The Golden Heart

A puja was in progress in an ancient temple located in a small village. While the head priest was chanting mantras, the entire village folk crowded around in silence. The deity of the temple was considered to be very powerful and people believed that she granted everything, that was wished for. A loud and unexpected noise startles everyone assembled. The priest stops midway, the people get up in confusion. “What was that noise?”, they ask.

- A children’s story written by Charanya Balajhi, a passionate storyteller who has numerous stories in her story bag, to keep children enthralled.

Photo by Matthew T Rader on Unsplash

Perumalsamy, the head priest was chanting the mantras sincerely. He was a dedicated person. The village Sarpanch (head of the village), Arumugam was at the temple with his family. All the village folk had gathered to see and perform the pooja that took place every year. The Deity in the temple was considered very powerful and was believed to grant all that was wished for.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise of something falling down. Everybody was shocked to find a glittering golden plate at the sanctum inside. Then there came a voice which said that it was a blessed golden plate and that it would find a person who had a golden heart.

There was pin drop silence. Nobody moved from their places. The head priest was the first to try touching it. But to everybody’s surprise, the plate just zoomed by. Next the Sarpanch tried his hand. But the golden plate simply zoomed past! A few other villagers also tried , but in vain. The people assembled were worried. Each one of them started having different thoughts.

After sometime,the golden plate started floating in the air and moved about slowly. The villagers started following it to know where it was heading. The golden plate slowly went to the end of the village. It stopped in front of a small thatched hut. It belonged to a poor and an honest farmer, Vasu. He was a very good person who parents were very old and sick. He served them happily and looked after them with great love and affection. Come what may, he never wavered in his affection and his duty towards his parents.The golden plate seemed to have a plan. It fell at Vasu’s feet. Seeing this all the village people were amazed.Then again,they heard the voice saying…

“Blessed are those who serve their parents with unconditional love till their last.”

Soon people started to murmur amongst themselves. Everyone knew that Vasu took care of his parents but no one really thought that he would be a man whom they must look upto. Everyone went home that day, thinking about how they have been with their own parents. Over time, the village became a much happier place to live in, where there was laughter, mutual love and above all respect for the elderly.

Charanya loves narrating stories from Hindu Mythology in her YouTube Channel-Kadhai Pettagam