Big Bellies and the Invisible Seed

by Milan Khanolkar
(inspired by a trip to the weekly Wednesday market in Siolim)

On the banks of a river there was a village. The village covered itself with greenery, lived in its own world with little care. Its greenery was its life; people from across the river visited the village for this. Experiencing the living greenery of the village would make the visitors connect with the freshness within them. Someone discovered the poet within her; another found the painter or poet within himself. For yet another it kindled the writing muse and for some others the joy they had within. Some visitors stayed back while others returned to where they came from.

One day a boat arrived in this village with five people on it. They had large stomachs with overgrown paunches that reached their feet. The moment they touched their feet on land they felt a burning hunger within. They felt as if they wanted to eat everything edible and alive in the entire village there and then. They allowed this feeling to get the better of them and promptly starting feasting in and on the village. They kept eating till they had consumed the small farmers, their land, their cattle and their families too. The small farmers were the village protectors and once they were consumed there was no one left to protect the village. Then with enthusiastic frenzy they ate up all the traditions, the symbols, the deities and the religiosity of the village. Their stomachs were so large that no matter how much they ate, their stomachs expanded to fit what they ate. Once they had eaten many hills in one go. How long could it take them to finish this village? After they had consumed the village they rubbed their hands on their stomachs and said there is nothing left, so let us depart now.

Once they were in their boat, ready to leave, an ugly bird came and whispered in their ear. They decided to change their decision to leave. The bird told them that there was still something left in the village and unless they consume that too, they cannot return to where they had come from. Once a week, in a sacred place the village deity would come with a basket of seeds. The village deity is visible only to the villagers and the villagers alone can collect seeds from the deity. These big bellied now realized that had they spared the villagers they could have used them to get the seeds from the village deity and then had the seeds too. But now that the villagers were no more how were they to get the seeds? The deity too, sitting in her place, began to worry as to why the villagers were not coming to collect seeds.

And so the deity keeps waiting, hoping that at least one villager will come to collect seed. The big bellied too cannot leave the village till they eat the remaining seed.