other daily chores at their homes. Stories are often used to teach important life lessons, interpersonal skills, and survival skills. These stories and the time spent listening to them made our lives richer leaving an impression on me. This series is all about reliving those memories as I share these stories.
చిలుక యువరాజ (chiluka yuvaraja)
Once upon a time, there lived a మహరాజ (maharaja is king in Telugu) with his మహరాణి (maharani is queen) with their యువరాజ (yuvaraja is young king or prince). Back in those days marriages were a means of forming alliances with neighboring kingdoms. మహరాజ (maharaja) arranged for his son to marry severn princesses from neighboring kingdoms. By the time యువరాజ (yuvaraja) was twelve years of age he had seven wives and had ascended to the throne.
యువరాజ (yuvaraja) had a thirst for knowledge. He continued to learn from his teacher even after becoming a king. He respected his teacher and continued to go to his teacher’s house in a forest even though he could have easily demanded that his teacher come to his palace to teach him.
One day, he ran into a beautiful woman as he was walking through the forest to his teacher’s house. The woman recognized him as the king and told him that she was heading to visit her teacher. She was curious where he was headed all alone walking through the forest. Upon learning that he was heading to his teacher’s house, she asked him if knew about Tria Charitram and urged him to study it. యువరాజ (yuvaraja) asked his teacher about the Tria Charitram and expressed his wish to study it. His teacher cautioned him against learning this particular subject as it was dangerous and that it could put his life in danger. యువరాజ (yuvaraja) insisted that it was important for him to gain as much knowledge as possible to be a good king. He completed the study of the Tria Charitram in a year. At that point his teacher told him that he taught everything he knew and that his education was complete.
As a graduation gift, the teacher gave him a magic earring which would make him unrecognizable when he wore it. The teacher told యువరాజ (yuvaraja) to not wear the earring when he was at his palace. He was asked to wear it at midnight while standing in the middle of the forest on the east side of the palace and wait. యువరాజ (yuvaraja) was eager to try this magical earring and left the palace at midnight and wore it when he reached the designated location in the middle of the forest.
After standing there for a while, he was surprised to see the woman who asked him to study the Tria Charitram, walking through the forest carrying food and entering a cottage. He followed her and watched her talk to a person dressed like a సాధువు (sadhuvu). He observed what transpired between them.
The సాధువు (sadhuvu) asked the woman why she was so late in coming to see him. She told him that she got married and that she had to talk to her husband about coming to visit him. She told him that her husband would come to get her in the morning. సాధువు (sadhuvu) asked her to go back to her husband. She refused saying she would like to stay with him and become his wife. సాధువు (sadhuvu) handed her a knife, asked her to go back and kill her husband and then he would accept her as his wife. యువరాజ (yuvaraja) realized that the సాధువు (sadhuvu) was మాంత్రికుడు (manthrikudu is a dark wizard in Telugu) and that the woman was under his spell.
యువరాజ (yuvaraja) followed the woman, watched her kill her husband and then come back to the మాంత్రికుడు (manthrikudu). The మాంత్రికుడు (manthrikudu) refused to accept her saying, “How can I trust you and feel safe around you since you killed your own husband breaking your marriage vows?” The woman went back to her house distraught, crying and pretending to be a grieving wife. She got ready to commit sati sacrificing herself by sitting atop her deceased husband's funeral pyre. యువరాజ (yuvaraja) couldn’t help but laugh out loud. The woman looked up and realized that the యువరాజ (yuvaraja) knew the truth that she killed her husband. She told him, “If you ever have to sit or lie down on a bamboo mat, lift it up and check what’s underneath.” and repeated the same message before jumping in the pyre.
It appears this incident did not deter the యువరాజ (yuvaraja) from a repeat visit to the forest to the designated location. This time he watched to his dismay as his 7 wives visited the మాంత్రికుడు (manthrikudu). He understood that his wives were also under the spell of the మాంత్రికుడు (manthrikudu). They didn’t recognize him and asked him for help carrying their things. The మాంత్రికుడు (manthrikudu) wasn’t happy to see him, but offered shelter for the night to satisfy the 7 queens. He was asked to sleep on a bamboo mat. He remembered the woman’s words about checking what’s under a mat. He lifted the mat up to find a dry well and several people imprisoned in it. He lost his earring in the process. One of the prisoners recognized him as the king and told him to escape. He forgot to pick up the earring and started running towards the palace. His wives recognized him. They started following him to catch him and bring him back to the మాంత్రికుడు (manthrikudu). They couldn’t catch up with him and watched him enter the palace. They went back to the మాంత్రికుడు (manthrikudu) asking him to save them from certain death. They knew that they would be punished for trying to harm their husband.
The మాంత్రికుడు (manthrikudu) handed them a magic key and asked them to insert it into their husband’s forehead. He told them with this key, their husband would be totally under their control. The seven wives went back to the palace and begged their husband to forgive them for their transgression and for putting him in danger. యువరాజ (yuvaraja) forgave them as he didn’t know the extent of their deception. The youngest wife managed to insert the magic key into his forehead when she was alone with him. He became very weak, but managed to flee to his teacher’s house to get help. The teacher said, “All of these events are a result of learning the Tria Charitram”. He tried and failed to remove the magic key from యువరాజ (yuvaraja)’s forehead as the dark magic was too powerful for him. He told his pupil that only a woman who truly loves him is capable of removing the key from his forehead. The teacher transformed him into a చిలుక (chiluka is parrot Telugu) and asked him to hide out in a neighboring kingdom.
యువరాజ (yuvaraja) thanked his teacher and flew away to a neighboring kingdom to live among parrots on a బూరుగుదూది చెట్టు (buruga dudi chettu is silk cotton tree in Telugu). The parrots recognized his abilities and elected him as their leader. He was living happily among the parrots and enjoying being their leader.
Whenever I think of this part of the story, it reminds me of our backyard from my childhood with a beautiful బూరుగుదూది చెట్టు (buruga dudi chettu is silk cotton tree in Telugu). During its flowering season, the tree was covered with beautiful flowers and రామచిలకలు (rama chilakalu) on every single branch of the tree. It was beautiful sight to see the flowers and రామచిలకలు (rama chilakalu) hopping from branch to branch as they talked to each other. It was magical to listen to their calls. రామచిలక (rama chilaka), the rose-ringed parakeet or ring-necked parakeet is the state bird of Andhra Pradesh. This bird is beautiful with its green color and a rich red colored beak. I loved watching this tree in the early winter mornings when it was in full bloom with flower petals covered in మంచు (manchu is dew in Telugu).