Hone se na hone tak...

Ek chuha... Kuch kauve ussey chonch maar maarkar zinda khaa rahe hai...

About a fly...

Once upon a time, there was land far far away. It was a land like no other. It was a land full of magic called Hoolaland. And in Hoolaland anything was possible. The trees could sing, the animals could talk and the fishes could fly.

In this land of magic, lived a little housefly called Rooshi. Rooshi was a good fly. He would always listen to what his mother had to say. But Rooshi was sad. He had a secret wish, a wish that even momma fly did not know off. Rooshi wished he was a star, up above in the beautiful sky of Hoolaland. He would often stare at the twinkling stars from the window of her little house near the woods.

One night when Rooshi was going to bed, Momma fly told him a story of Flyosko, the first fly who discovered Hoolaland. Flyosko was a small housefly living in a city by the garbage dump. Flyosko had a dream. A dream about a place where there was ample food for everyone and no danger from humans. So one day Flyosko left in search of a land he did even know existed. After days of wandering, his wish was fulfilled as he finally discovered the magical land of Hoolaland.

“Momma if you wish for something do you surely get it?”, Rooshi asked his mother

So Momma fly said, “If you want something, you just wish for it really hard”

After she said that, Momma fly put Rooshi to sleep. But Rooshi was not sleepy today. He was thinking about Flyosko. Suddenly, Rooshi decided that if ever he wanted to be a star, like Flyosko he would also have to wander and search for the place where a star was born. He turned and saw Momma fly was fast asleep. He kissed her goodnight and left for the deep dark woods.

The deep dark woods of Hoolaland had a life of its own. Momma would often tell Rooshi about the dangers that lay in the deep dark woods, and that a fly should never go into the woods. But there was no looking back. The woods were the only place he could find out about the place where a star was born.

As he kept flying, the woods kept getting denser. Suddenly Rooshi heard someone laugh.

“Ehahahah EEhahahahah”

Rooshi got scared. From nowhere a witch on a broom appeared in front of him. She was really old and ugly. She asked, “ Rooshi, where are you going? The woods are not a safe place for little ones like you, especially after night falls my dear. I know where you are going; you want to go to the place where a star is born. Come with me, I will take you there”

“Oh really?” Rooshi jumped out of joy. But then he remembered what Momma fly used to say about witches. She would always say that one should never to trust witches.

“I will find my way. Thank you”

The witch laughed and said “If you can’t find it, just say my name aloud three times, and I will be there little one to help you. My name is Prialla. Ehahahaha”

“I will do that” said Rooshi, as he started flying ahead. He had always heard about the wicked witches but never seen one before. As he was flying, Rooshi could hear music. He identified it as the musical crickets that would sing in the night. The music of the crickets was very soothing as Rooshi merrily started going deeper and deeper into the woods.

“Tabadak, tabadak, tabadak"

Rooshi thought it was a horse and started looking around. He was not completely wrong. There came a beautiful white unicorn from behind the trees.

“Hey Mr Unicorn. My name is Rooshi. I live outside the woods. Uhh.. I want to be a star and was looking for the place where a star is born. I was wondering if you could direct me there.” said Rooshi.

The unicorn laughed aloud. He said, “ In this land of Hoolaland, there are creatures who have magical powers and there are creatures who don’t. So if you are born ordinary, you will remain so all your life”

“I will work really hard and learn how to be a star”,said Rooshi.

“Some things cannot be learnt. You need to be born with it. You are just wasting your time you kiddo” saying that the unicorn turned and galloped away.

Rooshi was quiet disheartened hearing that. But he was not to lose hope. He was very thirsty by now. He started looking around for water, but he could not find any. After a few minutes of flying, he could hear sound of gurgling water. He started flying frantically in that direction. Suddenly he came upon a stream of crystal clear water. In the moon’s gentle light, the stream looked as if it were a thousand silver ribbons floating away with the wind. Rooshi bend down to drink the water. The water was nice and sweet. He drank a few sips. Just then he heard a sound again

“ Yippeedippeedooo”

He looked and he saw a beautiful mermaid in front of him. She was looking right at him.

“Yippeedippeedoo I say”. Rooshi didn’t know what she was trying to say.

“Oh I am sorry. In our mermaid land that’s how we say hello. Yippeedippeedoo. I am Scarlett. You looked troubled and sad. Nobody should be sad. I like happy people. Is there anything that will make you happy?”

“Oh yes”, said Rooshi. Do you know where a star is born?”

“ Stars? Yes stars. They twinkle in the sky. Magnificent. I like stars. Stars make me happy. I like happy people. But I don’t know where a star is born. Sorry.”

“Ok” said Rooshi sadder then ever before.

“Anyway it was nice meeting you. I have to go. I have to swim across this stream that will lead me to a river that goes and joins the big wide sea. The thought of big wide sea makes me happy. I like to be happy. Everyone should be happy. Ciao. Hope you find your place soon.Yippeedippeedoo. ”

And the mermaid swam away. As Rooshi sat by the riverside, a tear fell in the water and created a few ripples. He rubbed his eyes and realized they were moist. Maybe the Unicorn was right. Magic doesn’t happen to everyone. You have to be born special. Maybe he was not special enough. He was just an ordinary housefly. He was not Flyosko. Maybe he should have

never dreamt of something so impossible.

He wished he had listened to his mother and not come into the deep dark woods. Here he was tired, hungry, without his mother and still an ordinary fly who did not know his way home. Suddenly his eyes started getting heavy.

Little did Rooshi know that when he was crying, there was a fairy called the night fairy, who was sitting on the moon and watching him. She was the kindest and the most beautiful fairy in Hoolaland. She came down to little Rooshi who was fast asleep by now. She reached out to the moon and pulled out some moonlight in her hand.

Rooshi opened his eyes. It was still night and he was still by the riverside. He saw a beautiful fairy standing in front of him. Something was different. He was glowing brightly like fire in the darkness. But he was not up above the sky. Was he a star? He was really confused.

The fairy saw his confusion and said, “You are not a star”

“ Oh I am not? But I am glowing?!”

So the fairy said, “You are not a star. But you are not an ordinary fly anymore. You don’t have to be born special. You just have to search till the time you find it. From today onwards, people will know you as a firefly. So everyday when the moon rises and the stars come out in the sky, you will also twinkle, not in the sky but down here close to the earth. You will always keep reminding little children that if you truly believe in magic, it really happens…”

MANASI RACHH