Vemana: A spoon of good milk is enough

Told in English, Telugu.

In a small village near the Godavari river, there lived a boy called Chintu. He was eight years old, he had a gap where his front tooth used to be, and he loved his teacher, Lakshmi garu, more than anyone at school.

One evening, Chintu came home with a long face. He dropped his school bag on the verandah and sat down next to his Ammamma, who was cleaning rice in a wide plate.

"What happened, kanna?" she asked.

"Lakshmi teacher is leaving our school," said Chintu. "She is going to live with her son in the city. On Friday, every child is bringing a farewell gift."

"That is a kind thing to do," said Ammamma.

Chintu sighed. "Ravi's father is buying a big shiny box of sweets from the town shop. Sirisha is bringing a silk shawl. But Ammamma, we don't have money for things like that."

Ammamma put down the plate of rice. She looked at Chintu for a long moment, and then she smiled.

"Do you know what your teacher likes to eat?" she asked.

Chintu thought. "Every day at lunch, she says she misses the peanut chikki her mother used to make."

"Then that is your gift," said Ammamma. "We have peanuts. We have jaggery. And you have two good hands."

The next evening, Chintu and Ammamma sat in the kitchen. Chintu roasted the peanuts in a pan, stirring and stirring until they smelled warm and nutty. He rubbed off the thin red skins and blew them away, puff, puff. Ammamma melted the jaggery until it bubbled like golden honey. Together they mixed it all and pressed it flat on a plate.

When it cooled, Chintu cut it into squares. Some squares were a little crooked. One was shaped like a boat. He wrapped them carefully in a banana leaf and tied it with a red thread.

It was a small packet. Very small.

On Friday morning, Chintu walked to school holding the packet in both hands. But when he reached the classroom, his heart went thump, thump. There on the teacher's table sat Ravi's big shiny box, with gold paper and a ribbon. Next to it was Sirisha's shawl, soft and green. There were bangles and flowers and a bright steel tiffin box.

Chintu looked down at his little banana leaf packet. It suddenly looked so tiny, so plain.

"What is that, Chintu?" laughed Ravi. "Is that all?"

Chintu's cheeks went hot. Quickly, he hid the packet behind his back. Then, when nobody was looking, he pushed it deep inside his school bag.

One by one, the children gave their gifts. Lakshmi teacher thanked each of them kindly. Then she looked around the room.

"Chintu?" she said gently. "You are very quiet today."

Chintu stared at his feet. He did not say a word. Can you guess how he was feeling?

That evening he came home and sat on the verandah steps, the packet still in his bag. Ammamma came and sat next to him.

"You did not give it," she said softly. It was not a question.

"It was too small, Ammamma," whispered Chintu. "Everyone else had big things."

Ammamma put her arm around him. "Let me tell you a poem," she said. "It was made by Vemana, a wise poet who lived long, long ago and walked from village to village, saying true things in simple words. Listen."

And she said it slowly, like a song.

Gangigovu paalu garitedainanu chaalu, Kadivedainanemi kharamu paalu, Bhakti kalugu koodu pattedainanu chaalu, Vishwadabhirama vinura Vema.

"What does it mean?" asked Chintu.

"Vemana says, a small ladle of milk from a good cow is enough. What use is a whole big pot of donkey's milk? In the same way, a handful of food, given with love and devotion, is enough. It is worth more than a great feast given without heart."

Chintu thought about it. "So the size does not matter?"

"What matters is what is inside," said Ammamma. "And inside your little packet are your roasted peanuts, your careful hands, and your love for your teacher. That is a very big gift, kanna."

Chintu jumped up. "Ammamma, Lakshmi teacher leaves tomorrow morning on the early bus!"

The next day, Chintu woke up before the roosters. He ran down the mud road with the packet held tight. At the bus stand, the bus was already rumbling. Lakshmi teacher was climbing the steps with her bag.

"Teacher! Wait!" shouted Chintu.

She turned around. Chintu ran up, out of breath, and held out the banana leaf packet.

"I made it," he said. "Peanut chikki. Like your mother used to make. One piece looks like a boat."

Lakshmi teacher opened the packet right there. She picked up the boat-shaped piece and took a bite. Then her eyes filled with happy tears.

"Chintu," she said, "this tastes like my childhood. Of all the gifts I got, this is the one I will remember forever. Do you know why? Because you remembered what I love, and you made it with your own hands."

She hugged him tight, climbed onto the bus, and waved and waved until she was gone.

Chintu walked home slowly in the soft morning light, smiling all the way. When he saw Ammamma at the gate, he called out, "Ammamma! A spoon of good milk is enough!"

And Ammamma laughed and said, "Vinura Vema!"

Can you say it with me? Gangigovu paalu garitedainanu chaalu. A little, given with love, is always enough.