Part 2: The untold story of Muthu...

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Muthu's father owned a little poultry farm, and made a living selling eggs. School not being an option for the boy, most of the boy's time day in and out went into carrying the baskets of eggs across to the houses which his father asked him to, and collecting the money that they gave him.
On good days, his father would pinch his cheeks and hand him a 25-paise coin, which he would gleefully put in his piggy bank, to buy himself a Jigarthandha when he hit a total savings of Rs. 2!

The monotony was broken in the month of October 2008, when his father fell ill. Managing the farm now was a much harder task, and Muthu was clueless. The household's loyal servant Paandi - who was Muthu's dad's right hand man - took up the reins of the farm, and Muthu did all he could to ensure he delivered the eggs efficiently to the people of the village. It was not as easy.

Word got around that Muthu's father was ill. The other egg-seller in Vettiyoor, Kumbaa, knew this was the best chance for him to establish himself. He purchased a new horse-cart and did one round of the village every morning, announcing his new special offer, whereby anyone who purchased half a dozen eggs got 2 eggs free!

The next week, Muthu noticed that the number of people who wanted eggs from his farm had gone down by more than half. As he was getting ready to sleep on his newspaper bed on the floor, he wondered how he could counter Kumbaa's threat. He was reminded of something that his father had once told him... the quality of hens that we breed give superior eggs, which make anyone who eats them much stronger! Kumbaa's hens are NOT as good!

Sitting up from bed, he had no clue how he had hit upon the thought. Elated, he went back to his deep sleep, unknowingly spilling saliva on the pehelwan in the Dabur Chyawanprash advertisement in the paper..

The next morning, Muthu was on his way to the house of Ranga, the strongest man in the village. Ranga regularly bought eggs from Muthu, and everyone knew him as the strongman of the village. Making an effort to slow himself down on the way to Ranga's house, Muthu could not help beam with pride on how he had thought about it. Everyone knew Ranga was strong. Muthu knew Ranga bought eggs from him. The only missing link was that everyone did not know Ranga bought eggs from him! Muthu was almost sure that this was the kind of thinking that they taught in the schools. Bah, he thought! He did not need schools.

Ranga it turned out was not in town, and would not be, for the next 2 weeks. His wife Thilaga would not agree to his portrait being painted on a poster that advertised Muthu's eggs. She was worried Ranga might not agree to it. Muthu however figured out that the problem actually was that she was paranoid about making a decision in her husband's absence. He had seen his mother behave in exactly the same manner.

As he started walking back from the house, he saw 2 eggs lying in a corner of Ranga's house, evidently having been used that morning. The flies feasting on the remnants of the egg caught his eye.

The next morning, Vettiyoor saw a very interesting set of posters across the length and breadth of the village. The posters were all over. 2 eggs were painted on a piece of cardboard, and the eggs had 2 eyes and a mouth. The speech bubble from the eggs chorused in unison - "We come from Muthu's poultry farm. Buy us, and you get another one free!".

Muthu's father had not liked the idea. Muthu, though, was of the opinion that this was the most earth-shattering thing that had happened to the people of the village. Given the dismal state of the business, Muthu's dad had allowed Muthu to go ahead. The boy sat up all night, painting on cardboards, and in the wee hours of the morning went around the village putting up the posters wherever he could find an appropriate spot.

The eggs sold like hot cakes(!), and Muthu was smiling again. He smiled to himself when he walked past any of the school teachers.

***

The only 2 things that kept Vettiyoor busy in the first week of February were the village fair, and some new company that was putting up some HUGE towers in the outskirts of the village. One curious boy fell and hurt himself trying to climb the tower, and after that no one tried. Muthu liked to stand near the tower and look up at it, as though he had built it. The tower, to him, was a symbol of him growing up.

The village fair was the most awaited event of the year, and this time it came with a rude surprise.

{to be continued soon...}