Hiya All
Here I am bloggin my thoughts, ideas, journals and ofcourse my inevitable ramblings. Greatly appreciate you'll stopping by and add comments if you will. See ya!
Here I am bloggin my thoughts, ideas, journals and ofcourse my inevitable ramblings. Greatly appreciate you'll stopping by and add comments if you will. See ya!
Tenali Rama
Posted 5th April 2008 at 03:00 PM by Anandchitra
My son is probably the biggest fan of Tenali Rama.. you should only see the way he laughs and laughs.. So I decided to try and compile some stories for him and others too:)..If anyone has any please do share..
Clown, jester, poet…Tenali Rama, minister in the court of the ruler of Vijaynagar, Krishnadeva Rai (reign: 1509-30), was a lot of things. Stories, about Tenali Rama and his practical jokes on everyone around him including distinguished fellow poets and the emperor himself, abound in south India.
His fame spread beyond Vijaynagar (present-day Andhra Pradesh), to areas that come in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka today. Tenali Rama was also a great scholar of several languages that included Marathi, Tamil and Kannada.
Tenali Raman and the Brinjal
King Krishnadeva Rai had some superior quality brinjal or aubergine plants growing in his private garden. No one was allowed to view the garden without the king's permission, let alone taste the brinjal.
Once the king invited his courtiers to a feast in which the brinjal was served. Tenali Rama enjoyed the vegetable so much that he talked to his wife about it on returning home - so much so that she insisted on tasting it.
"How can I get them for you?" Tenali Rama asked. "The king is so possessive about the vegetable that he can detect the theft of even one brinjal from his garden. And, I'm sure that he would want the thief's head chopped off right then, if he caught him red-handed.
But Tenali's wife begged him to allow her to taste the brinjal.
Tenali Rama was helpless. After much deliberation, he agreed to his wife's demand. One night he quietly jumped into the king's garden and plucked a few brinjals from the garden. His wife cooked them with zeal and was all praise for the taste. She wanted to let their six-year-old son also taste the vegetable, but Tenali Rama asked her not to.
"Don't make such a mistake", he warned her. "If he happens to tell somebody, we will be in deep trouble."
But his wife did not agree. "How is that possible? How can we eat something whose taste we shall remember forever and not share it with our son! Find a way out so that he gets to taste the vegetable and nobody is able to prove that we stole it from the king's garden."
Tenali Rama had no option but to nod his head in agreement.
He filled a bucket with water and went upstairs to the roof where his son was sleeping. He poured the water on the child. Then he picked up the child and said: "It is raining. Let us go inside the house."
Once in, he got the child's clothes changed and gave him the vegetable to eat. He again remarked that it was raining outside, and let the boy sleep in the room.
The next day the king came to know of the theft in his garden. The royal gardener who kept a head count of each vegetable and flower, found one brinjal missing. It became the talk of the town. The king declared a huge prize on the thief's head.
Chief Minister Appaji suspected that only Tenali Rama was capable of such an audacious act. He let the king know about his suspicion.
The king said: "I know he is very clever and always gets out of charges on one pretext or the other. It is better that we call his son. We will find the truth through him. Tenali will lie to get out of any situation, but he would never ask the child to do so."
Tenali Rama's son was called. He was asked what vegetable he ate the night before. The child replied: "The brinjal and it was the tastiest vegetable I've ever eaten."
Chief Minister Appaji told Tenali Rama: "Now you will have to accept your guilt."
"Why should I when I'm not guilty?" replied Tenali Rama. "The boy went to sleep very early last night and seems to have had many dreams. That is why he is talking nonsense about brinjals and rain and what not. Ask him if it rained last night or not."
Appaji asked the child: "How was the weather last night? Was the sky clear or did it rain?"
The child replied: "It rained heavily last night. All my clothes got wet when I slept on the roof." The fact was, not a single drop of rain had fallen on Vijaynagar that day.
Appaji had no option but to get rid of his suspicions in the face of such apparent madness.
He apologised to Tenali Rama for having suspected him.
Tenali raman and the difficult task
Tenali Raman was a very wise and witty man in the court of King Krishnadeva Raya.
Krishnadeva Raya was the ruler of the Vijayanagar kingdom. Tenali Raman was the court
jester, and many stories are told about him.
One day, King Krishnadeva Raya asked his courtiers, “You are wise and learned men. Tell
me, which is the most difficult job in the world?”
The courtiers had a ready answer. They said, “Your Majesty, everyone knows that
the job of ruling the country is by far the most difficult job in the world.’
The king was pleased with their answer. But he noticed that Tenali Raman was smiling
to himself, as if he found this answer funny.
The king asked him why he was smiling. “Perhaps you don’t agree with your friends
that my job is the most difficult job in the world. Is that why you are smiling?”
Tenali Raman said, “Your Majesty, I agree that it is difficult to rule a country well.
But I don’t think that it is the most difficult job in the world. There is another job
which is much more difficult.’
“Tell us what that job is, Raman,” said the king.
“A mother’s job,” said Raman, “It is much more difficult to keep a child happy than
to look after a kingdom.”
The whole court broke into loud laughter, and of course Raman was asked to prove
the truth of his words.
So Raman brought a woman and her young son to the king.
“Now ask the kind Raja for anything that you want,” he told the little boy.
“An elephant,” said the little boy at once.
An elephant was immediately brought for him.
“Put him into my basket,” the boy said, “I want to take him home.”
“But he won’t fit into your basket, son. He’ll come walking behind you when you go
home.”
The little boy was stubborn. “I want him in my basket,” he said, “My friends won’t
know that he is my elephant if I don’t take him home in my basket.”
He started crying, and nothing that anyone said would make him change his mind.
The king and his courtiers tried everything they could. But the boy just did not listen.
He cried and cried and cried. Then the mother said something to Raman, and he
immediately sent for a toy elephant. She turned to her son and said, “Look, my son.
Here’s a small elephant which is much more beautiful than the big elephant. It is
wearing a gold chain, and there is a golden umbrella on top of its head. It has wheels
so that you can pull it behind you wherever you go. It will fit easily into your basket.
Tell the man to take away the big elephant - your basket will break if you put him in
it, and you can’t take him to your friend’s house because he is so big.”
The boy stopped crying. The mahout led away the elephant, and the little boy and his
mother went away happily.
Then the king wiping the sweat from his brow, said, “Raman, I agree that a mother’s
job is the most difficult job in the world.”
Clown, jester, poet…Tenali Rama, minister in the court of the ruler of Vijaynagar, Krishnadeva Rai (reign: 1509-30), was a lot of things. Stories, about Tenali Rama and his practical jokes on everyone around him including distinguished fellow poets and the emperor himself, abound in south India.
His fame spread beyond Vijaynagar (present-day Andhra Pradesh), to areas that come in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka today. Tenali Rama was also a great scholar of several languages that included Marathi, Tamil and Kannada.
Tenali Raman and the Brinjal
King Krishnadeva Rai had some superior quality brinjal or aubergine plants growing in his private garden. No one was allowed to view the garden without the king's permission, let alone taste the brinjal.
Once the king invited his courtiers to a feast in which the brinjal was served. Tenali Rama enjoyed the vegetable so much that he talked to his wife about it on returning home - so much so that she insisted on tasting it.
"How can I get them for you?" Tenali Rama asked. "The king is so possessive about the vegetable that he can detect the theft of even one brinjal from his garden. And, I'm sure that he would want the thief's head chopped off right then, if he caught him red-handed.
But Tenali's wife begged him to allow her to taste the brinjal.
Tenali Rama was helpless. After much deliberation, he agreed to his wife's demand. One night he quietly jumped into the king's garden and plucked a few brinjals from the garden. His wife cooked them with zeal and was all praise for the taste. She wanted to let their six-year-old son also taste the vegetable, but Tenali Rama asked her not to.
"Don't make such a mistake", he warned her. "If he happens to tell somebody, we will be in deep trouble."
But his wife did not agree. "How is that possible? How can we eat something whose taste we shall remember forever and not share it with our son! Find a way out so that he gets to taste the vegetable and nobody is able to prove that we stole it from the king's garden."
Tenali Rama had no option but to nod his head in agreement.
He filled a bucket with water and went upstairs to the roof where his son was sleeping. He poured the water on the child. Then he picked up the child and said: "It is raining. Let us go inside the house."
Once in, he got the child's clothes changed and gave him the vegetable to eat. He again remarked that it was raining outside, and let the boy sleep in the room.
The next day the king came to know of the theft in his garden. The royal gardener who kept a head count of each vegetable and flower, found one brinjal missing. It became the talk of the town. The king declared a huge prize on the thief's head.
Chief Minister Appaji suspected that only Tenali Rama was capable of such an audacious act. He let the king know about his suspicion.
The king said: "I know he is very clever and always gets out of charges on one pretext or the other. It is better that we call his son. We will find the truth through him. Tenali will lie to get out of any situation, but he would never ask the child to do so."
Tenali Rama's son was called. He was asked what vegetable he ate the night before. The child replied: "The brinjal and it was the tastiest vegetable I've ever eaten."
Chief Minister Appaji told Tenali Rama: "Now you will have to accept your guilt."
"Why should I when I'm not guilty?" replied Tenali Rama. "The boy went to sleep very early last night and seems to have had many dreams. That is why he is talking nonsense about brinjals and rain and what not. Ask him if it rained last night or not."
Appaji asked the child: "How was the weather last night? Was the sky clear or did it rain?"
The child replied: "It rained heavily last night. All my clothes got wet when I slept on the roof." The fact was, not a single drop of rain had fallen on Vijaynagar that day.
Appaji had no option but to get rid of his suspicions in the face of such apparent madness.
He apologised to Tenali Rama for having suspected him.
Tenali raman and the difficult task
Tenali Raman was a very wise and witty man in the court of King Krishnadeva Raya.
Krishnadeva Raya was the ruler of the Vijayanagar kingdom. Tenali Raman was the court
jester, and many stories are told about him.
One day, King Krishnadeva Raya asked his courtiers, “You are wise and learned men. Tell
me, which is the most difficult job in the world?”
The courtiers had a ready answer. They said, “Your Majesty, everyone knows that
the job of ruling the country is by far the most difficult job in the world.’
The king was pleased with their answer. But he noticed that Tenali Raman was smiling
to himself, as if he found this answer funny.
The king asked him why he was smiling. “Perhaps you don’t agree with your friends
that my job is the most difficult job in the world. Is that why you are smiling?”
Tenali Raman said, “Your Majesty, I agree that it is difficult to rule a country well.
But I don’t think that it is the most difficult job in the world. There is another job
which is much more difficult.’
“Tell us what that job is, Raman,” said the king.
“A mother’s job,” said Raman, “It is much more difficult to keep a child happy than
to look after a kingdom.”
The whole court broke into loud laughter, and of course Raman was asked to prove
the truth of his words.
So Raman brought a woman and her young son to the king.
“Now ask the kind Raja for anything that you want,” he told the little boy.
“An elephant,” said the little boy at once.
An elephant was immediately brought for him.
“Put him into my basket,” the boy said, “I want to take him home.”
“But he won’t fit into your basket, son. He’ll come walking behind you when you go
home.”
The little boy was stubborn. “I want him in my basket,” he said, “My friends won’t
know that he is my elephant if I don’t take him home in my basket.”
He started crying, and nothing that anyone said would make him change his mind.
The king and his courtiers tried everything they could. But the boy just did not listen.
He cried and cried and cried. Then the mother said something to Raman, and he
immediately sent for a toy elephant. She turned to her son and said, “Look, my son.
Here’s a small elephant which is much more beautiful than the big elephant. It is
wearing a gold chain, and there is a golden umbrella on top of its head. It has wheels
so that you can pull it behind you wherever you go. It will fit easily into your basket.
Tell the man to take away the big elephant - your basket will break if you put him in
it, and you can’t take him to your friend’s house because he is so big.”
The boy stopped crying. The mahout led away the elephant, and the little boy and his
mother went away happily.
Then the king wiping the sweat from his brow, said, “Raman, I agree that a mother’s
job is the most difficult job in the world.”
Total Comments 40
Comments
 | AC, Same pinch... My son is fond of tenali raman stories too.. Just keeps laughing so much to himself reading it. My personal favorite is the Golden mango one, and also the one in which he stumps the very wise man. My dad, has painstakingly typed up the stories and emailed them to my son so he can read it. Will hunt it up and send it to you. |
  Updated 5th April 2008 at 04:07 PM by Vandhana |
| |  some more...:) Tenaliraman and the great pundit Once a great Pundit visited the Vijayanagar court. He told the king that he was a great expert in everything known in the earth. He wanted to argue with all learned people and defeat them. Many great pundits tried but failed miserably. By that time, news about this reached Tenaliraman. He took a small bundle from his house. He tied it to look like a book, He went to the court and said that he was prepared to argue with the learned man, but the subject of argument would be based on the great book, “Thilakashta Mahisha Bandhanam”. The great Pundit had never heard of any such book. So he asked one night’s time to prepare for the debate. That entire night he could not sleep. He never wanted to be defeated and so he ran away before morning writing to the king that he never knew anything of that great book. Next day, only Tenaliraman came for the argument. The king who was also very intelligent, wanted to read this great book called “Thilakashta Mahisha Bandhanam.” Tenaliraman told that king, that there was no such book. In the bundle he had only til (gingelly) called Thila in Sanskrit, some sheep’s dung called Kashta in Sanskrit and the entire thing was tied by a rope made of the hide of Buffalo (Mahisha). The king and the court appreciated the intelligence of Tenaliraman. |
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| | No Mooli, No Recipe "I've never eaten anything more tasty in my life!" declared Raman, who had just returned from his friend's house. "What did you eat?" asked his wife. "Mooli (radish) halwa," Raman said, smacking his lips. "Mooli! Whoever has heard of halwa being made from mooli! It must have been something else," said his wife disbelievingly. She just could not understand how anyone could make halwa out of mooli. Nevertheless, her curiosity was aroused and next day she asked him to get her the recipe from his friend and some moolis from the market. "Where are the moolis?" she asked, when he returned. "You see," he explained, "while I was returning from the market, a goat snatched the moolis away." Annoyed at his carelessness, she said "Have you brought thr recipe?" "Well, I thought," said Raman with a shrug, "The recipe is of no use without moolis, so I let the starving animal eat that too." Raman the Boy Wonder When Raman was a boy, his neighbour once took him to the house of a rich and powerful landlord. "He's a prodigy," the neighbour told the landlord. "I've never seen a more intelligent boy. He has an answer for everything!" The landlord was a proud and haughty man who thought himself the only intelligent person in the country. He was not at all pleased to hear his visitor praise Raman. "He doesn't look very intelligent, " he said, glancing at Raman. "In any case the more intelligent a boy is, the duller he becomes as a man!" "Is that true?" asked Raman, with an air of innocence. "Then, sir, as a boy you must have been even more intelligent than I am!" Honest Opinion A poet visited Tenali Raman hoping to impress him with some poems he had written. Raman asked him to leave the poems with him and promised to read them later. The man, however, insisted on reading out the poems to him. As the poet droned on Raman fell asleep. When he woke up, the poet asked: "Sir, shall I read the poems again?" "Why? I've already given you my opinion, haven't I?" "No, Sir," said the man. "You fell asleep." "That's right," replied Raman. "When I fell asleep I gave my opinion." Raman and the Sadhu The villagers were delighted. A sadhu who performed miracles, had come to their village. Every morning and evening they would gather at the temple with specially prepared delicacies as offerings to the sadhu. When Tenali Raman heard of this, he smelt a rat. He went to the temple and sat near the holy man. The sadhu began reciting shlokas. To Raman's surprise, he went on repeating the same shloka over and over again. Raman realised that he was a fraud. Suddenly, he leaned forward and plucked a strand of hair from the sadhu's beard. "I have the key to Heaven!" he shouted triumphantly. The villagers looked startled. "This sadhu is so great that if I keep the hair from his beard with me, I will be blessed forever!" said Raman. Immediately there was a scramble as the villagers rushed to get hold of a hair from the sadhu's beard. The frightened sadhu ran for his life and was never heard of again. |
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| | The Story of Tenali Raman and the cat Long long ago there was a man called Tenali Raman. He was minister to a great king called Krishna Deva Raya. He was supposed to be very clever Once in that city there was lot of problems due to rats. Rats were everywhere. They were eating all sorts of books and papers. They also used to make holes in wooden shelves and also eat rice. Sometimes they even nibbled the ears of little clever girls. Everybody knows that Cats Kill rats. But there were so many rats in the city but very few cats. So the king asked every house in the city to grow cats. But cats need milk to drink. Most of the houses did not have cows. So the king gave cows to every house and asked them to grow them too. All people were happy and used to give cats lot of milk to drink Tenali Raman was a lazy man and liked to drink milk. So the first day he boiled the milk and poured it in a pan. He gave the piping hot milk to the cat. The cat, which was hungry came and sipped the milk from the pan. Since the milk was hot it burnt its mouth. The cat ran away. The next day and the next Tenali Raman did the same thing. After a few days he stopped giving milk to the cat and started drinking it himself Tenali Raman’s cat was lean and hungry and all other cats were stout and happy. One day the king wanted to see all the cats given by him and give prize to the fat cat. He was very angry with Tenali Raman for not growing his cat properly. Then Tenali Raman told the king that he was not lucky since his cat did not drink any milk. The king wanted to put Tenali Raman in Jail for telling a lie and wanted him to prove what he said Then Tenali Raman brought the pan of milk and his cat. The cat on seeing the milk ran away. It thought that it was being given again hot milk. The king pitied Tenali Raman and let him away. The clever Tenali Raman lived happily forever drinking lots and lots of milk. |
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| | Tenali Raman and the Doctor Once Tenali Raman fell sick. His wife was worried and asked a peacocky rich doctor to cure her husband of the disease. The doctor said, "I can cure your husband of the disease. But you will have to pay me a hundred gold coins." Tenali Raman's wife agreed but said, "I don't have that much money now. But my husband has an expensive horse. I will sell it and will pay you off." The greedy doctor knew that the horse cost at least two hundred gold coins. He forced Raman's wife to promise that she will give him all the money she is going to get for the horse. They struck hands and all people heard that. Only then the doctor started treating the sick man for his diseases. Either Raman's prayers were granted or the drugs were good for his disease, but some time later Tenali Raman was well again. After that the doctor demanded the reward. Tenali Raman found out quietly the sum doctors used to take for curing of such a disease. Then, together with the doctor, who was rubbing his hands in expectation of unheard-of reward, they went to the market to sell the horse. Raman also took a cat. When they came to the market, he shouted loudly: "I am selling a cat and a horse! I am selling a cat and a horse! The cat is going for 90 and the horse for 10 gold coins! Listen to me, people!" The horse was of a rare Arab breed and soon a purchaser turned up who paid the full sum for the cat and the horse. Raman took the money giving 10 gold coins to the doctor. "I am giving you what I got for the horse." The doctor was upset and from that day on his avidity started to wane. |
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| |  Same pinch AC even my son loves Tenali Raman I have a hugh book will put up later................. Even I love to read them...........If anything makes me laugh I love to read them again and again............ |
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| | AC - Wow, you seem to have a lot of Tenali tales in your finger tips. Tenali Rama is a lovable character, witty and smart. |
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| |  vow AC tenali serial eh? good yaar all u young mothers are too busy and i am feeling lonely..sunkan |
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| |  Dear AC I like all Tenali Raman stories. When ever I get a chance to read I will never leave it. I like to read it to my daughter which she also enjoys very much. Vidhi |
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| | Aruna my dear you need to share some stories too.. especially the ones that have made you laugh....maybe then all:) |
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| | Nivedi you cannot get off so ightly ..my very young friend.. come up with a few that you like toooo:).. |
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| | Sundari I am sure you read all and enjoyed them too.. These are but a very few.. i have so much more in stock..I was hoping there would be more fans too and so we can share more stories.. |
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| | Vidhi dear glad to hear your daughter likes them too... do share some story please..:) |
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| |  AC, Do they still have comics and shows on Tenali Rama ? I read the first story and felt like a child again. You can give these in series...Thnx for bringing back old memories. |
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| | I love Tenali Raman. I used to enjoy watching the series on Mumbai Doordarshan eons ago. I also used to like their title music and song. Now my son loves them too. Zee TV telecasts it on Sat (or may be Sun). He also got a few of the books from India. He loves all of them and I love to hear his loud laugh whenever he watches these. I don't have any new stories to share right now. But shall post here if I remember a new one. AC I am going to take a pirnt out of all the stories you have written here so my son can enjoy them! Thaaaaank you! SS |
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| | Vidya I have books ..short stories..If you are interested I can get more info for you..thanks for steppin in:) |
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| | SS since I did not watch the t.v. show you can tell how OLD i am:).. will get more stories for your son:) |
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| |  Dear Ac, All iltes are hell bent on taking me on a nostaligic journey? There chitra mami has written about her college days and you are writing abt Tenali Rama. Believe me I am myself a great fan of T Rama followed by my kids. Whenever we buy a book on him, we fight for reading it first. Good collection you are having maybe some I can tell my kids as bed time stories. Thanx Ac... Keep more coming. |
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| | Lallu I thought you will share some stories here my young friend.. do share some please:).. |
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| | Tenali Rama the messengersome more:) The kingdom of Vijaynagar had not been enjoying good relations with its neighbouring state for a very long time. Jealous opponents of Tenali Rama, the king's minister, found it the perfect opportunity to damage his reputation. So they went about poisoning Krishnadeva Rai's mind against him. One day, when the king sat in his chamber pondering over the affairs of the state, one of his courtiers came up and whispered into his ear: "Your Majesty, have you heard the latest?" The king was surprised and exclaimed: "No, I have not! What's going on?" In his gravest voice, the courtier answered: "Your majesty, I will tell you only after you promise not to harm me." "Don't be silly," laughed the king. "Say whatever you want to; you need not be afraid of me." "Your Majesty, Tenali is on the payroll of the neighbouring king. He has been spying on us for them." "What are you talking about?" asked the king angrily. "I told you, your Majesty. This has been going on for a long time. But you would not listen to a word against Tenali. He has cast such a spell on you that you refuse to even think that he might betray you." "Tenali Ram is faithful to the kingdom. He cannot do this. You have been misinformed," the king replied with confidence. But the courtier convinced the king to regard the statement with some gravity and not dismiss it outright. Those were times of great intrigue. "Your majesty, I am fully confident about the truth of my information. Do you think I would have spoken to you without verifying such the information?" said the courtier. Now the king was obliged to turn the statement over in his mind. He promised to get the matter investigated and said that if Tenali Rama was found guilty, he would be punished. The king sent for Tenali Rama the following day. Without wasting time on preliminaries, he asked the minister whether he was in league with the neighbouring state. The question shocked Tenali Rama so much that he was stunned and could not say anything. When Krishnadeva Rai found him silent, he became angry and thundered: "Your silence says you accept the charge." Deeply hurt that the king could doubt his loyalty, Tenali Rama said he refused to answer to such a preposterous charge. This made the king even more angry. He ordered Tenali Rama to leave his kingdom. |
| Updated 8th April 2008 at 09:14 AM by Anandchitra |
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