Story: The Broken Pot

(Image sourced from a blog for teachers)

Hey, hi, hello. Down here, yes, me in the rice bowl. I may not look like much, I’m nothing but a wee little grain of rice, but I have feelings and thoughts. You may be wondering, “What in the world am I doing listening to what this little grain of rice has to say?” Well, let me tell you, the little guys count too.


Let me go back to the beginning. I was one of many little grains of rice who cohabit in this beautifully crafted rice bowl in India. I came from a long line of other kinds of wheat and grains and after a long period of time had passed I somehow plopped into this rice bowl in the hands of a sweet and tender Indian man who daydreams far too often. Daydreams are not always bad but in this particular case, my owner's daydreams made me feel betrayed and unwanted.


The other day my owner was daydreaming aloud and I heard some things that I was not too fond of. My owner proceeded to tell the tale of how he was going to sell me, my friends, and my family in an effort to gain more and more materialistic things. I would be traded for goats, the goats would be traded for cows, the cows would be traded for buffaloes, the buffaloes will be traded for horses, the horses would be traded for gold, the gold would be traded for a house, the house will be used to gain a wife, the wife will have a child, and then my owner shall have everything he wants in life. Or so he thought...


His daydream took a turn and he dreamt that his wife is distracted with the daily household work and cannot hear him. In his frustration, he went forth and claimed he would give her a kick with his foot. Only, it was all in his head. In reality, he kicked the very thing that was supposed to give him his heart’s desires. He kicked the beautifully crafted pot where I and all the other grains of rice reside. In an instant, the pot broke from all sides and like a waterfall we all poured out onto the dirty ground and in the crevasses of the floor of our Indian household.


I may be nothing but a grain, but there is a lesson to be learned. That lesson is that all things hold value. The goats, the cows, the buffaloes, the horses, the gold, the house, the distracted wife, the child, and a teeny tiny grain of rice shouldn’t be tossed aside. There is worth found in all things and in all people, don't let dreams get in the way of understanding that principle.


Author's Note:

In the original story, this plot line was told from the point of view of the Brahman. The Brahman expressed his desire to grow in society through a trail of daydreams where he would trade one item for another to eventually reach his desired social status. However, the dream was interrupted with a kick to the rice pot bringing him back to reality. I read this Indian fairy tale and wanted to do something a little outrageous. When I read the prompt I tried to think of the most absurd minor character I could find and I couldn’t think of anything zanier than telling the story from a grain of rice’s point of view. In my reading, I saw that every story had a lesson. I kept that within my story by putting emphasis on the fact that the little guys hold value too. Don’t count them out. The image that I chose came directly from the desire to give the grain of rice a humanized effect. I wanted to bring the rice to life in a novel way and I believe that this image sets the tone for what the story is going to be about.



Bibliography:

The Broken Pot, Indian Fairy tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1912). Link to online reading.