All That Glitters Is Not Gold

It was the last hour of school. It was the period of my telugu teacher(saraswati-the mother of knowledge)she had a lot of wisdom or may be she knew a lot of words that appealed to me as wisdom. She entered the class, all students stood-up to greet her or you may call it as choir. She placed the stack of books upon the desk. As we sat down whispering started all around. Crumpled papers were flying in the air. The whole class was a mess. All students were so hyped up to leave the school.It seemed that i was the only individual interested about her class. Saraswati tried to bring peace but all her efforts were like a drop in the ocean. So she opted for the ultimate choice, she took a chalk and turned towards the blackboard, no one cared her actions. She held the chalk firmly against the texture of the board. As she moved her hand a high pitched noise gained everybody's attention at once. We swiveled our heads in unison as meerkats do. As she found that she had our attention she inscribed 'మెరిసేది అంత బంగారం కాదు'- 'All that glitters is not gold' on the board.

Saraswati turned towards us. She released the chalk on the desk. We understoond that it was story time not a boring class anymore. Our curiosity started raising. She saw our faces and had a gentle smile that brought warmth in the class. And she broke the silence by questioning "Now, who can frame this proverb as a story?" Whispers started all around. I looked at every face, some were scared that they would get picked-up, and some were hastily weaving threads of imagination, while one guy was picking food remains stuc between his teeth. Amidst the fight of many creative brains and fearful faces, i raised my hand up.

Saraswati, as she saw pointed at me, whole set of 32 eyes in the class gazed at me. Ofcourse they would, i barely involve in any classroom activities. I loved this little attention i got. It was my time to shine. I maintained a stoic facade and stoodup, as i was walking down the aisle i felt like the king walking towards his thorne. I took the stage as saraswati sat down on a bench. I noticed their eyes of anticipation. It was intimidating. My legs started trembling, my throne was filling up with thorns. My closed fists started sweating. All that confidence i had walking up to the stage collapsed at once. My thoughts were racing, some of them were like running away, imagining myself somewhere far away, facing a mirror and cursing it, creating a parallel world where i didn't happen to raise my hand and million others. Then, there came a ray of hope from saraswati, she gestured me to calmdown with her hands along with a serene smile. I knew she was my favourite for a reason. I started breathing again. I decided to embrace it. With a deep breath i started narrating the story.

There was a scenery that we all knew drawing, a sun rising from two mountains and birds flying through the valley, little far from the hills there would be a house with a single door and a chimney, a tree beside it. And the stream of water flowed from the mountains to this house(Inspired from Biswa kalyan rath's standup). In such a house with that scenic view, there lived a farmer 'krishnaiah' who toiled tirelessly. He was accompanied by 'Raju' his energetic 5-year-old son. Although Raju was too young to work in the paddy field, Krishnaiah believed in teaching him the importance of responsibility from an early age, which Raju hated the most.

One day, during the golden hour, as the sun was descending, painting the sky with pastel pink hue, Raju was awe-struck by the art of nature and kept staring at the canvas of the sky. Krishnaiah found Raju standing idle instead of weeding. Krishnaiah yelled at Raju angrily. Krishnaiah's voice sent shivers down to Raju's spine, he immediately regained consciousness and resumed his weeding task with his tiny little fingers.

"I don't like working here" muttered Raju under his breath. As Krishnaiah mixed the age-old manure with a worn-out wooden stick, he heard the faint murmur. He paused for a moment and looked at Raju briefly. "Why do we have to work?" asked Raju without looking at Krishnaiah. Krishnaiah with a little smile said, "You'll have to do all sorts for survival, you need to have money to fill up your tiny little stomach, hence this work". "Then, how can we make quick money? so that we dont have to struggle anymore" asked Raju with an innocent face. Krishnaiah looked at Raju's desiring eyes and said "unless it rains gold, your wish won't come true". Raju kept looking at infinity. The idea of golden rain had taken hold of his imagination. He couldn't help but wonder, "what if the heavens opened up and showered them with cascades of shimmering gold coins".

Later that night, as Raju and Krishnaiah slept on a woven cot, a hailstorm broke loose. Raju jolted awake upon hearing the pounding noises from the roof, he got frightened by the loud thud sounds. Out of fear he pulled the blanket and wraps himself tightly. Meanwhile Krishnaiah on the other hand, was snoring with both his hands placed on his chest as if he mastered the art of sleeping.

A thought crossed Raju's mind "Is this the golden rain I prayed for ?" Without wasting a moment raju uncovered himself and swiftly got out of the cot, the entire house was consumed by darkness with only faint golden light streaming through the window. Raju walked towards the window. He stood tip-toed, allowing his eyes to witness the hailstones shimmering under the gentle glow of streetlight. His eyes sparkled, with happiness and astonishment he said, "Its raining gold!"

[Poor Raju had never experienced a hailstorm in his five years of life.] He immediately rushed to the door, he tried to open the door, but it was locked from above beyond Raju's reach. He ran to alert Krishnaiah, but he remained undisturbed in his slumber. Raju hurried back to the door, hastily positioning a chair and stacking various items under his feet to raise himself up. He finally reached the latch lock, his tiny fingers gripping the bolt tightly. With determination, he exerted all his strength, pulling it down with all his might. However, the door had been exposed to the relentless rain, causing it to swell and become difficult to handle. Raju felt his spirits deflate as he realized his efforts were in vain. He made his way to the window and extended his arm outward, desperately hoping to catch hold of something, but his hand came up empty.

The storm has ceased by dawn, Krishnaiah woke upto find Raju sleeping by the door. Confusion filled his face, but he chose to remain silent. With a gentle hand, he unlocked the latch and opened the door. As the door creaked open, Raju immediately woke up and rushed outside, scanning every corner of the road. He was astonished to find that roads were clean, without any traces of gold. He turned towards Krishnaiah and asked in shock, "What happened to all the gold?" Krishnaiah looked puzzled and replied "What gold?" "It was raining all night yesterday" said Raju. Krishnaiah chuckled and said "Go wash your face, you must be still caught up in a dream". Raju replied with conviction, "No, I've seen it!" He looked angrily at krishnaiah without saying a word he made his way to his tricycle, hopped on to it and started patrolling each street in search of gold.

The next night, it rained again, this time Raju placed all his untensils outside under the dripping water. The following day as raju inspected each vessel, disappointment washed over him. But the determination to find fortune didn't die. Whenever it rained, he patrolled the length and breadth of the village without fail. He even began praying to God, making promises of being a good kid, in the hope of receiving divine help. Sadly nothing worked in raju's favor.

One day, as Krishnaiah was busy working in his field, he noticed Raju's absence by his side. Concerned, he immediately started searching for him. Near the edge of the field, a gentle river stream flowed, and to Krishnaiah's surprise, there was Raju standing in the middle of the stream, diligently searching for something.

Krishnaiah's voice echoed with surprise as he called out, "Raju, what are you searching for?" Raju, still facing away, replied, "I've been thinking, if the gold rains in our village, I can search every corner of it. But what if it rains in the neighboring village? The river that flows by our field will carry it downstream." By listening to Raju's words Krishnaiah's astonishment deepened as he realized the extent of Raju's ambition. [For the first time ever, Krishnaiah felt inspired by a child] He remained silent for a while, watching Raju's determination and pondering the inevitable encounter he has to face. Without uttering a word Krishnaiah turned and walked away, leaving Raju to continue his search in the river stream.

A week later, after patrolling the entire village, Raju arrived at the river. Disappointed, he took a few steps forward, and to his surprise, he noticed something glimmering in the river. He rushed into the river, splashing water as he ran. With curiosity shining in his eyes, he eagerly bent down and picked up a spherical stone made of gold. A smile spread across his face. He looked around the river and discovered more of these precious stones. With utmost happiness gleaming in his eyes he looked at the sky gracefully.

Raju's hands couldn't hold all of the gold, he took of his shirt and and loaded it with gold, he then tied the shirt and placed it over his shoulder as if he was carrying mighty Hanuman's 'GADA'. He decided to trade the gold immediately, he walked upto the jewellery store with big steps and pride. He was too small to be noticed, he stood on a chair and carefully unwrapped his shirt on the glass counter and asked the trader "How much will you give me for this?" Trader glanced at the gold and let out a chuckle "Kid, don't get greedy by these cheap tricks. Go home".Raju's face twisted with confusion as he gazed at his once shiny stones, now revealed to be nothing more than ordinary rocks. The paint had worn off, leaving him empty-handed and disheartened.

Disappointed and with a heavy heart, Raju let go of his dreams of a golden rain ever after.

With that i completed narrating my tale, I observed their expressions and sensed that something was amiss. It seemed as I had not satisfied their thirst for a proper ending. So, i decided to share some intriguing trivia about my tale.

" 'KRISHNAIAH', from the tale is my actual father and my name is Rajendra kumar also 'RAJU'. It was Krishaniah who coated those stones as gold and threw them in the river, as he didn't want his child's innocent dreams to shatter."

A wave of gasps and shocked expressions swept through the room.

"In a way it does teached me, all that glitters isn't gold and this was my tale of the proverb. Thank you." As i concluded, i felt a mix of emotions in the room. I slowly made my way off the stage, the audience remained silent. However, just as I reached my place, I heard the sound of applause. It started with Saraswati, who took the initiative to clap her hands, and soon, others joined in. The applause filled the room.It was a humbling and gratifying experience, knowing that my story had made an impact, however small it may be."

THANK YOU FOR READING.