salt spices and a magnet - The princess who valued nothing

Long time ago there was a beautiful princess. She was the fairest and beatuiful in the land.
Born after 12 long years of wait and she was highly cared for and protected. Her every wish was granted, to the extent that she grew vain and selfish.
No wish she ever made was refused. She got used to instant gratification, and got anything her heart desired. Though she was kind at heart and could have been wise with the education she received, her parents never let her realize the true value of the things she had around her.

She wore what she liked, ate what she wanted and had thing her way, never being thankful for the life she had and the comforts she got.

One of these days, for no special reason she refused to eat the breakfast made for her. She threw out the sliver plate out of the window, not caring who it fell on!

"Is this what is made for breakfast? This food is not fit for a princess, feed it to the dogs.. "

"But princess, this food is a special one, made from the choicest and the most expensive ingredients, imported from China."



"It tastes good, but I am bored of it! I will have something different today. Go prepared something I have never eaten before, else I shall not eat!"



"But Gayatri, this is a new dish- we have invited a special chef from another kingdom, no one has ever tasted anything like this before." said the queen.



"But Queen mother, its just the same as I had last month, Its good but..."



"Eat up now, I will not have you waste more food again!"



"But mother!" said the princess and finally ate the food in another plate.






The same was the case with the cloth's she wore, the toys she played and the maids which kept her company.



At 16 the princess was on different, the kingdome which was once prosperous was now inflicted with Drought and famine.



People were dying of lack of water, however the situation in the palace was very different.



The prince had her pools filled with water. played the game of colors in it and when asked, paid no heed to her parents biddings. Her servants grew resentful of her and parents wary.



Was there nothing they could do?



To solve the drought problem, the king conducted many sacrifices, offered many penances, fed many brahmins. But to no avail.



The situation in the kingdom grew worst.



One of these days the kingdome was visited by a great sage. He was troubled by the water problem in the kingdom. and had visited the king regarding this awful situation. He offered to do some penance on behalf of the king. The king offered him a place to stay, and agreed to provide all that he would need to get situation sorted out.



The sage sat down under a tree to meditate after his morning prayers, when he heard a lovely laughetr. It was none other then the pricess.. playing with her maids in a blissful pool of cool water.



The princess splashed water on her maids and they retorted in fear and agitation.
"Princess, the kingdom suffers a great deal, crops are suffering, due to lack of water. Please let us not waste anymore. Let us just have enough for our bath and be back."



"NO, I DO NOT CARE FOR THE KINGDOM. I am the princess, I will do as I please."



The maid who knew her too well kept quite as they were the lucky few who had a job and sufficient water in the palace. They would not want to lose it.



The sage who was disturbed by her noisy behaviour, came walking.



"Princess, I am here to prey for your kingdom, let me do my meditation in peace. Would you be so kind enough to play elsewhere so I can meditate in peace"



"Foolish old man, Do you not know who you are talking to? I am the princess of the most wealthy and great kingdom, who are you to teach me? I can and will do as I please. so go away with your ugly old cloths and filthy old body. You are making my day unpleasant with your presence. Shoo get lost."



The sage who was very powerful from years of penance got angry.



"Pity, such wisdom and education is wasted on such upbringing! Foolish girl1 I have been observing you since the day I got here. You have everything a person can desire - Good looks, good education and all the wealth under the sun. But you have forgotten the value of the most simple things in life. All these things you take great pride in will vanish in a minute and you will be left with what you really are. Do you know who you really are?"



The princess who was not used to hearing back from people other than her parents was shocked and surprised.



Old man, there is nothing that can change the fact that I am educated, good looking and rich! what can you do about it? humph!



All right, may you come to your true form, be of value for what you are and not by the meaning of your stature, wealth and fortune. This will be a lesson for you, one one who has not learned to value the simple things in life and understand most importantly who your truly are.



The princes rolled her eyes...



But in an instance - the palace disappeared and she was landed in a peasants clothes in the middle of a great big desert. She knew not where she was, it was just her and the old sage.



What trick have you played? she said, where am I? which place is this? The heat is killing me! Oh, these filthy cloths. They are so uncomfortable. I can not tolerate them. Its scratching my delicate body. The sun- I will turn dark. My lovely golden complexion.. what have you done? where am I?



"What have you done to me? Take me back to my parents. Take me back to my palace!"



"Your palace princess? The palace belongs to the king, you on your own are nothing, you have no worth and value. and unless you learn the lesson of valuing the simplest things in life, you will not get back to your previous life. Now go find out who YOU truly are?"



Gayatri roamed around the desert for hours, what seemed like days but were mere hours. Her skin darkened due to the scorching heat, her lips dried. She missed her cool palace garden. Her maid who was ever present and bringing her things even before she could ask for it. She missed the shades for the peepal trees from her garden. The sweet taste of fresh juices her maid would get her, and how she would waste them for silly reasons..



"Often the maid had to drink them up to avoid mom's scolding." She smiled and fell down on the sand too tired to walk, too strained to tolerate the heat.

I think she liked drinking the juices, so got it even when I didn't want them, Poor girl.. I forget her name now. Radhika, yes.. I miss her so much..


In a dazed state the princes forgot where she was and imagined herself in her palace,



"Radhika, get me a glass of cold fresh juice, and make it fast, its too hot here!!"



in a few minutes she fall unconscious...

**********

She woke up in a tent, a gentle looking lady was tending to her. She was dark, her skin bruised  and looks rugged. Her dress was dusty and worn.  She was easily what one might easily call ugly. The tent itself looked old and torn at places. But the tent gave her shade and she was now cool and rested.

Ordinarily she would detest the sight of such an ugly creature and place. But right now she was too tired to react, too weak to hate. Though the place she was in was unbearable for her, she had no choice. She lay still, all she knew was that she was thirsty. She asked for water, the old lady shouted in joy! 

"The girl has awakened, she is alright! May Allah be praised!"

She held out her dusty wrinkled hands, the princess felt disgusted, but she needed water. 
A dirty clay bowl was put gently to her mouth- the cool water was like Amrit to her. 

"Drink my child, I wonder how you survived the heat of this desert there all alone. "

After drinking, she fell into deep sleep.

The next day she work up, feeling much better, But now she was feeling very very hungry. She had never had to go without food, except for the warrior training she had received. 
True she was trained to go without food for days, and she could do so easily, but somehow it was different now. 

She sat up and looked around. It was the most filthy and unclean place she has ever seen. But today when she looked at herself she seemed to be one with this place. 

The old lady came in and smiled at her. So you have finally woken up.


"What is this place? why is this tent so dirty, where am I?"

"Well Princess, this is my humble home and my tent is  not torn and filthy, it is the best tent you can find in miles." - old lady

"How did you know I am a princess? and  that can't be true!" - Gayatri

"You look like you don't belong to the desert, where is your family? did you get seperated from them they in a sand storm?"

Gayatri realaised, it was no use humiliating the person who had saved her. 

"Sorry, I was dizzy, ignore what I just said, where am I?"

"Do are at the western borders. We are camping here for the night, then we are off to the port city of kwaziya city. Where were you headed?"

All these names were totally unfamiliar to Gayatri. But she did not want to look lost. 

"Yes, My family and I were headed to kwaziya city. How long wil

We were actually headed for Samarathnagar." How far is Samarathnagar from there? "


"Ha ha ha I think the girl has lost her head! They plan to travel 5000 miles!," came a strong manly  sound.  It was the old ladies son. He was a middle aged man who was heavy built. 


Samarathnagar is in Bharat, 5000 miles from here,  under the rule of the great king Sarathi Sen. How come you want to travel 5000 mile? Are you from a trading community?


Gayathri was offended his words and at the same time ashamed of her lack of knowledge. No one dared laugh at her in her own kingdom. They would probably be beheaded for this insolence.

"Hush now, the poor girl just got up, she is still dizzy. Come chid have something to eat."

Gayatri was relieved. She was in the care of strangers, weak as she was, she could not do anything about him.

The meal was simple, hardly any food for a princess! She was one piece of  

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