Finding the one is like a treasure hunt

Finding the ‘One’ is like
a Treasure Hunt

by Tale Weavers

Weaving tales,
breaking stereotypes

Tale Weavers is an initiative that aims
to engage with children and the youth
through stories that challenge stereotypes
and break the barriers in creating a just
society.
​
We welcome you to our world of stories
where simple conversations, colorful
illustrations, and powerful characters
help break the stereotypes and create an
inclusive learning space which is free
of bias - be it gender, religion, race,
nationality or ethnicity.

Finding the ‘One’ is like
a Treasure Hunt

Story: Kritika Kulshrestha Illustrations: Tanvi More

Edited by: Kirthi Jayakumar

It was a beautiful summer day. The mangoes were ripe.

Juicy and fleshy. Ready to be plucked!

Grandmother sat on her rickety, old wooden chair in
the veranda looking at the children running about,
screaming and laughing.

“Meera!!! Ayan!!! What are you doing?” she called out
in her hoarse voice.

The mango trees swayed in the gentle summer breeze.
There were dozens of kids roaming around in the
orchards, digging up the earth, or peering behind
bushes.



A mango treasure hunt wasn’t as easy as it looked

after all.

The village had organized a treasure hunt for the
children. It was an annual tradition. Every summer,
the farm owners organized a range of activities for the
children, including a mango treasure hunt.

Meera and Ayan were friends. Actually, the best
of friends. Both were 8 years old, and terribly
mischievous! They loved spending their summers
playing with the other kids, reading books, painting, or
simply lying down on the soft grass.

The treasure hunt was their most favorite activity of all!

Last time, the treasure hunt wasn’t easy. They had to

find one very special mango, called the ‘crown jewel’ or
the ‘one’ as Grandmother sometimes joked.
Grandmother’s actual name was Sharda Kumar and she
was Meera’s 81-year-old nani.
“Ooooh, I wonder what the ‘crown jewel’ is, this time,
Ayan,” Meera said, clapping her hands with joy.
“Last time, Grandmamma hid a beautiful, ripe golden
Alphonso in the bushes behind the house.

“It looked so pretty I did not want to eat it. Finally,

Amma forced me to eat it. And it was so yummy!”

“Yes! It should be a pretty Alphonso. If it turns out to
be that horrible Totapuri, I’m not eating it. And I am not
digging it out of the dirt either! No way!” Ayan said,
frowning.

“Ok, ok, let’s dig around near those trees over there. I
can’t see anybody looking for a mango there,” Meera
suggested, totally enchanted at the idea of eating a tasty
Alphonso.



The sun beat down. The summer afternoon turned to

dusk. And no one had found the mango yet. Meera and
Ayan—tired, sweaty and dirty—looked sad.
But they were still bent upon finding that elusive
mango. Grandmother asked them to continue, and told
them not to give up.
“I’m scared of the night insects,” Meera said in a soft
voice. It was now dark and the jungle insects were
everywhere.
“We’ll find it,” Ayan said trying to be brave. “We can’t
give up now. We have to find the mango.”
They held onto each other, peering through the darkness
torches in hand.





They had scratches and their clothes had

tears. But they continued on.
Suddenly, they stumbled over something
that looked like a rock. Except, it wasn’t a
rock! Ayan shone his torch. In front of them
lay a half-squished Alphonso covered in dirt
and fruit flies. It looked like it was going
bad!
“Eeewwwww!!!!” they both said together.
“That can’t be the ‘crown jewel’.
It looks ugly. I’m sure grandmamma was
joking.”
“But we can’t leave it here. What if it’s the
mango we’re looking for?” Meera asked.

They gently picked up the squished mango and went

running back through the fields and across the lawn and
almost threw the mango on the porch.
“Grandmamma! Appa! Amma! Call everybody! We
found the ‘crown jewel’!”
The elders came hurriedly onto the porch only to be
greeted by two excited kids and one half-rotten mango.
“Wonderful! You’ve found the ‘crown jewel’. My
darling Meera and Ayan, you’re both the winners of the
treasure hunt,” Grandmother said in delight.



But how can this be the ‘one’? It’s not like the pretty

Alphonso we found last summer,” Meera asked.
“My dear child, the Alphonso you found last summer
was not a perfect fruit. It had little black spots on it, and
it was half-green. Nothing is perfect. And this Alphonso
is half-squished but open it up and the flesh inside will
be nice and juicy. Don’t judge its appearance from the
outside,” Grandmother said with a smile.
“Finding the ‘crown jewel’ is not an easy task
Sometimes you may take hours and sometimes you may
take days to find it. When I was younger, we took a
whole week to find the mango. You kids are smarter and
quicker. But it’s not always easy.”

“You and Ayan found it in a day. But not everybody

can. People have spent months looking for that one
mango. And even then they haven’t been able to find
it. But, my child, the journey! Always remember the
journey. Didn’t you enjoy the treasure hunt? Didn’t it
make you and Ayan a better team? Didn’t it teach you
something about never giving up?”
“Yes, grandmamma. It did. It was so much fun going on
the treasure hunt!” Meera said.
“And, even if we didn’t find that Alphonso in the end,
we still had so much fun. I can’t wait for next summer
to play this game again!”

The End

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