A RUMOUR TAKES WINGS

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A Rumour Takes Wing

Baba said, "After performing many deeds of merit, you are born a man, and if you

act like this, will Shirdi help you in any way?" in Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch.

XIX.

A pandit crossing a field felt that there was something in his mouth and spat it

out. It turned out to be a heron's feather. He could not understand how it had

got into his mouth and it perplexed him a great deal. When he reached home he

told his wife about it but asked her not to tell anyone lest somebody put a bad

interpretation on it.

His wife was even more intrigued by the strange occurrence and felt the need to

confide in someone. So she swore her neighbour to secrecy and told her what had

happened.

Perhaps it was the way she told it, but her neighbour got the impression that

several feathers had come out of the pandit's mouth. She was shocked. However,

she assured the woman that such things could happen and advised her not to

worry about it.

"Please don't tell anyone," said the pandit's wife.

"My lips are sealed," said the woman. But she was longing to tell someone and

when she saw the dhobi's wife going past, called her in and told her the whole

story. Only, she made it sound as if a whole heron had come out of the pandit's

mouth.

"Never have I heard of such a thing," said the dhobi's wife, her eyes popping

with excitement, "and he being a vegetarian and all that, but one can never

tell..."

She went away promising not to tell anyone but on the way she met her friend and

the whole story sort of tumbled out of her mouth. Perhaps in her excitement she

said 'herons' instead of 'heron' or perhaps her friend just imagined she had

said herons but when she told her husband the story sometime later, she was

emphatic that a whole flock of herons had come out of the pandit's mouth.

And as the story spread "herons" became "herons and other birds" and then

"hundreds of birds of all shapes and sizes".

By evening the whole village and several other neighbouring villages had heard

the story and people began to arrive in droves at the pandit's house to witness

the miraculous happenings there.

The pandit steadfastly denied that any bird had come out of his mouth but nobody

would believe him and everybody begged him to demonstrate his wonderful power of

producing birds from his mouth.

Finally in exasperation, he asked them all to sit in front of his house and when

they had done so ran out of the back and hid in the jungle where he remained

several days till the excitement had died down and the people had realised that

the news was false.."

TAMASO MA JYOTIRGAMAYA….

Time does not pass, time stands still. Only we are passing. That’s why we grow

old and time always remains young.

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