Once Upon a Time in the city of kurnool, in Andhra pradesh, there was a girl called Amulya, her only obsession was good vegetarian food. Tasty food to the palette would give her much Joy happiness and pleasure. As the days went by it became such that her best friend and confidant was her food. As time passed by, Amulya had put on a lot of weight. At the age of only 15, she weighed around 90 kilos. She would find it very difficult to walk or do ary kind of daily chores. Parents and her brothers did hot take kindly to her and mocked and ridiculed her at any given opportunity.
As in many homes even today, Amulya being a girl child, was thought of as being a burden. Parents wanted her to be trained in regular household chores and one day, she would be married off to anyone who agrees to marry her. The attitude of her family was the primary reason our Amulya found solace and shelter in food. Amulya was nothing more than a ugly fatso to her family. Only one reality of her life gave Amulya happiness and that was the presence of Lord Ganesha in her life. Fortunately she was born on the same day as the birthday of Lord Ganesha, which is celebrated World over as Ganesha Chaturthi.
Ganesh Chaturthi also known as Vinayak Chaturthi or Ganeshotsav is a festival of welcoming lord Ganesha, the vighnahartha or
destroyer of all obstacles on his birthday. It is a 10 day long festival, celebrated worldover in all hindu households.
the festival is marked by bringing home the clay ganesha idol.
All religious observances are followed,including chanting of vedic hymes, offering of daily prasad and prayers for the next 10 days. the eleventh day is the day of visarjan, called Anant chaturdashi, when lord ganesha is taken on a grand procession. our beloved lord Ganesha is then immersed in a water body such as a river or sea.
Thereafter it is believed that lord ganesha will return to his celestial abode.
By the cockrow hours of her 16th birthday, Amulya was dreaming about her favourite god and her best buddy, Lord Ganesha and had reels of bappa’s birthday celebration playing in her mind. She vaguely remembered that it was her birthday as well, as for her family, her birthday was never a reason to celebrate. Amulya got up in the wee hours of morning and looked at herself in the mirror and hoped secretly that when she looks at herself on her 17th birthday, she will be a completely different person. Still scared she gave out a Subtle smile,imagining herself to be her favourite star, Angelina Jolie on her 17th birthday 😃.
Her beautiful imagination came to a thud halt, with the shrieking
Sound of her mother’s voice, which was her wake up alarm every morning. Back to reality and back to her 16th birthday, our amulya realised circumstances still remained as horrible and as hopeless as ever. she becoming Angelina Jolie she realised was may be an unattainable dream 😩.
Little did our princess, Amulya guess, the surprise birthday gift that was awaiting her from lord Ganesha.
As in every Hindu household, Ganesha festival was the big celebration in Amulya’s house as well. Amulya’s father had brought a clay idol of Lord Ganesha to their home. Amulya’s mother decorated the corner space adjacent to the puja room to install bappa’s idol (as lord ganesha is fondly called).
A creamish white coloured silk cloth was used as a background and was bordered with golden laze and some multi-colored artificial flowers.
At the base a small carved wooden stool, on which two fists full of raw rice, smeared with haldi (curcumin) was flattened. Bappa was made to sit on this wooden stool, bordered with tightly packed mala of jasmine and rose flowers . Liberally spread with orange red marigold flowers and the two fully bloomed lotus flowers on either side of bappa’s idol was a sacred delight to the eyes. Agarbatti, camphor, coconut, belpatra,
Betel leaves, sandalwood paste, seasonal fruits and sweets (prasad) and silver or gold coins with the image of Goddess lakshmi, lord ganesha, symbol of ohm or symbol of swastik were kept on the pure silver oval Puja thali, which amulya’s mother had recently purchased from Amazon shopping app ( https://amzn.eu/d/cQhg0wB).
The entire house was in a jubilant and festive mood. Amulya’s parents and her brothers were dressed in traditional hindu attire, Amulya was also dressed for the occasion. She loved lord ganesha for many reasons, one of the reasons was the delicious and tasty prasadam. Among the endless delicacies her mother prepared for Ganesha chaturthi, modak and motichoor ladoo were our amulya’s favourites. Amulya was anxiously waiting for the puja to get over as she wanted to relishn on her favourite modak and motichur ladoo.
To her disappointment amulya’s mother gave her only one modak and one ladoo and told her she should wait till afternoon to have some more ladoos and modak as amulyas mother had invited a few of the family friends and relatives for the puja. Amulya’s brother and father also got the same instructions from the lady of the house. They were ok with it , but all the four mocked Amulya and teased her by telling that if she eats ladoo and modak to her fill then not even a single modak or ladoo will remain for the guests. All the four had a hearty laugh at Amulya’s cost as always, though this did not hurt her much but she was deeply saddened by the fact that none of them wished her on her birthday. This was a norm every year, but our poor girl was not used to it and she would be deeply saddened and hurt.
The puja started at around 9:30 a.m. after rahu kalam and went on for the next 2 hours. Friends and relatives Amulya’s mother had invited started dropping in by around 11:30 a.m. After having Darshan and blessings of Lord Ganesha the guests sat down in the sitting area Amulya’s father was hands on in entertaining the guests. Amulya’s mother after a brief chat with the guests went into the kitchen to bring
prasadam to all of them. She took a few banana leaf plates and placed them on a tray and in each plate she kept the prasadam consisting of one Modak, one motichoor ladoo and some puliyogare and cup full of payasam. Then she called Amulya and told her to take the plate of the prasadam and serve it to the guests and meanwhile she would arrange a few more plates of prasadam. Our girl Amulya was tempted at the sight of Modak and in her childlike innocence, she tried to take one modak and eat it. Her bad luck, in trying to eat the Modak the entire prasadam, plate fell. Her father was sitting on the sofa and was enraged at this site. He got so furious that even without thinking twice about the presence of the guests at home he hit Amulya black and blue. Amulya’s mother came out of the kitchen and instead of stopping him, she went on abusing Amulya and was picking the plate and trying to clear the floor, the brothers also were just watching and did not try to stop the father. After a few minutes when the guests started realising what was happening a senior citizen from the crowd whom everyone called Baba came forward and withdrew Amulya from her father’s hands. He took a shivering Amulya in his arms, wiped her tears and told her to go into her room and also assured her that everything will be fine and she will be happy from then on.
Amulya gave a brief smile looking at that baba and noded her head and went into the room silently, sat on a bed and again started crying profusely as she overheard her parents discussing her negative points and calling her a fatso in front of the guests. It was only Baba’s reassuring voice that brought a weak smile to Amulya’s face.
Baba was telling the parents that they should not be so harsh on the child and being fat or slow is not her mistake and as she grows up she will lose all the weight and become a beautiful young lady and will also be a successful human being. Somehow Amulya wanted to make Baba’s words reality and she started thinking what she has to do. She realised that staying here will not help her in any way as parents and brothers are both hostile to her and she cannot make her future in these circumstances.
Secretly from her phone, she took a picture of that old man whom everyone called Baba. She decided that the next day she would run away from her house and go somewhere else to make her life better. She realised that the only prized possession at this point was Baba’s photo and two bangles which she had got from her grandmother.
Next day as usual she got ready for school and kept one dress in the bag and also took the two bangles and hid it in the bag and went out to go to the school. She turned around and looked at the house and promised herself that she would return back only the day when she had turned her life into a success story. After school at around 4:30 p.m. she came out of the school and instead of taking the route to her house, she went to a nearby computer Cafe to get a printout of the old man’s photo which had clicked yesterday. After she got the print out of Baba’s photo, she removed the SIM
and left the phone in the cafe. In the school she had, heard her friends telling that in Mantralayam the food is served thrice a day for free as prasadam. Hence in the school itself, she decided she will go to Mantralayam and then think of the future.
Amulya did not want to take any chances of waiting at the bus stand for the correct bus. She decided that first she will go to Dhone, a small town close to Kurnool and then she will change to another bus at Dhone to Mantralayam.
Unfortunately a few kilometres enroute, the bus broke down and all the passengers were asked to get down. Amulya was a very naive girl and not worldly wise. Instead of being in a group she started walking and hoped that she would find another bus to reach her destination,
Mantralayam.
Sadly at a lonely Juncture, one man grabbed and forced her onto his bike and held her tightly and was trying to take her away. The man pulled out her bangles and put them into his pocket. In spite of the struggle she was holding Baba’s photo tightly close to her. Amulya was remembering the old man’s reassuring voice that from that day everything will be alright for her and she will be fine, this comforting voice of Baba was giving her some hope in spite of the mammoth momentary struggle. God willingly in a kilometre or so, one man, who was coming in the opposite direction, on a scooter, noticed Amulya’s plight and immediately realised that she was in trouble. He followed the bike and overpowered the man who was holding our Amulya and trying to kidnap her. The person who saved Amulya was Mansoor; he was at a PT master in a school nearby. He took Amulya home, he had no children, his wife also was a teacher and taught Biology in the same school as her husband. Her name was Anees Fatima.
Amulya explained her condition to Mansoor and Anees. After explaining her condition she requested the couple that if she can stay in their house, as she doesn’t want to go back home. she told them that she will do all the household work and in turn if they can just give her one time meal that will be sufficient for her.
Listening to this both Mansoor and his wife had tears in their eyes and hugged Amulya tight, they told her for today she should take rest and tomorrow morning as new day breaks, they can decide what to do next. As the time was already 10:00 p.m, Anees realised that Amulya must be hungry and hence prepared hot Pongal for the child and Mansoor got her some chips. Amulya feasted on the Pongal and chips and she felt that it was her tastiest meal ever. She also got a huge glass of creamy buttermilk with a generous sprinkling of coriander leaves. Anees tucked Amulya into the bed and gave a good night kiss. Amulya in her life had never experienced warmth like this and that night decided that she would not go back home and stay with this godly couple.
Next day morning again after a sumptuous breakfast of piping hot idlis and vada Mansoor chacha, as amulya started calling him, explained to her that she should go back home and tell sorry to her parents as her parents might be worried for her. He also gave her confidence that their home was just 4 km from Amulya’s house and she could come to her chacha’s house when she wanted to do so. Anees chachi also agreed to this and explained to Amulya
this is her second home and she can come in any time. She also very gently brushed Amulya’s forehead and told her that her chacha and chachi are always there for her.
Once Amulya was convinced with what her chacha and chachi told her, she agreed to go back to her house. Mansoor took the child to her house, Amulya’s parents were very upset with the child as she had put them through a lot of harassment for the past few hours, but Mansoor explained to them her condition and told them that the child can be suicidal and if anything happens to Amulya, it might harm the familys reputation. Parents calmed down after hearing this and let Amulya get into the house.
From that day on Amulya was a completely changed child. She never got hurt when her brothers or parents insulted her by calling a fatso and impressively she had become immune to their blabbering. Every morning she looked at Baba’s photo which was her prized possession and told him that his prediction for her had become a reality. She wanted to meet Baba once but was not sure if her parents would tell her who he was. She prayed to God that one day she would want to meet him and tell him that she has found a new home and security. She also thanked her best buddy Lord Ganesha for the last beautiful few hours which brought so much peace in her life.
Amulya used to visit Mansoor’s house everyday in the morning, and eat breakfast with her chacha and chachi. Mansoor took Amulya to the school on his way to work and in the evening picked her back and both of them came to his house. Amulya stayed in her chacha’s house until dinner time. Meanwhile she played with a few friends near her chachi’s home around 7:00 p.m,
she had her dinner with Chacha and chachi and then Mansoor took her back to her house. parents did not take any offence to it as they thought that amulya’s nuisance was no longer there and the house was more peaceful.
In a few months Amulya’s chacha and chachi realised the major problem that Amulya was facing was her obesity. They understood that she had a craving for food, because she felt lonely and depressed and not actually hungry.
As Mansoor was a PT master he designed simple stretches which can increase amulya’s metabolism and to her part anees researched a lot of
Healthy recipe books and also spoke to diet counsellors to understand Amulya’s condition. They also got a few blood tests done for her, under medical supervision and understood that Amulya was suffering from hypothyroidism, a metabolic disorder. After taking the entire situation into consideration, the couple charted out a one year plan, where Amulya can get back to her normal healthy self.
Mansoor and Anees realise that they have to take Amulya into confidence, so that they can help her better. So on a weekend they took permission from Amulya’s parents to take her to a movie. parents had no problem because if Amulya would stay in the house it was like a pain in their neck and hence they were more than happy when Mansoor and Anees told them that they want to take the child for a movie. Amulya’s favourite actor was hero Venkatesh and the movie released was called Malleswari.
Venkatesh was the hero and Katrina Kaif was the heroine. Amulya enjoyed the movie and while coming back from the movie the couple took her to a restaurant, to let her feast on her favourite delicacies. After spending a great day, the three of them came back home and Anees went into the kitchen to bring them some tea. Mansoor made amulya sit and explained to her the problems she will face in future if she remains overweight. He told her that she is losing out on the normal pleasures of life which her peers are enjoying, like playing outdoor games like hockey, football, adventure sports Like biking, hiking, water rafting etc. More importantly he told her that if she loses weight she will remain healthy all her life, else she might fall sick in her 20s itself. Meanwhile Anees brought tea for all of them and she told something which Amulya loved, that she can wear all the beautiful clothes, if she loses her weight. Amulya never was. happy with herself or her weight and also always wanted to lose weight but she never knew how to go about it.
Amulya was hesitant at first but later agreed to what her chacha and chachi told her. So they decided from the next day they will walk to the school instead of going on chacha’s iBajaj scooter(). Mansoor also told Amulya that while coming back from school also they will walk back instead of taking an auto or a bus. The couple did not discuss the changes they wanted to make in her diet as they thought that Amulya might not be prepared for it.
Anees started making healthy breakfast such as red rice poha, millet idli or dosa etc most of it was with less oil or no oil. She also started incorporating a lot of fruits and vegetables in the form of salads and for dinner she ensured that instead of rice they switched to kanji( red rice porridge). Amulya did not realise that she was dieting as the food was very tasty and Anees ensured that the child gets her fill of snacks in the evening, so that she doesn’t feel hungry in the night. Also Mansoor had spoken to Amulay’s family and told them that Amulya was suffering from Hypothyroidism and she needed to take tablets first thing in the morning. Parents did not give much heed to it but Amulya took it seriously and without neglecting it, she would take her medicine everyday without fail. In a few months Mansoor also engaged Amulya into outdoor games and with help of a yoga teacher got her to practise surya namaskar.
Slowly and steadily Amulya reached a stage where she was able to do 108 surya namaskars and became flexible and lost all the extra weight.
In the process her obsession with video games and smartphones also reduced. As she lost her weight amulya was happy with herself and was now a more confident child. Now she followed the entire protocol more religiously and was enjoying the process of losing weight. On her 17th birthday, Amulya was a perfect young beautiful healthy lady and definitely could compete with her favourite star Angelina Jolie. On the morning of her 17th birthday, which was also the day of Ganesh Chaturthi, she got up in the morning and looked at her beautiful self in the mirror and thanked her chacha and chachi for the same. She also thanked her favourite god, Lord Ganesha and her pride possession Baba. She hoped to see him today as today was the day last year that baba came home. Parents were more tolerant towards her but still their obsession towards the sons had not died down. She never felt warmth towards her parents or brothers, so the treatment of her parents or her brothers did not bother her. Amulya was dressed in a beautiful baby pink salwar suit which her Chachi had purchased for her from Amazon shopping app ( https://amzn.eu/d/8irwCLN). Anees also had purchased a gold chain, locket of Lord Ganesha (
https://www.etsy.com/in-en/listing/1140964710/22k-gold-ganesha-pendant-solid-gold?r ef=share_v4_lx) and gold studs for our princess, using her credit balance. On ganesha chaturthi amulya was dressed for the occasion and looked like an angel from the heavenly abode.
Amulyas mother was preparing for the puja. Mother, father and brothers were already in the living room where Lord Ganpati was installed this year.
Amulya joined them and this time the only wish she asked Lord Ganapathi was that she wanted to meet Baba and also she thanked Lord Ganpati for the beautiful year that passed by.
After the puja, as usual Amulya’s mother had invited a few friends and relatives over. Amulya was eagerly waiting to meet Baba and showed him her new self. But to her disappointment Baba did not come home, after all the guests had left, Amulya took courage and asked her parents about who was that old man, who had come for last year’s Ganesha Chaturthi, whom everyone referred to as Baba.
To Amulya’s sheer amusement, her parents were not aware as to who he was, they told him that he might have been related to one of the guests. Because of the Hulahoo that happened on the last Ganesha Chaturthi, only a very few pictures were clicked, and baba was not captured in those pictures. Her parents were not interested in knowing who the old man was. Amulya, decided to discusses her issue with her chacha and chachi, they might be able to help her in finding out who the baba was. Amulya took permission from her parents and took some prasadam consisting of Modak, ladoo, payasam and some lemon rice and went to her chacha chachi’s house.
She told her chacha and chachi about her disappointment of not meeting Baba. She had previously discussed Baba, with her chacha and chachi and also had shown them his photograph. Though Mansoor and Anees were a little amused as to why no one knew who was the old man or baba, but still without voicing out the doubts the couple promised Amulya that they will search for baba and ensure she meets him.
Amulya enjoyed the prasadam, that she had brought from home, with her chacha and chachi. Over a cup of coffee, Mansoor and Anees spoke to Amulya about her future plans as she was in first year of college now. Amulya’s parents were against the idea that Amulya should study after 10th std. It was Mansoor who encouraged amulya to study. Along with her weight loss schedule, Mansoor and Anees had a timetable for Amulya’s studies as well. Because of which she had passed her 10th std with 67%. When Amulya’s parents told that they cannot educate her further as they wanted to spend for their sons, it was Mansoor who got her admission in college and told parents that it was a free seat. He put all the resources together and got her a seat in science. He told the parents that if she studies and has a decent job, then it will be easy for her to get married. As time passed by Amulya also completed her 12th std and secured 75%. Amulya was very apologetic to her chacha, because she knew the difficulty that her chacha had put in to get her this seat. From her side she had put in maximum effort but she was not able to score 90% or above. Amulya’s parents did not celebrate her success but told her, she should stop her studies and get married. Mansoor and Anees on other hand were very happy for Amulya and proud of her.
Mansoor and Anees discussed with Amulya as to what she wants to do next. Amulya told them that she was interested in science but she was not inclined to do medicine and wanted to settle down in a good position as soon as possible. Mansoor with his experience suggested that she should do her graduation in basic Sciences and Masters in a rewarding subject like
Biochemistry. He told her that with this background she can get into teaching job or write groups to become an officer in the government sector.
Amulya took his advice seriously, she completed her graduation and then did masters in biochemistry. She wrote her group’s exam and in the first attempt itself she became an officer. In her first salary Amulya brought her chachi and chacha each an apple iPhone 13 pro in midnight and green colours ( https://amzn.eu/d/6igCUlG https://amzn.eu/d/85O6Ns1). Mansoor and Anees were thrilled at this gift and were proud of their child.
Amulya’s parents though not happy with her career path, could not do much because Mansoor had convinced them that once Amulya has a decent job they need not spend money on her marriage or settling her down. As parents were not ambitious for Amulya they were okay that she could fend for herself. Amulya in due course married a person of her choice, who was also an officer in her department. Anees and Mansoor gifted Amulya and her hubby daytona grey colour Tata tango (www.carwale.com/tata-cars/tiago/colours/daytona-grey-7650/?utm_source=socialShare&ut m_medium=referral&u). Mansoor and Anees, had squeezed in all their savings and also had raised some loan to buy Tata Tango for Amulya. But still they wanted to buy this gift for her as she loved uber owned Tata tango,
when she went for an outing with her chacha and chachi.
For Anees and Mansoor, Amulya was their universe and her happiness was everything to them, so it did not seem costly to them to gift a car for her on her big Day. Amulya’s parents were not happy with it but they could not do much because for Amulya her chacha and chachi meant the world and beyond. She saw them in a far more superior position then her parents. To her husband also she had made her stand very clear that he also comes only after them. Mansoor and Anees never felt the void of not having children as Amulya was completely handson. The only promise that Mansoor could not fullfill, was that he could not trace down amulya’s Baba for her, but he was hopeful that one day she will definitely meet her Baba.
Disclaimer : all characters and incidents in the story are purely imaginative and has no resemblance with any person living or dead. The story was penned with the aim to communicate a simple logic that to help someone in difficulty you need not be a blood relative but just a person with a golden heart. Also I want to explain through this story that if you help someone then try to help them completely as help in BITS and p pieces might not actually heed results.