Tejimola - The Immortal Spirit

Dadi: "Guddu, tonight I'll tell you a story from Assam - about a girl whose spirit could not be killed, no matter how many times her stepmother tried."

Guddu: "Her spirit couldn't be killed? What do you mean?"

Dadi: "This is the story of Tejimola, one of the most beloved tales from 'Grandmother's Tales' - stories that Assamese children have heard for over a hundred years."

Guddu: "Tell me!"

Dadi: "In a village in Assam lived a wealthy merchant with his beloved daughter Tejimola. Her mother had died, and the merchant remarried. But his new wife was cruel and jealous."

Guddu: "*worried* I don't like stepmothers in stories."

Dadi: "In this story, the stepmother was indeed wicked. Whenever the merchant went away on trading journeys, she treated Tejimola harshly - making her do hard work, denying her food, treating her like a servant."

Guddu: "Didn't Tejimola tell her father?"

Dadi: "Perhaps she tried. But the stepmother was clever. One day, when the merchant had left on a long journey, she decided to be rid of Tejimola forever."

Guddu: "*voice small* What did she do?"

Dadi: "She used a rice-husking pedal called a 'dheki' to... to harm the girl fatally. Then she buried Tejimola in the courtyard to hide her crime."

Guddu: "*gasping* That's horrible!"

Dadi: "But Tejimola's spirit could not rest. From the spot where she was buried, a bottle gourd plant began to grow. It flourished and bore beautiful gourds."

Guddu: "She became a plant?"

Dadi: "When an old beggar woman came and reached to pick a gourd, a voice sang out from the plant: 'Don't pick my fruit, oh beggar woman. For I am Tejimola, buried here. My cruel stepmother killed me, with the dheki she crushed me dear.'"

Guddu: "*eyes wide* The plant spoke!"

Dadi: "The beggar fled in terror and told the village. When the stepmother heard, she tore out the gourd vine and threw it into the river."

Guddu: "Did that stop Tejimola's spirit?"

Dadi: "No! The vine drifted downstream and took root on the riverbank, transforming into a beautiful citrus tree. When travelers approached to pick fruit, the tree sang the same lament."

Guddu: "She transformed again!"

Dadi: "The stepmother heard about the singing tree and destroyed it too, casting the remains into the river. But from those remains, a magnificent pink lotus flower bloomed on the waters."

Guddu: "Gourd vine, tree, lotus - she kept coming back!"

Dadi: "And this time, it was the merchant himself - returning home by boat - who saw the extraordinary flower. He reached out to pick it when it began to sing: 'Don't pluck me, father, for I am your Tejimola. Your wife killed me with the dheki. She buried me in the earth. But I have come back, don't you see?'"

Guddu: "Her father found her!"

Dadi: "He was shocked and heartbroken. To be certain, he asked the lotus to prove its identity by transforming into a bird. The lotus became a beautiful white dove!"

Guddu: "Magic!"

Dadi: "The merchant took the bird home in a cage. He asked his wife where Tejimola was. The stepmother made excuses: 'The girl ran away.' Then the merchant opened the cage and commanded: 'If you are truly my daughter Tejimola, resume your human form.'"

Guddu: "And?"

Dadi: "Before the terrified stepmother's eyes, the bird transformed back into Tejimola - alive, whole, restored! The girl embraced her father and told him everything."

Guddu: "What happened to the stepmother?"

Dadi: "Exposed and terrified, she fled from the village, never to return. Father and daughter lived happily together from that day forward."

Guddu: "Dadi, what does this story mean?"

Dadi: "Many things, beta. That the human spirit cannot truly be destroyed - though the body may perish, essence endures. That truth cannot stay buried - each transformation brought Tejimola closer to reunion with her father. That love recognizes love - the merchant knew his daughter's voice through every form she took."

Guddu: "And the wicked are eventually exposed."

Dadi: "Always. The stepmother thought she had succeeded, but the universe kept bringing back what she tried to destroy. Justice may take time, but it comes."

Guddu: "I like that Tejimola became different things - a plant, a tree, a flower, a bird."

Dadi: "In Assamese belief, life flows between forms. We're not separate from nature - we're part of it. Tejimola's spirit found expression through whatever form was needed until she could be whole again."

Guddu: "*yawning* Goodnight, Dadi. May my spirit be as strong as Tejimola's."

Dadi: "May you never need such strength, beta. But if you do, may love bring you home. Goodnight."