Page 3 - apr-june2016

VOl. 13 No. 2

FruitY MYtHs

Fruits appear in myths from around the world. Often it is symbol of abundance, associated with goddesses of plenty
and harvest. Sometimes fruits represent earthy pleasures and temptation. Specific kinds of fruits have acquired
their own symbolic meaning in the myths and legends of different cultures. From ancient epics to religious texts,
fruits find a mention everywhere.
Ekam Singh, IV-A,Birla Vidya Niketan, Pushp Vihar, Delhi
THE LEGEND OF sHABARI A FRUITY TALE FROM THE

In the ramayana, the legend of shabari is an
interesting one. she was a hunter’s daughter and PANCHATANTRA
an ascetic. shabari was so devoted to lord rama The Bird with Two
that before offering jujubes (ber) to him, she tasted Heads
each one of them and discarded the bitter ones. lord
rama was so overwhelmed by her devotion Once there lived a bird
that he ate all the jujubes tasted by named Bharunda. He had
shabari. two heads but shared a
common body. One day,
Priyanshu Goel, IX-B, St. Marks Sr. it found a delicious fruit.
Sec. Public School, Meera Bagh; D.
Balaji Reddy, IXB, Visakha Valley One of the heads mumbled, ‘Oh what an attractive fruit.
School, Visakhapatnam I must have it.’ On saying so, it started eating. Meanwhile
Illustration by: Gobinath, VIII, the other head was observing all this. As it was clear
Sri Divya Merkondaar Matric School, Thanjavur that first head didn’t want to share the fruit, it justified
its action by saying that since they both share the same
TRYsT WITH TAMARIND body, it doesn’t matter who eats it. This selfishness of
the first head hurt the second head very much and the
The Tamarind tree got famous in Hindu mythology second head became silent. Few days later, as they were
because of usha, the adopted daughter of goddess wandering, the second head found some fruits. The
Parvati. usha was punished by her mother for not fruits were from a poisonous tree. Then…
taking proper care of her brother ganesha. read the story in details at http://www. chandamama.in/
the-bird-with-two-heads/
It is in her memory that no salt is taken in the month
of ‘chaitra’ and instead food is seasoned with the what did you learn from this story?
pulp of the tamarind fruit which is very sour.
R. Abirami, Alpha English Hr. Sec. School, Puducherry Activity Do you know
mangoes are
vIRTUOUs FRUITs special!
TENALI’s TALE According to popular legends,

Once upon a time, at the court of King fruits symbolize certain virtues. For
Krishnadeva raya, a grand fest was held. example, apple symbolizes peace,
Tenali raman hogged on the food like a wisdom and knowledge. Can you
glutton. He declared that he is so full guess what the following fruits
that not even air can pass. A clever boy symbolize?
immediately brought a bowl of ripe 1. Fig
mangoes. Tenali quickly gulped them down. everyone 2. Banana
got amazed. The witty Tenali answered that, “whenever 3. Plum
a King enters a room the people make way for him. so as 4. grapes
soon as ‘The King of Fruits: Mango’ entered my stomach, 5. Mango
the other edibles made way for it”.
Gargi K. Chauhan, VI, AMS P. Obul Reddy Public School, Hyderabad

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