Stone Soup

I’m sure you all must have tasted mixed vegetable soup, tomato soup (an essential part of every party’s menu), sweet corn soup, sweet and sour soup, Manchow soup, chicken soup, and probably even some other soup but I’m sure you’ve never had the opportunity of tasting stone soup. Have you? Well, I was recently called upon to prepare stone soup. Now, you may wonder by whom and how and when... Allow me to satiate your curiosity at my own pace. Isn’t it said, ‘Patience brings forth sweet fruit’?

You see, my little nephew Ethan wanted a story every night while he was home here for the Christmas holidays. So, each night I would dig deep into my treasure trove and come up with some story or the other. On some nights I would rely on memory of stories from my childhood days and on other nights I would ‘cook up’ some story. And, it so happened that on one cold night as he waited impatiently for me to tell him a long tale I recollected a story my grandmother had told me long- long ago. There was no particular reason why that story came to mind just then but it did. Just a minute ago my mind was blank; I was searching high and low, rummaging around in the deepest recesses of my psyche for a story when this simple but not so simple tale (because of its deep message) popped up. I breathed a sigh of relief and started on the narrative with great zest. I must admit I added a few ‘ingredients’ to make the story more delectable to the kid. I threw in a few words, sprinkled a little interesting vocabulary, got pretty liberal with the visual and sound imageries, and added a whole lot of gestures and actions for good measure. And... ta-da... the result was a round-eyed kid who ordered me to prepare stone soup for him. As I looked at the earnest face, wide awake and far from sleepy, I gulped in genuine fright. I stole a look at his amused mother who was waiting for me to come up with some witty reply to her son’s latest demand. I laughed off ‘the order’ for the moment saying, that it was too late to hunt for stones, also that a special stone was needed for the soup. I must admit that I truly hoped he would forget all about stones and soups the next morning. Wishful thinking!

The next morning he collected stones of all shapes and sizes from the terrace and the garden and reminded me of the task he had assigned me. Looking at him I wondered for once if I had bitten off more than I could chew. Nothing I said or did to divert his mind deterred that young chap! Stone soup he ordered and stone soup he wanted! My sister and her husband had a field day... watching me use all my tactics to make him forget that blessed soup! By evening, after I had tried my last excuse that the soup can be prepared only after seven in the evening I finally went to the kitchen to prepare the ‘stone soup’. With much deliberation I chose a stone from his vast collection, I took my time and finally made a pick. After much show of washing the stone, I selected some vegetables (onions, cabbage, carrots and peas), peeled and chopped them very-very slowly hoping to get rid of his constant presence at my elbow in the kitchen.

Finally, I succeeded and he left my side for a teensy-weensy five minutes! And lo and behold by the time he returned I was almost ready to ladle out the soup in the bowls! I needn’t tell you he was amazed and at the same time not very happy because he had missed the entire procedure. A few minutes later he tasted his first mouthful and informed his mother that the ‘stone soup’ was delicious. In the same breath he ordered his mother to prepare the same soup everyday when they went back home. His mother turned to look at my smiling face in horror and grumbled about why in the world I had to tell her son atrocious stories!

I couldn’t help but laugh aloud when he told me that I should tell his mummy the recipe. Well, now that’s a different story altogether. I don’t think I’ll be sharing the secret recipe ... You see it may be impossible to cook stones but for a storyteller who’s used to ‘cooking up’ stories from thin air most of the time, it’s not difficult even to do that! What do you say?