Manav In Vegetable Land

Manav And The Adventures Of Vegetable land

(Fable of a boy who hated vegetables)

Contents

Fancy dress competition

The Thundering Night

Manav in a Deep Slumber

Meeting the king

The Ultimate Punishment

Manav makes new friends

Entry of the king

Manav becomes a veggie boy

Fancy dress competition

It is a beautiful Friday morning. Manav is in deep peaceful sleep when his mother wakes him up by snatching his comforter. “Good morning sweetheart!” she said smilingly, with her face glowing in the beam of sunlight falling on her from the white window beside Manav’s bed.

His mother seemed to be very excited and reminds him to get ready for the Fancy dress competition that is to be held today in his school. Afterall, she herself has stitched a very beautiful costume of a BRINJAL for her son.

But, surprisingly, Manav is not as enthusiastic and happy as his mother. He is lazing around, brushing his teeth in slow motion. Suddenly his mother comes up to him and shakes him violently, screaming at the top of her voice, “Manav, its 7:45 am already! Why aren’t you ready yet? The breakfast is lying on the table, eat it quickly and get going. ” His mother was running aimlessly in each corner of the house and bumping with Manav several times, where he was standing still, still lost in his dreams.

Soon, it was 8 am, Manav’s bus was honking and Manav was rushed outside to the bus by his mom. Mom was giving him flying kisses and last minute instructions, but Manav didn’t pay heed to anything.

The bus reached the gate of the school earlier than expected by Manav. With no mood and heavy feet, Manav dragged him outside the bus and started walking towards the classroom with his bulky costume on.

The school corridors were all lit up with cute smiling faces and colourful costumes. Manav’s class teacher, Mrs. Mariam, arrived on the scene and pulled Manav in. All the kids gathered in the auditorium after the morning assembly and prayers.

To Manav, all the teachers seemed to be running around as aimlessly as his mother was, in the house.

After a few kids, when Manav’s name was announced, he went up to the stage, performed his act, and recited the lines that his mom had engraved in his grey matter, and came down as uninterested as he was in math’s class always.

Mrs. Mariam came up to him and asked him what the matter was? to this he replied

“I HATE BRINJALS”

The Thundering Night

Manav is back home. He is jumping around in his room and making it messier. Manav’s mom enters the room almost faints to see the costume lying on the floor, in several pieces. She gathers courage and asks him, ‘how has your mood turned 3600. How was your day at school? ’Manav replied, ‘because now I don’t have to wear that stupid costume of the most stupid vegetable- BRINJAL.’

According to him, brinjal was the worst edible thing on Earth, along with other 100 vegetables like bottle gourd, pumpkin, bitter gourd , broccoli, cauliflower………………………………..

The list was endless.

Without wasting time, mom served snacks. Manav was enjoying his French fries and burger sitting on the couch, watching TV and gobbling up 2-3 fries at a time, until mom interrupted after an hour or so, “c’mon beta, get up and go down to play with your friends, papa would be coming soon. ” Manav gets up after lazing around a bit and goes down to play.

Soon, it was evening time and that was homecoming time for papa and Manav. “Hello son, how was your fancy dress event at school? You enjoyed playing the role of a…. a…a… ”, papa stammered. “BRINJAL”, exclaimed mom in a loud and angry voice. The weather outside, was as angry as mom, it had started raining after few loud thumps of thundering

In spite of being angry with Manav and papa, dinner was served with utmost love by mom. “What’s for dinner honey?” Manav’s dad said, trying to make up….

Stir fried Broccoli, garlic bread, roasted brinjal, mashed potatoes and pumpkin soup.

Manav was furious at the site of those veggies. Seeing papa’s eyes beaming with anger, he gulped few garlic breads with dollop of mashed potatoes and ran away, mom kept on screaming, but he paid no heed to it and ran to his room.

After finishing their dinner, Manav’s parents came to his room to check him; he had already fallen asleep, with his stomach half full. It was thundering and raining heavily. A tired father and a sad, sunken heart of a mother, left the room.

Suddenly, the thundering became violent and more violent, with a loud noise and big jerk, Manav’s white windows, behind his bed, opened up.

Manav in a Deep Slumber

Manav got up, closed the window and went off to sleep. When he was fast asleep, he started feeling wet, he realised that he is in a stream of pure, glittering water; he was lying down on a giant cabbage leaf.

All around the shore were giant vegetables, staring at him. There were Pear parachutes in the air, cucumber and sweet-potato fishes in the water, big broccoli trees on the shore. Soon, he entered a beautifully carved gate in a pumpkin and the cabbage leaf disappeared.

Manav walks around, trying to figure out, where is he and what is he doing there? There were 1000 questions jumping up and down in his brain.

Before Manav could roam around more, he saw an army of pumpkins marching towards him, before he could gather his senses, he saw himself hanging in the air, in the arms of those bulky, monster-like pumpkins, he was in their captivity. They marched towards a very- very clean and green corridor, with bunches of spinach forming the walls of the giant corridor.

Meeting the king

Manav soon finds him in front of a big palace carved out of a bigger than giant- pumpkin.

There was some sort of party going on in there. First he saw a band of ladyfingers and cauliflowers performing, then there was a jaw-dropping performance of colourful bell peppers; after the superb show of symmetry and colours, there was a sudden thumping sound of abnormal drums, all stood up to show respect to the King, and to Manav’s surprise, the king was a BRINJAL, a brinjal with a very dangerous looking one eye, a big smiling mouth and a fat tummy. The show continued and there was one more performance by sweet short pumpkins. Seeing the joyful performances, Manav was unconsciously falling in love with these veggies.

After the programme was over, Manav was summoned. Before the king or the ministers could say anything, Manav started bombarding them with questions, who are you all? What is this place? Why am I here? how is this possible?, how are the vegetables alive? and so on and on and on.

Before he ran out of the questions, he was interrupted by a loud voice, “Boy! Boy! Be silent, you are accused of insulting the king, -THE BRINJAL KING. You are brought here to be punished.

“Insulting the king? But I am meeting you for the first time, how can I insult you”, exclaimed Manav.

“You said to your mother that you hate brinjals, in fact you hate all vegetables and refuse to eat us and respect us. Don’t you remember! ”, said the pumpkin standing at the side of the king.

“Oh! that, all the vegetables are so tasteless and ugly, yuck I hate the taste and even smell of them” said Manav very casually.

Suddenly, all the vegetables from all over the place, screamed and pounced on him, the hall was full of loud and violent noises.

The king summoned them to be calm, and instructed the pumpkin soldiers to take him away for the ultimate punishment. The vegetables were very happy and started clapping. Manav was rushed out.

The Ultimate Punishment

Manav was kept in a jail, made up of long green bamboos, he kept sobbing throughout the night. In the morning, he was taken to the work station.

There he saw many strange things. The fields were prepared, by some invisible hands, for the seeds to be sown in them, some ripened and matured fruits and vegetables were being loaded in trucks magically, plants being watered automatically.

Manav was supposed to work there and help these invisible powers to get their work done.

Manav knew nothing about all this; he started crying, when suddenly few, lesser giant, baby vegetables, came close to him.

They made him comfortable and helped him understand his chores that he needed to complete. Then, in the afternoon, they sat beside him, and started to chat with him.

Manav started liking them; he wanted to know more about them and their world.

A baby potato came jumping to him and shook hands with him.

Manav said, hey! I like potatoes very much, I love potato fries, potato smileys and potato in every form, and you are the only vegetable that I can eat. The potato was very happy to hear that, he said, “wow! That’s good, but there is so much more about me that you probably don’t know, come, I will introduce you with my friends as well, you will be very happy to meet them and know about them”. Manav was more than happy to leave with him.

Manav makes new friends

Fatso, the potato started talking, Manav, potatoes are much more than only tasty french fries and fillers for burgers, potatoes are a very good source of vitamin B6 and a good source of potassium, copper, vitamin C, manganese, phosphorus, niacin, dietary fibre, and pantothenic acid, and phyto-nutrients that have antioxidant activity. So, you get a whole lot of nutrients when you eat us.

“Oh! I never knew that. Now, I can proudly tell my mom, why I like you so much, and not those other boring veggies”, Manav rejoiced.

Soon, they reached the assembly point of Fatso’s friends. Fatso introduced Manav to his friends. He tells his friends to tell Manav about themselves.

First, Cutie, the carrot came forward and started boosting about her. “Hello Manav, nice to greet you in our land. My name is Cutie; I am a root vegetable that is often claimed to be the perfect health food. I am crunchy, tasty and highly nutritious, I have a number of health benefits, I am a weight loss friendly food and have been linked to lower cholesterol levels and improved eye health, the carotene antioxidants in me have also been linked to reduced risk of cancer. I am found in many colours, including yellow, white, orange, red and purple.”

Then, Spinny, the spinach comes forward, she is very jealous of Cutie, She says, “I am one of incredible green-leafy vegetable often recognised as one of the functional foods for my health benefiting nutritional, antioxidants and anti-cancer composition. My tender, crispy, dark-green leaves are one of the favourite ingredients of chefs all around the world.

Eating me may benefit eye health, reduce oxidative stress, help prevent cancer and reduce blood pressure levels.”

Cutie and Spinny starts fighting over who is better, when, Tom, the tomato interrupts them. “Hey girls, stop fighting over petty things. When I am here, you both don’t stand a chance.”, “Huh!” says Spinny. Tom continues, “I am the berry of a plant. I am the major dietary source of the antioxidant lycopene, which has been linked to many health benefits, including reduced risk of heart disease and cancer. I am also a great source of vitamin C, potassium, foliate and vitamin K. I am usually red when mature, but can come in a variety of colours, including yellow, orange, green and purple. Then there are many subspecies of tomatoes, with different shapes and flavour. So, I am versatile, you know.”

Manav was standing still and seeing these veggies fight like he used to fight with his friends, he starts feeling sad as he was now remembering his friends and parents. He never knew that the veggies that mom used to force him to eat, contained so many things, and had so many health benefits. As he was deep in his thoughts, Cucoo, the cucumber approached him. He said, “Manav, don’t be upset, we are your new friends, I am Cucoo, I belong to the same family as squash, pumpkin, and watermelon I am made up of roughly 95 percent water, which means eating me on a hot summer day can help you stay hydrated. However, there's reason to eat cucumbers all year long. With vitamin K, B vitamins, copper, potassium, vitamin C, and manganese, I can help you to avoid nutrient deficiencies. Plus, I contain unique polyphenols and other compounds that may help reduce your risk of chronic diseases and much, much more.”

Fatso intervened in the conversation and then they started playing while singing their favourite rhyme

Tomatoes make your cheek red.

Carrots make you jump ahead.

lalalala lalalala

Spinach makes you very strong.

Peas make you dance along!

lalalala lalalala

Eat your vegetables every day.

You will be happy and gay.

lalalala lalalala

Entry of the king

They were enjoying, running around holding hands and singing aloud. Suddenly, one of them spotted the king and….. There was a deep silence in the air.

The kids were playing with the one who was accused of disrespecting the KING. The king summoned Manav at once; he ran and stood in the corner. He started by saying, “Look boy, you were accused of disrespecting the king and all the vegetables, that’s why you were brought here, to teach you a lesson and punish you”, “but…”, the tone changed, “it seems, you have made friends here and you have understood the importance of vegetables. ” “So… So...”, “so what our lord?” the kids exclaimed with excitement.

“So, even I would like to tell you something about me. I haven’t sung in years, but you kids have made the child in me alive again. So, here I go:

On my head, a leafy crown I wear,

My glossy skin’s beyond compare

It’s smooth and purple, sometimes white or green

Call me Brinjal, eggplant or Aubergine.

I may be big or small in size

In every way I’m a great prize

Have me with my pulp, skin and seeds

Cook me with care, I’m delicious indeed

All my dishes are famous worldwide

Stuffed or grilled or mashed or fried

Fibre, minerals, vitamins abound in me

I am great for your brains, blood and tummy”

There was joy all around. The vegetable land has never seen their king dancing like this ever.

Manav confessed to the king, “Sir, I have realized my mistake, I have come to know, why my dearest mom was always after my life to eat vegetables. I have understood their importance and value in my well-being. I promise, I will start eating all vegetables from this day on, and will never ever say no to BRINJALS. I love you all, thanks for making me understand this, thanks for giving us so much nutrition and power. I owe a lot to you, my lord, and my dear veggie friends.”

The king, his ministers and everyone around was very happy to hear that. “Manav, you are free now, you will be sent home at the earliest, and do remember us while eating your veggies.” Manav was all happy and gay. He bowed down to thank the king. Definitely, he had acquired one quality from his veggie friends, and that is HUMILITY.

Manav and his friends kept talking till late night. The veggie friends were curious to know about human land and Manav was all the more excited to learn about all the other vegetables, he wanted to know the health benefits and nutritive values of all his friends.

Manav slept very peacefully with his friend Fatso that night.

Manav becomes a veggie boy

Suddenly, in the mid of night, there was a loud thundering as if lightening has just stroked their bed. Manav gets up with a yank, and finds himself on his own bed, in his own house. Fatso was nowhere to be seen. Manav rubbed his eyes; it was his own room, with the costume of Brinjal hanged on the door, smiling at him. Manav runs down, finds his mom in the kitchen, hugs her and asks, “What’s for breakfast mom!”, “vegetable salad and carrot soup for me and dad, and your favourite potato wedges for you, I know, you won’t eat the salad. Now, go and sit on the table, take the ketchup from the refrigerator.” To the mother’s surprise, Manav said very calmly and smilingly, “No mama, I will have the full bowl of these fresh vegetables salad, I love them.” Papa and mom were shocked to see Manav gulping down the whole bowl of vegetables with a huge smile on his face.

They both finished the breakfast discussing about yesterday’s strange lightning and thunderstorm, whereas Manav was busy smiling at the vegetables in his bowl.

So Manav turned into a “Veggie Boy”.