Self Will

There were many houses of potters in the village. Most of the potters made vessels out of mud. Maliram was one of the potters who had a house here. The house was made of mud bricks and a roof made of reeds. A particular kind of chaff was used to make the thatched roof. In the village terminology, this chaff was called ‘Kooncha’s pani’. Maliram used to make the thatched roof for his house. Maliram used to carefully place each straw and every passer-by would stop and admire the roof of his house. Many people had asked Maliram to make a roof like his but he never did it for anyone else.

Maliram’s house was right opposite Sohanlal’s Bunglow. Sohanlal was a famous merchant in the village. One day Sohanlal called Maliram and said “I want to build something stylish in the hallway in front of my house. You have to build the roof for that.”

Maliram refused and said “You must have heard that I never build a thatched roof for anyone.”

Sohanlal said “I know it. I can get it built by anyone. But I like the way you build these thatched roofs. Ramprasad was asking three thousand rupees for this work. Harishankar was ready to work for four thousand rupees. You can take six thousand rupees.”

Maliram refused. Sohanlal increased the price to ten thousand rupees, twenty thousand rupees and finally fifty thousand rupees. But Maliram refused again.

Sohanlal increased the price to one lakh rupees and told Maliram “Think about this offer. You cannot earn a lakh even if you work for one year!”

Maliram said “Sir, making pots is my family profession. I do that to make ends meet and to feed my family. But making these thatched roofs is my hobby. I do this work for my satisfaction. If you have money, does it mean that you can get all the good things? You can quote any price but there are some things that I do only for my happiness. I will not make another thatched roof.”

Accepting defeat, Sohanlal got the roof made by someone else. But it could not match what Maliram could have done. Bungalow's conceit is now daily teased by a self-willed hut.