Cooking the Kichdi
It was the depth of winter. Ponds and rivers were frozen, and the cold pierced every bone.
One day in court, Emperor Akbar turned to Birbal with a curious question. “Tell me, Birbal, will a man really do anything for money?”
“Yes, Jahanpanah,” Birbal replied confidently. “A man will endure much for the sake of his family.”
Akbar decided to test it. The next day, Birbal brought a poor Brahmin before the emperor. The man had nothing but a single penny left, and his family was on the brink of starvation. Birbal said, “This Brahmin is willing to do whatever it takes for money.”
Akbar commanded, “Very well. Let him prove it. He must stand all night in the frozen pond, without any clothes. If he succeeds, he shall be rewarded.”
That night, the poor Brahmin stepped into the icy pond. Shivering and trembling, he somehow endured the long, merciless night. The next morning, he came to court, exhausted but alive, ready to claim his reward.
Akbar asked, “Tell me, how did you manage to survive the freezing night?”
The Brahmin innocently replied, “Huzoor, I could see a faint glowing light far away in the distance. I fixed my eyes on it, and that hope gave me strength to bear the cold.”
Akbar frowned. “So, you drew warmth from that light? Then you cheated! You shall not be rewarded.”
The poor man, broken and speechless, left the court in tears. Birbal tried to reason with the emperor, but Akbar would not listen.
From that day, Birbal stopped attending court. Instead, he sent a message: “I will return to the durbar only after cooking my khichdi.”
Days passed. After five long days, the emperor himself grew curious and went to Birbal’s house. There he saw a strange sight — Birbal had lit a fire and placed a pot of rice for khichdi, but the pot hung from a stick nearly a meter away from the flames.
Puzzled, Akbar asked, “Birbal! How will the khichdi ever cook with the pot so far from the fire? Have you lost your senses?”
Birbal calmly looked up. “Jahanpanah, if a poor Brahmin can receive warmth from a light a kilometer away, then surely this khichdi, just a meter away from the fire, will cook in no time.”
Realization dawned upon Akbar. He saw the folly of his judgment and the depth of Birbal’s wisdom. At once, he called for the Brahmin and rewarded him generously with two thousand gold coins.
Thus, once again, Birbal taught the emperor a lesson — not with anger, but with wit.