The Princely Gift
Subtitle: An Inspiring Tale of Wisdom
Publisher: Citrine Books, New Delhi
Published: May 2010
Place of publication: Mumbai, India
Language: eng
Format: Self-Development & Spirituality
Number of pages: 144
Table of contents: title: Synopsis; title: This is an imaginative story of a small sized man, Abhiman who works as a circus clown seasonally and is in search of other odd jobs to make a living.; title: This piece of pure fiction is fascinating for all, young and old … especially when the story catapults the protagonist, Abhiman into a strange encounter with a prince of a famous kingdom, Mahavir Pratap Singh who lived and died many centuries ago.; title: Abhiman’s journey into this unknown zone begins with his visit to the museum where he gets immensely drawn to the painting of this charming prince. His liking for the prince in the life-size portrait, takes a bewildering turn when in the flash of lightning, the prince stands before him in the museum hall. Abhiman’s burning curiosity about the prince’s untimely death plunges him into the valley of the long buried past of the prince, now brought alive for him to witness first-hand, the last moments of the prince’s life.; title: Abhiman’s recurring meetings with the prince, which happen mysteriously at the midnight hour and stretch until dawn, bring about changes in his attitude towards his own deformity and life at large.  His compulsive mental anguish about his deformed birth finds a path-breaking link in the prince’s past, and puts him into a wider perspective of existence beyond life and death…….; title: Chapter Summary of “The Princely Gift”; title: 1; title: Abhiman is a little boy 10 years of age and growing up in a village, hiding from the ridicule that he is subjected to everyday of his life. His torment comes from all sections of people in the village, directed to his small deformed body, a normal size face with very short limbs. In this depressive state of mind, Abhiman is driven to find a very personal way of staying cheerful. His father keeps his long promise of taking him to the circus after his 10th grade exams. The circus with its magnificent performers, humans and animals leaves an indelible impression on the boy, especially the Joker of the circus.; title: 2; title: In the second chapter, Abhiman has finished school and with his good score, ready to step into junior college. There is a hitch in Abhiman’s sensitive mind – he can hardly afford to bear up with more ridicule from boys of his age. A good piece of advice from his father pushes him over and above the harsh torment that flows his way, at the college. Later, Abhiman proves himself at the college and to his fellow-students, as not only a good student but a performer par excellence. The college that he had dreaded so much turns around to become a feast for his expression.; title: 3; title: In the third chapter, Abhiman is ready to leave for the city but decides to attend the big annual fair in his village before his departure. At the fair, an unusual occurrence takes Abhiman by surprise; an austere looking palmist in a tent reads his life’s story and makes a queer prediction. Abhiman is intrigued by this unexpected gift from the palmist and is more than enthused to leave for the city. Soon he arrives at a major bus station in the city, and meets with a young man who befriends him. Desperately in need of a friend in the big bad world of the city, Abhiman hands the young man his pouch of gold to encash at a jewellery shop, only to realize at the end that the young man was hardly a friend….; title: 4; title: In the fourth chapter, Abhiman finds himself searching for his lost inheritance in strange places, his heart weeping over the loss. He cries out for help at the dead of the night, but no one comes to his rescue. Then a very tragi-comic encounter with a big burly policeman follows, which leads him to the nearby police station, and more events turn out for and from Abhiman, until he can take it no more…; title: Then he returns to the world of his sordid reality and experiences some turn of a friendly card from life that lands him into a temporary job in the same city and a sparse roof to hide him from the cruelties of this bad world. One thought gets stronger in his life; he wants to be a joker in the circus.; title: 5; title: The fifth chapter sees Abhiman after a few years ahead, grooved into the seasonal circus, as a fun machine spreading laughter in the tent. His life has freed itself from the clutches of urban life’s torment and he is at his happy-go-lucky best, but for occasional bouts of self-pity. One bright morning Abhiman ventures out to the big museum in the city, and spends a whole day savouring the priceless contents of this grand old archive. In the big hall, where beautiful paintings of Indian kings and scenes from their times, adorn the walls, a strange event occurs for Abhiman. He is literarily glued to a painting of a handsome young prince who died on a battlefield when he was only 25 years of age. The lifelike eyes and appearance of the prince in the life-size painting is completely overpowering for the small-sized Abhiman, halting him and his life in its tracks …; title: 6; title: Abhiman finds himself locked up in the museum hall when all of a sudden his eyes are freed from the painting of the prince. The sixth chapter watches the little Abhiman go through a series of ups and downs in a night that is wonderland and a nightmare for him, all at once. He performs for the regal gathering in magnificent demeanor and is overwhelmed with tears of joy at this chance of a lifetime falling in his lap, unexpectedly.; title: At the midnight hour, he turns restless and moves around the dimly lit hall to look for a candle, and finds a tall one to his surprise. At the window, he feels a tap on his shoulder and turning around gets a fright of his life. The prince who had stared out of a painting and mesmerized him so, is standing before him in radiating presence of a life that is from another world…; title: 7; title: Slowly recovering from the nerve jittering shock of his life, Abhiman regains his composure and begins to accept the uncanny incident. The prince with his powers grasps Abhiman’s language and starts to converse with him, only to pave the way to a long dialogue between the two. The prince is urged by Abhiman to tell him about his life and death in the battlefield. Reluctant to talk of his life at the beginning, the prince suddenly decides to take Abhiman on a journey of the long dead and buried past…; title: 8; title: Abhiman has been now transported into a land of another time way back in the past. Moreover, he is only a ‘seeing’ eye without a body or form, in the grand court of a Maharaja of a prosperous kingdom. He has been propelled into the prince’s past at the time when his father, the king of the land, announces the prince’s coronation to the throne, and unwittingly starts a bitter feud between his two sons.; title: 9; title: Abhiman witnesses all the events, to his sheer disbelief, leading to the battle and the prince’s brutal killing. He feels a strange but growing affinity with the jester of the Maharaja’s court, who gets roped into the conniving villainous plot to murder the young prince. Much to his utter surprise, he feels sympathetic to the weak-willed jester inspite of the jester’s involvement into the ghastly deed. The battle ensues as plotted and the handsome young prince fights valiantly but eventually falls to the attack of a hundred opposing men. The brutal killing of the young prince is a shock to the whole kingdom and to his aggrieved parents.; title: 10; title: Abhiman wakes up in his house with shattered nerves, recollecting the ghastly incident of the battle. He wonders if all of it was dream or real. To investigate into his nocturnal adventure, he returns to the museum and scrutinizes the hall looking for clues to the mystery of his sojourn with the prince. When he is almost driven to the certainty that it was only a dream, he finds small evidence justifying his presence in the hall on the previous night. Abhiman is now really intrigued by the queer happenings in his life…; title: 11; title: Once again, Abhiman is in the museum hall as the clock is about to strike midnight. He is amazed by some things in the hall, especially his lightness of body and spirit, and his super-human abilities.; title: Soon he is before the prince, recollecting his deformed state and the events of his life that drown him in self-pity and disillusionment. The conversation between the prince and Abhiman is very deep as it delves into the meaning and purpose of human life, and in the process Abhiman feels renewed with a wider perception of his deformity.; title: 12; title: Abhiman’s third night in the museum hall with the prince, opens up more knots of his perception and finally the prince reveals to him the mystery of their strange encounter here in this life that had connection with their friendship hundreds of years ago. This is a great revelation for Abhiman and an answer to his lifelong tormenting question of his deformed birth.; title: The prince leaves him with a gift – a ‘mantra’ that will enable him to transform another human’s life for the better, at will, but it will work only as a selfless act of giving.; title: 3 Sample Chapters from the Manuscript; title: One; title: Abhiman had been a rather lonesome boy all through his childhood years. He was shy and often withdrew into his shell, driven away by the boisterous pranks of other boys his age in the village neighbourhood.; title: Everyone called him 'Chintu', a name that had stuck to him for his exceptionally short size. He hated visiting his father's friends or relatives because they would tease him so ..; title: “Abhiman, when you grow up and have a son, you will have to look high up to speak to him”, said one.; title: “Only if he has one,” said another, “Who will marry his daughter to a pint-sized man!”; title: Their remarks about his oddly short limbs joined to a well-formed face, would hurt him deeply, and he carried this pain all the way back home. Then he always hid behind a drum or something else in the corner of his house and sobbed uncontrollably, but softly so that no one else in the house would hear. It would still seep out from his hiding place and reach Abhiman's mother. His mother, a stout talkative woman, with not a moment to spare from her chores, would resignedly end up scolding him instead of comforting the anguish of a hurt child.; title: “You are sobbing again like a girl, Abhiman. Now stop that immediately!”; title: Her only motherly gesture would be to put a little sweet into Abhiman's mouth to stop his crying.; title: “One who brings joy into people’s lives is blessed by God”, she would conclude, pulling him out of his hiding place and shoving him into the crowd of brats outside the house.; title: Later in the evening, his father would lovingly sit Abhiman in his lap and tell him,; title: “Cry and the world scorns you,; title: Laugh and the world enjoys with you.”; title: And Abhiman would wonder to himself ..; title: “Why was he the one to always concede and forgive the injustice of the bad ones!”; title: Something inside of him, an inner voice would then remind him that he was different in a strange way... more sensitive than other children, and perhaps closer to God.; title: But then why had his God sent him to this world as a deformed child?; title: Was his friend Ravi's grandmother right that he had sinned in his earlier life.. And because of that he was suffering God's wrath in this one!; title: These questions always troubled his young mind and made him pensive most of the time.; title: Abhiman's biggest fascination as a boy of ten was the colourful drama that his father would arrange every year, with actors drawn from the village folk. The drama shone and glittered with painted faces and fantastic costumes, dazzling the eager minds of the hundreds of villagers who gathered to see the spectacle. Over nine nights that marked the 'Navratri' festival, the mythical story of ‘The Ramayana’ unfolded gradually as the prince Rama journeyed his way to Lanka, the land of the evil king Ravana who had kidnapped his wife, Sita. The ninth night was the climax of the drama as the prince with the help of his monkey-devotee Hanuman and his army vanquished the evildoer and rescued his wife.; title: Abhiman watched the actors playing their parts skilfully, his heart absorbed in the story of valour and the victory of good over evil.; title: Abhiman's closeness to his father's drama troupe had, for him, unknowingly honed his budding talent of mime and solo-performance.; title: His father often talked to him about another great act, where men, women, children and animals performed marvellous feats. This great act, he heard, was put up in a large tent in a town that was twenty miles away. It was the 'Circus'. Then his father had vividly described to him the funny clown who was a major attraction of the circus, the Joker, and how he compelled his audience to regale in uncontrollable laughter and joy.; title: “Baba, will you take me to the circus. You always talk about the circus but never take me to one!”; title: His father had not refused his request but Abhiman had to wait till his final exams at school were over and the summer holidays had begun.; title: Abhiman was a fourteen-year-old lad then, but when he finally arrived at the circus tent and watched some elephants feeding in one corner, he had cried out 'Haathi Mere Saathi' (Elephants, my companions) and jumped up and down with the glee of a six year old.; title: Then, there he was inside the tent, witnessing the great act that he had visualized in his fertile mind for so many years.; title: His first experience with the Circus had been a strange one.; title: It had been a medley of sights he had never imagined all through the budding years of his boyhood. He had never experienced anything like this, when rib-tickling laughter had been so closely conjoined by intense fear and soon followed by open-mouthed admiration. It had been like an awesome two-hour dream.. Like a multi-dimensional movie presenting skill of a very high order. And out of this otherworldly experience there stood dazzling in his mind, the picture of the short man with a painted face and an amusing costume. Abhiman had literally rolled out of his seat, laughing riotously as the whole tent was submerged in the overpowering fun-filled act of the short-sized man  - the circus Joker. This man had flexed and bent his little limbs as if they were made of soft rubber and performed acrobatics with the skill of a gymnast, even as he pretended to be a joke, falling down and rolling like a soft ball. His face could make a thousand expressions, pulling and pushing the eyes out of their sockets as if they were on a spring.; title: “Baba, can you mime like that funny short man?”, he had asked his father seriously as they boarded the bus to return home.; title: His father after pondering over the question, had answered,; title: “It takes years of committed practice, besides inborn talent to master the art of miming.”; title: When the bus left the city's depot, Abhiman sat by the window, staring at the hundreds of vehicles that lined the road.; title: “Are these going out of the city like us?”, he whispered in his father’s ear.; title: His father half heard what he had said, paying for the tickets and collecting the change from the bus conductor.; title: “Why are all these motor-vehicles leaving the city, Baba?”, he persisted.; title: “They aren't leaving the city, Abhiman”, his father answered absentmindedly, counting the change.; title: “Then, where are they going?”; title: “They are moving within the city, taking people from one place to another ..”; title: “But where are they going to within the city?”, he whispered curiously, still perplexed by the sight of so many hundreds of vehicles speeding away this way and that.; title: Abhiman's father laughed and fondly patted him.; title: “Life in the city is different from our little village, Abhiman. Here, people move from place to place for work and to meet their friends and relatives..”; title: Abhiman feebly nodded his head, having to contend with the strange idea. After a brief silence, he pointed to one side of the road, to a large cinema advertisement and asked,; title: “Why are those faces painted so large on that board, Baba?”; title: “They are actors performing in a new cinema, son ..”; title: Abhiman nodded again, not quite liking the strange and uncanny ways of the city. The only thing he had really enjoyed in the city was the grand show of the big tent. And the short-sized man in the funny costume.; title: “The city seems rather strange to me, Baba ..”, he confessed to his father.; title: “But I will never forget the big tent and the funny man ..”; title: “You mean, the circus Joker ..”; title: “Ah yes, the Joker. I fell off the bench, laughing at his tricks ..”, recollected Abhiman, a broad smile spreading on his face.; title: “Yes, Abhiman. He was a truly good mime artist ..”, said his father with a look of sincere appreciation on his face.; title: The bus wound its way through the rough terrain of the dry countryside, as silence descended upon father and son for a long time. Both had drifted away into the ethereal space of their minds, until Abhiman's father suddenly turned to look at him, struck by a memory.; title: “Do you know the old story of Amarnath Chandra, an expert actor of the Ram Leela drama that has been performed for hundreds of years in our country? Amarnath would play the role of 'Hanuman', the invincible monkey, with such accuracy that people in the audience could hardly believe he was really human and not a monkey..”; title: Abhiman listened with much interest, even as the bus rocked and chattered over the dirt road that led to the interior of sandy North Western India. His father continued,; title: “When Amarnath was a boy of about your age, he was friendly with monkeys in the vicinity, observing them closely while he played with them. As time passed, Amarnath spent so much of his time playing with the monkeys, making faces, gestures and movements just like theirs, that he could mimic them perfectly. When Amarnath was twenty years old, his talent was spotted and he became the legendary 'Hanuman' of the act. And as his impeccable performance gathered fame and recognition, people thronged to see and meet the person that was Amarnath, to convince themselves that he was really human..”; title: Abhiman's father patted him and concluded,; title: “So Amarnath's years of monkeying around with his playmates had shaped a performer of such excellence..”; title: Abhiman nodded excitedly and soon was lost in his thoughts, as he blankly stared at the dunes on the far away horizon.; title: After that day life had never been the same for Abhiman. He daydreamed endlessly over all that he had seen and heard at the circus.; title: One day sitting beside the potter in the neighbourhood, Abhiman had made a small request,; title: “Uncle, how well you shape these pots with your hands. Will you make for me a short man of clay, like the one in the circus?”; title: The potter had complied with Abhiman's request and made for him a short-sized man with a fairly large head. Then Abhiman had got his mother to stitch a little dress and paint the face like the clown in the circus. And lo! Here was the Clown of the circus right in his hands. This was a moment of compelling joy that he could hardly keep to himself. In a rare burst of emotion, he had run all over the place showing his newfound creation, and everyone on the way had laughed merrily.; title: “Joker, Joker ..”, he cried out as he ran here and there, and the little ones of his age joined him in the euphoria, causing a huge pandemonium.; title: An old lady in the neighbourhood had inspected his clay doll with her fading eyesight, then patted him and said,; title: “My dear little fellow. You can dress up just like that when you grow up, and make everyone laugh in the big tent ..”