Sundari Pari's Garden

Sundari Pari’s Garden by Amba Singh

Prologue

When I was 3, my ma started telling my brother Kabir and I stories about Sundari Pari’s adventures about two kids and their dog FitFit. The stories were set in Kashmir which is a beautiful state in India that has snow-peaked mountains, flower-filled meadows, two lakes Dal and Nagin, where people live on houseboats and move around on canoes called “shikaras”. We visited Kashmir every summer and stayed on a houseboat in Srinagar and then camped on the meadows of Gulmarg and cooked our food on campfires and swam in clear blue streams filled with round pebbles and small fish and frogs. At night we heard stories around a fire and as we went to bed we were fearful of bears that may attack our campsite.

So back to Sundari Pari’s adventures..she always came in our dreams and took us away on a magic carpet. Sundari in Hindi means beautiful and pari means fairy. When we were on her magic carpet we had to hold on tight as would fall off if we did not. There were creatures like Buda Baba who always arrived with 3 loud knocks and crocodiles that lived under our bed which was a lake where crocodiles roamed. Our beds were an island circled by deep waters filled with crocodiles and snakes. If we left our bed our fates were sealed by the reptiles lurking below!

Looking for a cure

One day Sundari Pari came and knocked on our window..” wake up Chinchin and Chunchun we have to go”.  I quickly woke up my brother and we silently slunk through the window grates onto the magic carpet, suddenly FitFit, our black labrador started barking and she ran and jumped onto the magic carpet. It was still dark and we slowly moved up through the clouds while Sundari Pari shared with us what our mission was. She said we needed to help people that were suffering from a virus, that looked like a crown!

We flew all night and just before sunrise we landed in a land covered by mist and gently sloping hills. A beautiful place away from the disease, where the air was clean and where animals and humans lived as one. She said we had to look for a special combination of herbs that could cure this crown virus. It was on the top of the hill and we had to collect 20 of these special roots, cook them and then the sick would drink the mixture and feel better. The only problem was that on the top of the hill lived a dragon that was protecting these roots. Chinchin and Chunchun were brave children but were still afraid of dragons especially the ones that had fire coming out of their nostrils and mouth. They talked and decided on a plan of action, what if they told the dragon the problems that all the people were facing with this disease, surely he would listen!

So early the next morning they walked to the top of the hill and waited for an audience with the dragon. The dragon was surprised that these kids were not naughty like the others and waiting patiently to speak to him. The dragon asked them why they had climbed the mountain. They told the dragon about all the problems the people were facing and how important the 20 roots were. The dragon listened carefully and then allowed the children to pluck the roots from the ground, as long as they planted 20 seeds to replace the plants they removed. Sundari Pari who was always prepared had brought the seeds in her magical coat and gave them to the children. Fitfit the dog was scared of the dragon so she hid inside her large and colorful coat! Soon the children got their roots and by now the dragon had become their friend and he promised that as long as they had kind words in their hearts, minds, and speech he would always allow them to come to visit him. They thanked him and even hugged him and soon were flying back home with Sundari Pari and Fitfit and the 20 roots that were going to help people fight the crown virus. By the time they reached home, it was about 7 and they just had half an hour of sleep before they would have to sit on their chairs and start their zoom classes with their teachers!