Mastmaula - The happy go lucky little turtle
On the beaches of Konkan
Lived a few families of turtles
For ages it has been their home .
Amongst them lived Mastmaula a young and adventurous turtle
To explore the surroundings he loved, popular and lovable , a friend to all .
Many a times he would stray away and had to be fetched by the elders in the group .
He loved visiting the homes of the fishermen who lived by the sea.
Particularly fond of cabbage fed by the fisherwomen .
Amusingly he was also fond of music .
And loved to dance
The fishermen went fishing by the day
And would celebrate the catch and their life by evenings .
Music played and seafood savoured in almost every home.
Mastmaula was sure to visit, the fisherman 's house when there used to be a party.
One of the evenings , there was one going on in one of the houses , music was loud with party lights on.
And ,the food yes cabbage in colours, purple and green ,
Mastmaula knew would sure be part of the menu.
The fisherman's family had guests coming from afar
The occasion , an engagement ceremony .
As the music went on , Mastmaula went turtle and began to spin.
And sure he did have a few amazing moves , which caught the guests' eyes
And one of them ,fancied carrying Mastmaula to their home.
The host opposed but the guest's 7 year old daughter Mili loved Mastmaula and wanted him to be part of her family . The host reluctantly obliged.
Soon , it was dark and a bale of turtles were out to fetch back Mastmaula home. They knew where to find him.
Reaching the party venue and not finding him there they panicked and soon swelled in numbers.
The fishermen family knew it was time to call their guest ,who had taken away Mastmaula .
The guest hurriedly came back with Mastmaula in a little basket and placed him down .
Mastmaula was overjoyed to reunite with his family and promised them all that he would never stray away and be careful of his visits alone to the fishermens homes.
Have always told self invented bed time stories to my boys .
My older son , Amitabh has been fond of 'The Hare and the Tortoise' since he was a toddler , have told him many , cause he always to listen to a new version .
Last night came up with this story of a young turtle .
I haven't ever written any story so far . This is the first that I have documented and so thought of sharing here on HP.
My mother tongue /Native language is Hindi .
Narrated the boys this story in Hindi .
MastMaula means -Happy go Lucky
Dedicated to both my sons , Amitabh and Anshul :)
Thank you all for reading