The Poori that Ran Away
by Zakir Hussain and illustrated by Pooja Pottenkulam
“The Poori that Ran Away” by Zakir Hussain and illustrated by Pooja Pottenkulam. Published by Young Zubaan. A humorous folk tale of a Poori that did not want to be eaten.
A farmer named Mansa and his wife Gudia lived in a village. They needed some people to help them in harvesting their land. When five people were found to do the work, Mansa asks Gudia to make something special for their lunch and suggested that it should be pooris.
As Gudia starts frying the poori, she notices that her son Buddhu’s nose needs to be cleaned. She gets busy in cleaning and fails to notice that the poori is almost burnt. The poori gets offended by this and decides to run away rather than hanging around waiting to be eaten. She taunts Gudia and Mansa that they cannot catch her and sets off.
As she outwits and manages to give the slip to the farmer and his friends as well as a rabbit and a fox, Poori thinks that she can never be caught. Can she escape being caught? Is there anyone smarter than her who can outwit her? This is what the story is about. Witty and humorous.
The book is from a series of folk tales named Magic Key retold by India’s third President, Dr. Zakir Hussain. “For all children”, he wrote, “the first books they read are the key to the magic of the world”. These books have been translated into English from Urdu by Samina Mishra who is the author’s great granddaughter along with Sanjay Muttoo. Enjoyed reading this with my (then) six year old. Found this thanks to Vidya Mani of Funky Rainbow.
The story is very similar to that of “The Gingerbread Man”. This could be an Indian adaptation of that or this might be the original story which influenced that. One never knows! Apt for children aged 5+.
Where to buy from?
An independent indie bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.
The publishers Young Zubaan here.