"And then the prince and the princess got married and lived happily ever after."
Veena's mother finished the story and put Veena to sleep. Veena is a cute seven-year-old girl who loves to listen to stories. She gets so lost in the stories that she imagines the characters of the story in the real world and even talks to them. She always wants to see herself as a princess.
"Mother, I also want to be a princess," Veena said to her mother.
"There used to be princesses in the olden days, not now?" Mother explained.
"No, I want to be a princess. Tell me how I can become a princess. "
"You worship Goddess Saraswati, she will fulfil your wish. Only she can make you a princess."
Veena immediately sat down to worship Goddess Saraswati. The whole day she prayed to the goddess to make her a princess. Even while sleeping at night, she prayed the same to the goddess and fell into a deep sleep. When she woke up in the morning, she was not in her room. It was a very big and beautiful room where beautiful carvings were made. The ceiling was so high that it seemed to be touching the sky. The furniture in the room and the bedsheets on them were made of very beautiful and soft muslin cloth. As soon as she got up, two women came to the room with clothes and food items in their hands.
"Princess get ready and eat something, then you have to go to meet Rani Mata (Queen)." A woman said to her.
"Oh wow, I have become a princess. Thank you Goddess Saraswati for fulfilling my wish. " Saying this, Veena started jumping on the bed.
"Please stop. Such behaviour does not suit princesses. You calm down otherwise Rani Mata will get angry at us." Said another maid.
Veena stopped jumping and went to the bathroom to take a bath. There was a small pond here which was filled with fragrant water. Both the maids started bathing her.
"What are you doing, I am grown up and can take a bath by myself." She refused them.
"Princess, this is our duty. Come; let me apply soap to you. Veena wanted to have some fun in the pool but the maids asked her to get out after taking a quick bath. The maidservant started doing Veena's make-up. The maidservant started adorning Veena with ornaments which were very heavy and stinging.
"I don't want to wear all these; they are heavy and sting too."
"Princess you have to wear the jewellery. Otherwise, you will look like an ordinary girl. Who will say that you are a princess?"
"You mean to say, that if I don't wear jewellery, no one will call me a princess." She was surprised.
"Yes, you got it right." Veena quietly put on the jewellery and got ready. She was getting very confused but being a princess she had to do it.
Veena was then taken to her mother. Her mother was also wearing many ornaments and was looking very beautiful. Veena ran to her mother and hugged her.
"Mom you are looking so beautiful."
"Veena .......... Such behaviour does not suit princesses. Step away and behave civilly. Speak slowly and laugh softly. Stop jumping like a monkey. I came to know that you were jumping on your bed today. What's wrong with you?"
"what's wrong with you? I jump every day but you never forbade me?"
"Lord Shiva, it looks like a ghost has possessed you. Immediately call an exorcist, and ask him to perform Yajna. ′′ A maid immediately went away.
After some time Veena was taken to a big hall. Her father was sitting on a high throne. Veena ran towards him shouting his name. Her father always used to lift her in his lap and kiss her on the cheek, but this time he scolded Veena.
"Be careful princess, if you don't change your behaviour, I will punish you. Such behaviour does not suit a princess. Stand up straight. Bow your head down. And talk in a low voice. What has happened to you? Are you out of your mind?"
"Your Majesty, the princess is possessed by a ghost. I will have to perform a Yajna to get rid of that evil spirit. I would need a lot of money for this." The exorcist asked Veena's father i.e. the king.
"Don't worry about the money, just exorcize my daughter. "
After this, the exorcist performed Yajna forcing Veena to sit there. Veena's eyes started burning due to the smoke of the yajna but she had to sit there. Veena was hungry but she could not eat or drink anything until the Yajna was over. After the yajna, The exorcist gave her Prasad to eat. Only after that, she was given something else to eat.
At night, Veena sat down to eat food with the king and queen at the dining table. There were many dishes. But she could not take any dish by herself. She had to ask for food from the maidservant only. The food was very tasty but she was missing the food cooked by her mother.
"Princess, it seems that exorcism did not affect you, Eat properly." Veena's mother taught her How to eat without making sounds and without moving her lips.
Veena was taught new rules and she would be criticized for not behaving properly every day. There were so many rules and regulations that Veena got upset. On top of that, she was not even allowed to play with anyone. She was not allowed to go out of the palace. Wherever she went, two maids always accompanied her. Who used to give her thousands of instructions on how to walk, how to laugh, how to eat. When Veena wanted to hug her mother or father, they used to criticize her that these actions did not suit the princesses. Her mother was performing the dignity of being a queen and father of being a king. No one had time for Veena.
One day Veena started crying and started praying to Goddess Saraswati "O Goddess Saraswati, I don't want to become a princess, make me the same ordinary girl Veena." The next morning she woke up in her room. This was her same old, small room. She ran out happily. Her mother was cooking in the kitchen, she hugged her.
"What happened ?"
"Mom, you are more beautiful and better than a queen. " she said.
"Where is my dear daughter." When her father called Veena, she ran to him and sat on his lap.
Papa neither took her off his lap nor asked her to behave like a good princess. Veena understood why she was not born as Princess Veena because Veena's life was better than any princess.
