THE CHALLENGE
-2. Raghu Meets The King

Raghu sat gloomily in a corner for some time and then opened his shop for the evening.  Even in his evening stint, there were occasions when he had to speak with his customers and much to his disillusionment, he stammered.  In the night, he closed the shop, had his dinner and retired for the day.  Before sleeping, he thought in his mind, “May be I will never get rid of this drawback of mine!  It seems I will have to live with it throughout my life!”

The next day after performing his routine work which included singing a bhajan of a deity, he pondered about his next move.  That day was his weekly off from work and so he was free to do as per his liking.  After much thought, he decided upon his course of action.  He opened a medium-sized trunk and took three beautiful sheets of drawings from it.  As he looked at them, his eyes became moist with tears for the sketches reminded him of his father.  He put them in a plastic cover and set out somewhere.

After a long walk, he reached the palace of the ruler of his kingdom, King Rajendra!  One of the guards, who was standing vigil at the entrance asked him, “Yes, sire!  How can I help you?” 

Again, Raghu had a fear in his heart that he would not be able to speak properly.  He opened his mouth to speak but words refused to come out!  Seeing him so pensive, the guard spoke up, “Relax, sire!  You want to meet the King?” 

“Y…Y…Yes!”  Raghu spoke with great difficulty.  Pointing to the plastic cover, he continued, “I…I want to show t..this to the K..King.” 

The guard asked him to wait and went inside the palace.  In a short while, he returned with another guard and told Raghu, “Please follow him, sire.  He will take you to the King.” 

As Raghu followed the guard, he had a look at the magnificent palace, which was sparkling in gold.   There were some artistic paintings made on the wall of some deities which only added to it’s grandeur.  Soon, they reached the King’s chambers and the guard turned to Raghu, “Please go in, sire!  Maharaj is waiting for you!”  Raghu thanked the guard and entered inside.  His heart was pounding!  How will his meeting turn out to be with the King?  He was also worried about his stammering problem.  How will the King react when he finds him speaking with such difficulty? 

As Raghu entered inside, he found King Rajendra seated on his throne.  His face reflected his youthful age, he was fair complexioned and a thin moustache matched his elegant personality.  Rajendra rose to welcome Raghu and made him sit on a seat beside him.  It was the King’s custom to welcome his guests, especially his subjects, with full hospitality.  He had also given specific instructions to his guards that they should treat his visitors with utmost reverence.  The King keenly observed Raghu who seemed to be younger to him by a few years, had well-ruffled hairs, lovely eyebrows and eyes with cute little lips.  Raghu’s face still resembled to that of a child which the King liked very much. 

Raghu sat overwhelmed at the grand welcome he had received at the hands of the King.  “Tell me, Raghu.  I gather that you wanted to show me something.”  Rajendra spoke in his deep voice. 

“Y…Yes, Maharaj!  I..I am sorry!  I..I can s…speak o…only  l…like this!  P…Please b..bear with m…me!” Raghu said in despair. 

The King laughed away the fears of Raghu.  “Oh!  Come on, Raghu!  That’s okay!  I am eager to see what you want to show me!” 

Raghu took the drawings from the plastic cover and handed them over to Rajendra.  The King looked at them one by one.  The first drawing depicted him mixing with his subjects, the second showed him in a standing posture with his hands on his hips and the third was that of his father in a similar posture. 

“Aha!” Rajendra exclaimed, “You have done these, Raghu?” 

The youth shook his head in the negative.  “M..My father did them, M…Maharaj!  D…Did you l..like them?” 

“Oh!  These are excellent!  Your father is a great artist!”  Rajendra exclaimed in admiration.

“T…Thanks, M..Maharaj!  He h…had once seen you m…mixing with the p…people.  The first d…drawing d..depicts that!  H..He had seen b..both y..you and your father c..closely, r..remembering w..which he drew the o..other two.”   Raghu revealed.  “Brilliant!  Where’s your father?  Why didn’t you bring him along?”  Rajendra asked curiously. 

Raghu replied glumly, “B..Both f..father and m..mother are n…no, more, M..Maharaj!  While father died due t..to a heart ailment n..nearly a month ago, mother died a w..week after unable to b…bear h..his loss.” 

Rajendra was filled with sorrow to hear this.  He came near Raghu and kept his hand on his shoulder.  “I am extremely sorry to learn this, dear!” 

Tears welled up in the eyes of Raghu as he remembered his parents.  He wiped his tears and looked at the King.  “Sire, my father o…owns a sweet shop at Tirchi.  I..If you remember you had been there on a couple of occasions d..during your evening rounds.” 

“Where exactly is your sweet shop in Tirchi?”  the King asked thoughtfully. 

As Raghu explained him the exact locations of his shop, the King suddenly snapped his fingers.  “Yes!  I now remember, Raghu!  I had even eaten a laadoo from your shop which tasted delicious.  I had been inside your house, which is just the other room of your shop.  Right?” 

Raghu was surprised at this sharp memory of the King.  “Absolutely right, Maharaj!  When y..you came over to our place, f..father had these drawings with him but he did not show it to you.” 

“Why?” asked the King perplexed.