AJA RAJA

Once upon a time, on the outskirts of Periyar forest, lived a goatherd and his family. He owned a huge tribe of goats, of all ages and colours. The goats lived in harmony, playful and joyous.

The youngest in the group was a special little goat who was popularly known as Nondu. Now there was a reason he was special because poor Nondu was born with a deformity. When a young Nondu started walking, they realized he couldn’t move his hind legs. While everyone else his age sprinted merrily, he would drag himself around the shed.

The goatherd consulted the best vets, but as he was born like that, no doctors could heal Nondu.

So, when the entire herd set out to graze in the morning, Nondu spent his time with the goatherd’s children. They would read books, their grandmother would narrate beautiful stories every evening, and Nondu enjoyed gaining knowledge listening to their fables, tales about great warriors and kings.

He soon learnt that a sharp mind and a kind heart could be stronger than sheer muscle power. If God had closed one door at Nondu, he had opened another. Nondu kept himself busy with literature and with his wit and intelligence, he won everyone’s hearts. The other goats would return home at dusk, with leaves and fruits for Nondu and he instead would treat them to daily news and general knowledge.

But at nightfall, Nondu would feel a little upset.

“Amma, I too wish to accompany you on your daily grazing trips. By the time you get home, my food gets dry and stale. I want to graze on fresh green grass, I wish to know how the outside world looks like, please, just for once, take me with you.”

“Dearest child, we graze really close to the jungle, and we walk a long distance. You’ll be unable to keep up. Moreover, what if some wild animal chases you, how would you save yourself?” His mother reasoned.

Nondu’s father and his siblings too heard his laments. Finally, his father came up with a solution.

“For just one day tomorrow, we’ll take you along. We’ll all walk very slow and close. We’ll return early as well so Nondu could be back home safely by dusk. But Nondu, remember, it’s only for tomorrow.”   

Nondu hugged his father in joy and the family went to sleep.

Nondu woke up very early the next morning, so excited was he for his first journey outside the shed. After what seemed like an eternity, he waved goodbye to the goatherd’s children and followed his parents to the pastures. The group had to proceed a little slowly, as Nondu carefully moved his body around.

Words couldn’t describe how elated Nondu was, on seeing lush green grass, tall trees, red flowers, and blue skies. The scent of fresh breeze engulfed him, if only he could come every day, he thought. To make the most of his visit, he chewed the green grass as fast as he could. Oblivious to all that was happening around him, he relished his feast.

By afternoon, the sky started turning grey. A sudden clap of thunder alerted them all, and as the head of the group, Nondu’s father decided it was time to return.

“Friends looks like there’s a storm brewing. Let’s stay safe and make our way back now, before the forest gets flooded.” He commanded.

“Come Nondu, let’s go!” His mother called out.

“Amma, just two minutes,” Nondu begged. Every time his mother insisted, he would delay a bit further. 

A few drops of rain further alarmed Nondu’s parents.

“Come with us right away!” Nondu’s father thundered.

“Alright Acha(father).” Nondu reluctantly agreed, but moved very slowly on purpose, so he could feed on some more grass.

But just then, with some loud claps of thunder and lightning, heavy rains lashed the earth, escorted by strong gusts of wind. Pandemonium spread across the herd as the goats started running helter-skelter, all somehow trying to reach home.

“Nondu! Nondu!” his parents shouted out loud, but alas, Nondu was nowhere to be found. They tried running back in search of Nondu, but so intense was the storm that Nondu’s father coaxed his mother to return to safety, for the sake of their other children. Nondu’s mother wept aloud, praying to God to keep Nondu safe.

When the stampede occurred, in the fear of getting trampled, Nondu had rushed off in another direction, not knowing, that he was in fact walking into the ferocious jungle, infested with wild elephants, leopards, and tigers. Far away, he spotted a cave, and he hurriedly dragged himself inside to escape the heavy downpour. It was completely dark outside and drenched and scared, Nondu rested behind a boulder at the entrance of the cave.

Night fell, he could hear weird hoots and howls. He could hardly see anything, except for his own shadow in the full moonlight. Nondu was in tears now. If only he had listened to his parents, he would now be safe, warm, and cozy in his mother’s arms.

“Amma!” He let out a low whimper, but just then he sniffed something. Someone was at the cave, he realized.

His little body trembled as the silence of the night was shattered with a loud, fierce roar. Nondu tried recollecting the stories he had heard, who could it be? “Oh my God!” to his dismay, he understood, he had entered a tiger’s den.

“Who is inside? I can see your shadow, out you come!” the tiger growled.

Nondu was frightened to the core, but perhaps he could try something to save his life? Hadn’t he learnt that courage and confidence were strong weapons too?

“I am Aja Raja. Who are you?” Nondu screamed back.

“Aja Raja? Never heard of you. What’s that on your head?” The tiger retorted. 

Nondu could see his little horns and ears looked large in his shadow.

“Those are my four sharp horns, you fool. I’ll strike you down now.” Nondu spoke clear.

The tiger was indeed a little startled.

“Why don’t you stand straight so I could see you?” The tiger demanded.

Nondu played his next trick. Using his paralysed legs to his advantage, Nondu moved around in circles.

“I am not a four-legged animal, you ignorant tiger. I am half-animal, half aquatic. I can swim in the water and on land as well, see how I move? Wait till I hunt you.” Nondu moved faster, frightening the tiger all the more.

“What’s that under your chin?” The tiger asked timidly in a low voice.

“That’s a bag God has bestowed on me. When I kill and eat you, I will save some of the leftovers in this bag. Ha Ha Ha!” Nondu laughed aloud, the bag was just the mop of hair all goats had.

The tiger took one look at Aja Raja’s shadow. A huge beast, four horns, two legs in the front and a marine body behind, a bag under his chin to store food, and it was now encircling the den in anger!

The tiger took to his heels and ran as fast as his legs could take him. On the way, he chanced upon a jackal.

“If you wish to save your life, run!” The tiger worriedly informed the jackal.

“Your majesty, so mighty and valiant, whom are you afraid of? What happened?” The jackal was genuinely concerned.  

“Aja Raja, the beast!” The tiger panted.

The cunning jackal thought to himself, “Aja is the Sanskrit word for goat. Is he frightened of the king of goats?”

“Your majesty, what did this beast look like?” The jackal asked the tiger.

“He was lurking behind a boulder, I saw his shadow. He has four huge horns, a bag under his chin and he is half animal, half fish. You know, he doesn’t move around normally, he walks with his front legs and swims with the hind ones. He’ll kill us all. Escape!” The tiger was poised to run.

The jackal scoffed, definitely a goat, an intelligent one who fooled this big tiger. He instantly thought of a plan.

“Wait, your majesty. I’m sure this is a small animal, whose enlarged shadow scared you. How could a beast hide behind a small boulder? I’ll come with you, let’s check this out together. But promise me you’ll give me a share of the meal if you manage to hunt this animal down.” The jackal advised.

“Sure, you’ll get a share of the prey.” The tiger agreed as he half-heartedly returned to his den to check on the beast.

Meanwhile, after this encounter, Nondu no longer wished to stay in the cave. He decided to move outside and hide in some bushes, where he could be perhaps unseen. The rains had stopped, what if the tiger returned?

Just as he was about to come out of hiding, he sensed somebody approaching.

“Oh No!” He was disheartened. “The tiger was indeed back, and this time with a jackal.”

Nondu was almost sure his cover would be blown, but he wasn’t ready to give up, as yet. He had escaped a tiger’s clutches once, he would do it again to save himself. But he had to think fast.

“Hey, Aja Raja! We know you are just a little goat. Come out, no more hiding.” The jackal called out loud this time.

“Oh jackal, my friend, you’re back. And so soon. When this tiger escaped, I was wondering how to get him back into my trap. And then you promised to help, good job, you lured the tiger back here so quickly. Come let’s kill the tiger together and I’ll let you have some of his flesh, as promised.” Nondu tried the last trick in his book.

“What? When?” The jackal was stunned. But before he could say something, the tiger grabbed him by the throat.

“You, along with this beast Aja Raja, hatched a plan to finish me off? When I was running for my life, you lied to me and brought me back to him? You cunning animal, you’ll be punished for this.” The tiger roared.

“No, No. That’s no beast, he’s lying…” The jackal tried to explain, but to no avail. The tiger wasn’t listening, so the jackal scurried into the jungle and the tiger chased him to seek revenge.

The coast was clear and the sun was rising, Nondu hurried out. He made his way outside the jungle, into the meadows, and finally heaved a sigh of relief. In some time, he heard his mother crying out loud.

“Nondu, Nondu, are you there dear? Can you hear me?”

Nondu shouted in joy as his mother lovingly embraced him. Nondu impatiently narrated his adventurous escape experience to his tribe and they marvelled at his cleverness and presence of mind.

“Oh Nondu, how did you manage to remain calm even during those hours of peril?” they enquired.

“Courage and calm could bring the mightiest to their knees. I learnt this from the stories narrated by the grandma at home, all her stories hold strong morals.” Nondu stated proudly.