(AI generated translation of सोने की कुल्हाड़ी  चैप्टर-1)

By Shikha Tailang

Gheesu was a woodcutter. He had to work hard to feed his wife Brajalata as well as three children—Golu, Molu and Sheelu. Every day early in the morning, he would go to the forest outside the city, and cut useful wood there till noon. Then in the evening, he would load these woods in a hired vehicle and bring them to the market and sell them at good prices.

This woodcutter was of the new age. He would get distraught seeing big mobile phones with his neighbours. Gheesu nurtured the dream of buying his mobile phone. He started working tirelessly to fulfil this dream. Once or twice he even took his wife and children to the forest and put them to work. This increased his income a little. He understood that when everyone works together, the result is always good.

But his wife did not like all this. She was always apprehensive and was afraid that going to the forest again and again might cause trouble for her and the children. Then she also thought that she had to do a lot of household work. Apart from getting up early in the morning and cooking, she also had to do things like bringing ration and water and sweeping and mopping. While doing all these things, it was night before she even realized it. She felt that once a woodcutter goes to the forest, he returns home late at night. He is free from household responsibilities. The children are small and are unable to help with household work. So, thinking this, after going to the forest once or twice, she refused to go there every day. Also, she told the children to focus on their studies. They should not get involved in cutting wood.

Gheesu had objections to his wife’s decision but he did not want to trouble her and the children even a bit. So he thought that he would cut as much wood as he could every day and earn a good income by selling them in the market. He told Brajlata that whenever he was ready to go to the forest, she should cook roti-sabzi for him. Brajlata agreed to this.

One day Gheesu found sandalwood logs in the forest. The whole atmosphere was fragrant with their smell. He cut these logs and took them to the market and sold them at a good price. His earnings that day exceeded 20 thousand rupees. He kept the money for household expenses with himself and bought a mobile phone with the rest of the money. Gradually he also learnt to use the mobile phone, update status etc. Whenever he was late in returning from the forest or market, he would call his neighbours and ask them to inform his wife about his condition. The wife would get a little relieved after knowing the information about her husband.

Everything was going well like this. But who can avoid destiny?

To be contd. ….

(Fictional story)