Vardaan 1...The Ultimate Boon

Chapter 23: The Real Reason (Part 1)

Thinking over lots of things, Batuk returned to his dilapidated hut swinging in joy.

When Batuk knocked, Swaraa, who had been waiting for him for a long time took a sigh of relief. Never before had the owner called Batuk at night. When she started asking the reason, she saw that Batuk was much happier that time than he was before going to the owner's house.

Swaraa wanted to ask her husband the reason for his double happiness. But guilt and self-loathing sealed her lips.

Swaraa had decorated her hut as best she could for the Satsang. A seat was placed for Pundit Ji. At that moment she was preparing the food. Although, like every Aryavarta family, that family also did not take food after sunset, Swaraa was not going to get peace without feeding food to her husband who had returned from a long journey.

Batuk had also agreed to have food at night for the sake of Swaraa's happiness, as he did not want his beloved wife to be distressed all night.

Batuk was also yearning to give her the good news, but seeing her face, he remembered in what mood he had left her. He remained silent thinking that Swaraa would not be happy in such a condition.

Batuk first thought of bringing a smile to the face of his dear wife. That was possible only when all the burden of her mind was removed.

"Today I will cook food." Batuk came near the stove and said.

"Why do you say such things, do these things suit men when there are women around?" Swaraa said in the familiar style of the women of Aryavarta.

Like all the women of Aryavarta, Swaraa was also under the illusion that this statement had been born in her mind. Whereas, the reality was that this happened due to the male-dominated mindset that kept women captive at home.

Yes, that statement naturally did not appear in Swaraa's mind. That was first said by a man. Then the rest of the men repeated it so many times that all the women of Aryavarta started feeling that they were born to take care of the kitchen. In such a situation, if men have to cook while women are there, then it is a matter of shame for women.

"Whenever I do listen to your stupid thoughts then a thought comes to my mind that the whole world should take education in our Gurukul. If this happens then every ostentation and every evil in the world will end automatically. The difference between males and females has stopped the progress of society. Men consider themselves human but women never understand themselves as human. Swaraa we are human beings first, then man or woman. Except for a couple of differences, we are both naturally alike. We both have the same rights and duties. We both have the same type of strengths and weaknesses. Visit our Uttarasaadhaka Gurukul sometime and then you will see that every chhatar there can do what a woman can do." The new Batuk who left the old Batuk outside the threshold of the Uttarasaadhaka Gurukul said.

Swaraa's mouth remained wide open after hearing all that. Her husband had given such a long bhashan (speech) on a small matter.

'Bhashan'... In a society full of ignorant people, whenever a knowledgeable person sees the ignorant public doing some foolish thing, that knowledgeable person tries to show the right path to the ignorant public by talking about his tested knowledge. Then the same ignorant public completely ignores the practical talks of that wise man by calling it 'impractical bhashan' and again engages in foolish acts.

By doing so, ignorant people think that they have been saved from trouble, while the reality is that they have been deprived of getting someone's knowledge in a few moments that they accumulated over the years. They were ignorant and they remained ignorant. Therefore, keeping the flag of their ignorance high, they keep on behaving foolishly until some big scandal happens in society.

The most surprising thing is that when a big scandal happens, the same ignorant people make an innocent face and say, "Hey, we were not aware of this." Then they do not remember the words of that knowledgeable person at all, because they would never have heard the practical talks of that wise man.

When it was time to hear and understand the practical talks of a knowledgeable person, those ignorant people were engrossed in ignoring the words of that knowledgeable person by calling 'bhashan' to his valuable talks.

"And most importantly, if the person preparing the food is not in a happy mood, then the taste goes out of the food being prepared. No matter how many spices you use, the natural taste of the food does not remain." Batuk said and Swaraa was shocked again.

Batuk saw that Swaraa was just shocked, but she had not given up on her feminist idea of cooking. That gave Batuk the opportunity to say the rest of the sutras (formulas) related to cooking.

"Similarly, if the person preparing the food has bad thoughts in his mind, or abuses are heard in the ears of the person preparing the food, or the person preparing the food himself utters abuses while preparing the food, then the food becomes poisonous... "

"...Oh my God..." Swaraa spoke nervously before Batuk could finish his sentence.

"... Yes, no matter how many indigenous or foreign spices you cook in different ways, the food will remain poisonous. It means that instead of making life-giving food, the maker of the food would have made a deadly poisonous material...."

"...please stop. My mind is troubled." Swaraa spoke again, interrupting Batuk.

Batuk noticed that although Swaraa was distressed, she had not given up the idea of cooking. It simply meant that none of the sutras Batuk had told so far about cooking food was expressing Swaraa's mental state.

Batuk decided to tell the next formula of cooking with that excuse.

"I am telling 100% truth. Culinary aacharyas of our Uttarasaadhaka Gurukul have proved the authenticity of these sutras by researching for years." Batuk said proving his point in his own style.