An original rhythmic text to the classic Panchatantra story from the first book “Loss of Friends”, written by our student Avishi Bagga.

Avishi is 11 years old, and a young writer from Gurugram. She is inspired by imagination which motivates her to express her daily thoughts through writing because she feels that she can make people learn something new in a fun way. We are proud to have her as a student of the Little Writers Program, an Online Creative Writing Program using Applied Storytelling & Applied Theatre tools under the mentorship of Trainer Khusshbo Chokhaani. We congratulate Avishi for this exemplary true self-expression.

The Fall And The Rise Of The Merchant

There is a story, that no one knows,

It is something that even I don’t know,

But, after reading we are going to know.

There was a king and a merchant,

The administrator was the merchant,

But, no one knew, that the merchant was smug.

The merchant wasn’t the nicest guy,

He was always getting into a fight,

Luckily, he had the King to save him.

The merchant’s daughter was getting married,

The merchant’s baby was really happy,

And she even drank some honey.

During the reception, everyone was welcomed,

Except for the servant who turned up and wasn’t welcomed,

He was thrown out, he didn’t throw a tantrum.

The servant felt pretty embarrassed,

He thought, “The merchant was the fairest,”

But, he didn’t know he was the rarest.

This cheeky servant had a plan,

While sleeping under the fan,

He wondered how to execute the plan.

When the King was half awake,

The servant murmured something fake,

The king heard and appeared to be bitten by a snake.

The servant mumbled, that the merchant embraced the queen,

This made the King extremely angry,

And he thought that the merchant was mean.

The king jumped up on his bed,

He asked the servant,

If all that he said was correct.

The servant didn’t give a direct answer,

He said he was gambling all night,

He didn’t get enough sleep.

He planned to fool the King,

And get the merchant,

Out of his face until next spring.

The King thought about it all day,

Thought about it all night,

Then he realized the servant may be just right.

The king was troubled with jealousy,

He withdrew the favors,

And banished the merchant from the Kingdom.

When the merchant tried to enter,

The guards didn’t let that evil merchant enter,

The merchant was very shocked.

The merchant went back,

And thinking about what happened,

Wondered, how can he get his honor back.

The servant was having the time of his life,

He even told all this to his wife,

He told her how he ruined the merchant’s perfect life.

The merchant knew,

That the servant had something to do,

With his new attitude toward the king.

The merchant invited the servant to his house,

Apologized to the servant,

And begged to bring his honor back,

The servant knew, what to do,

To get everything back on track,

He crafted the plan again.

When the king was half awake,

He again said something very strange,

He said that their King was crazy.

When the king heard this,

He was full of rage,

He said, “you are lying”.

When the kings said these lines,

The servant knew it was time,

He again told a lie.

The King thought about it again,

He concluded that,

The story of the merchant was also fake.

The king thought to bring the merchant back,

He wondered, that when the merchant was in-charge,

The administrative section was a success.

But when he left,

It was really bad,

It was all a slack.

The King invited the merchant to the palace,

He flattered the merchant with gifts and jewels,

He re-appointed the merchant to his position.

This is what the story told,

This story was way too bold,

This is life which is never black & white but grey as well.

Leave your valuable comments for encouraging our student to innovate, explore and express more.