Mr. Potato’s party
Mr. White Radish was very proud of himself. He had a long white body and a green plume of leaves on his head. He walked about as if he owned the place. He did not see the little group of bean seeds talking and laughing within themselves. He tripped over them because he was walking with his nose high in the air. Mr. Cabbage laughed when he saw Mr. Radish make a fool of himself. Mr. Cabbage was light green, round and fluffy. Miss Brinjal looked pretty in her purple dress with a green waistcoat. She walked with a grace that could have put everybody to shame. The vegetables of the land of Shakahari were invited to a party at Mr. Potato’s house.
His house was warm and cozy and everybody loved visiting his family. His wife and children were friendly too and shared all their toys with the other children. Mr. Drumstick was lean and tall and he looked down on the potato family. He teased them. “You funny mounds of starch!” he called out to the Potato family. Mrs. Potato heaved her chest with anger and stared at Mr. Potato. When would he ever take charge of the mean Mr. Drumstick?
He was long and slim. “Look at me, tall and slim and full of fiber” he boasted.
Mrs. Cauliflower saw that there was some unpleasantness and wanted to quickly put an end before it turned ugly. “Well, Mr. Drumstick”, she called. “The Potatoes may be full of starch, but they are the ones who add a lot of flavor to anything and everything that is eaten. Of course, you make excellent sambar, Mr. Drumstick, but Mr. Potato is very kind to all of us. He just needs to be with us in any kind of dish and we are full of taste and flavor.”
Mr. Drumstick snorted and moved away. He was not the best here. He wanted to try some other group where he could show off some more.
“Oh! You fat tomatoes!” he called. Mrs. Tomato turned a deeper shade of red and was hurt. How dare Mr. Drumstick insult her like that, she fumed with her fat belly heaving. She would teach him a lesson she decided. “Yes, Mr. Drumstick”, she smiled sweetly at him. Mr. Drumstick came near her and gave her a look from her green top to her tiny shoes sticking out from under her fat belly. He sniggered and said, “How can you people eat so much and remain fat and round all the time?” he asked Mrs. Tomato. Mrs. Tomato wanted to give one tight slap on Mr. Drumstick’s thin cheek, but controlled herself. She politely said, “The same way that you remain lean and tall all the time, Mr. Drumstick.”
Mr. Drumstick beamed with pleasure. He was very proud that he looked tall and lean. Mrs.
Tomato had not forgotten the insult. She wanted to deal with Mr. Drumstick in a way that he would stop his know -it-all attitude forever.
She called all the vegetables for a small game that she quickly organized to help Mr. Potato. All the vegetables- Mr. Radish, Mr. Cabbage, Miss Brinjal, Mr. Turnip, Mr. Beans, Mrs. Cauliflower, Miss Carrot, Miss Cucumber, Mr. Beetroot-gathered in front of Mrs. Tomato and waited for her instructions.
Mrs. Tomato had a small red ball in her hand and said that all the vegetables would have to stand in a circle. The ball would have to be passed around in the circle among all the vegetables while some music was played. The music would be stopped at various intervals and then the vegetable with the ball in hand would have to perform some dance or sing or recite a poem or even enact a scene from a film. All the vegetables were excited to participate in the game.
“Come Mr. Carrot, stand next to me” called Mr. Turnip. “Thanks, but I would like to hold Miss Brinjal’s hand” he whispered to Mr. Turnip. Miss Brinjal smiled from under her eyelashes when Mr. Carrot held her hand. “ Oh, you beautiful lady” said Mr. Carrot. Miss Brinjal turned a deeper purple. Mr. Cabbage held Mrs. Cauliflower’s hand and Mr. Beans held her other hand. Finally they stood in a circle and most of them were more or less the same height but dear Mr. Drumstick stood tall in the circle. He looked down on all the vegetables and had the hateful smile on his face that Mrs. Tomato disliked. The music started and the ball was passed around. Mrs. Tomato stood next to Mr. Drumstick and each time she had to pass the ball to him, she would drop it so he had to bend and pick it. This was repeated at least four or five times and Mr. Drumstick could already feel the pain in one of his nodes. At the next turn, he decided, he would not let Mrs. Tomato do the trick. Mrs. Tomato could see that he was on to her plan. When the chance came, instead of dropping the ball, for which purpose Mr. Drumstick had already started to bend down in anticipation,, she threw it high in the air. At every turn, Mrs. Tomato did the exact opposite of what Mr. Drumstick was anticipating. The effort was soon beginning to make Mr. Drumstick tired.
“Please, Mrs. Tomato, could you pass the ball to me correctly?” he pleaded.
“Why, of course, Mr. Drumstick, if you would stop teasing the other vegetables”, she said proudly.
“I promise, I promise”, wailed Mr. Drumstick, anything to get rid of this back-breaking exercise..
Mrs. Tomato then announced to the whole group of vegetables, “Dear friends, Mr. Drumstick has now understood that just being beautiful outside is not good enough. One needs to be beautiful inside as well. Mr. Cabbage nudged Mr. Radish. Mr. Radish also understood the message. He nodded his head understandingly. Mr. Drumstick looked down and smiled sheepishly.
“I am sorry Mr. Potato for being so rude”, Mr. Drumstick said to Mr. Potato. I will never ever tease you or the others. Each one of us has something good in us. I will respect that and be nice and friendly to all” he said.
Mr. Potato being the warm and friendly type immediately gave him a hug and asked him to join him for a drink together.
The party was full of fun and it lasted till the wee hours of the morning. All of them were happy and thanked Mr. Potato for the nice party.
