Chameli’sSparkleRam Babu SubediKarmacharya K.K

1

There was once a girlnamed Chameli. Shewas the only daughter ofwealthy parents. She wentto school and was in thethird grade.

2

Chameli’s mother had alot of beautiful jewelry.One day, Chameli’s mothershowed her all the jewelryand also taught her theirnames.

3

The next day Chamelisecretly took out hermother’s sirfhula (a headflower made of gold) andwore it. With the sirfhula onher head, she left for school.

4

On her way, she met herfriends Champa and Sohan.They were amazed to seethe sirfool on her head.

5

At school, Chameli wasthe center of attention.Everyone stared at her, andtalked about her. Nayantaracomposed a silly song: Lookat this girl, who is that?Why, it’s Chameli, in herGorkha Hat!

6

Teacher saw the sirfhulaon Chameli’s head, but saidnothing.

7

In the class, Alka called toChameli, ’My elder sister haslots and lots of jewelry. Youhave only one piece, andit’s not even yours. It’s yourmom’s!’

8

When Chameli returnedhome from school, gasped,’Oh my goodness! You arewearing a sirfhula! Wow!How beautifully it suits you!”

9

Chameli was so pleased byher mother’s compliment.She felt so beautiful in thejewelry, she started askingto wear something everyday. ’Mama, couldn’t youplease get me my veryown ring, anklets, earrings,sirfhula, and nose-stud?’

10

Chameli’s parents wantedto give their daughtereverything she wanted. Soher mother took her to thegoldsmith’s shop.

11

The next day, the goldsmithcame to her home todelivery the jewelry.Chameli put on everything!She was sparkling. She wentto school covered in goldfrom head to foot.

12

During break, all thestudents of the schoolgathered round her.Chameli was thrilled. Herfriend Kopila asked her,’Why don’t you dance for us,Chameli?’ Everyone clappedand sang and Chamelistarted dancing.

13

It started raining whileChameli, Tilaja and Alkawere returning home.The red mud on the pathbecame slippery. Chamelislipped, fell down, anddented her beautifulsirfhula! ”Why did you pushme, Tilja?” she demanded.But Tilja had not eventouched Chameli.

14

Chameli didn’t want to dentany more of her beautifuljewelry. Decked out fromhead to foot, she alwaysstood aside while herfriends played sports andgames.

15

One day, Chameli tookoff her jewelry to take ashower. She dumped themtogether. The weight of theanklet broke some parts ofthe sirfhula!

16

Chameli noticed thedamage in her sirfhula onlywhen she was back fromthe bathroom. ’How daresomeone break by sirfhula?’That day, she did not goto school. She went to thegoldsmith to get her sirfhulafixed instead.

17

The next day, she lost oneof the earrings. Chamelisuspected one of her friendshad taken it. The teacherasked every student in theclass if he or she had foundit.

18

The day after, her nose studwas broken. Chameli wentto the goldsmith to get itfixed. She missed her schoolagain.

19

One day, teacher askedeveryone in the class todraw a picture of Chameli.Chameli was thrilled! Exactlylike a model, she took herseat in a chair. Studentsdrew her picture veryquickly and stuck them onthe board. The pictureswere very different fromone another!

20

In the picture drawn byTilja, Chameli lookedhandcuffed with a goldchain of bangles.

21

Her friend, Sukbahadur,drew the picture whereChameli’s anklets chainedher together.

22

Chameli was so angry! Thatwas not how her jewelrylooked at all. ”Tilja andSukahadur,” the teachersaid. ”These are nicepictures. They show a lot ofimagination.”

23

Day by day, Chameli’sfriends stopped spendingtime with her. This madeChameli very sad and lonely.She was so mad, she sat allby herself in the last bench.

24

During break times, shesat alone on the chautariand ate her tiffin. Gazingat the beautiful birds in thesky, she said to herself, ’Thebirds are lonesome like me.’

25

In class, the teacherdeclared the result ofquarterly examination tests.Though a bright studentin the past, Chameli failedin two subjects. Chamelibegan to cry.

26

The next day, the principalasked her to come to hisoffice. ’Chameli, you hada very good track recordboth in studies and sports.Your spirit once spreadeverywhere. But you areseduced by the lure of gold.You should know that golddoes not have a spirit, mychild.”

27

”Gold has no spirit.” Chamelicould not stop thinkingabout the principal had said.At home, she threw off herjewelry angrily.

28

The next day, she took herjewelry to the goldsmith.’Will you please melt themand turn it into a ball so thatI can give it to my motherto keep for now?’ When itwas melted, the goldsmithhanded it over to Chameli.Chameli gave the gold ballto her mother.

29

Chameli went to school thatday with no jewelry on at all.Then she joined in a gamewith her friends. They allgave her hugs, but Chamelihugged Tilja for the longesttime of all.

30

When the head teacher’seyes fell on her in theassembly, she called herout of her line and said,’Chameli is in her true selftoday. She is sure to spreadher spirit from now onwardsagain.’ That made Chamelismile. She was glad to haveher friends back. And theyall clapped to see Chamelifind her true spirit again.

31

In the classroom, Chameliwrote something in a sheetof paper and pasted it onthe board for everyone tosee: Friends, please listento what I say Drowning ingold is not the way Familyand friends know youryour spirit You must listeninside to hear it. And it wasTilja who added— Chamelispirit’s sparkles brighterthan gold!

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Original StoryChameli’s Sparkle, author: Ram Babu Subedi . illustrator: by Karmacharya K.K. Released under CC BY 4.0.

This work is a modified version of the original story. © The Asia Foundation, 2019. Some rights reserved. Released underCC BY 4.0.

For full terms of use and attribution, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/