Gopi and the magic brush

Warm-up. If you could have one magical object, what would it be? Remember the cartoon about a pencil whose drawings came to life? This poem has magic like that.

The errand. Gopi is sent to gather wild beans, fetch rice and pick mangoes, 'and bring home something nice.'

She does none of it. 'Gopi sits beneath the banyan, a twig is in her hand. She sits there drawing pictures, pictures in the sand.'

Then: 'The winds blow by and sweeps away the pictures in the sand.' She has the talent, but cannot keep anything she makes. The magic brush will solve that.

The man with the brush. On a stone sits a man with a brush in his hand. He looks around, calls her over, and whispers: 'Hush! We mustn't let the village know about this magic brush.'

His whispering shows he is careful: he knows how precious the brush is. So he gives it with a condition: 'Paint not for the wealthy ones, but only for the poor.'

The brush comes with a rule from the very start. The second half of the poem tests it.

The first painting. At home, asked about the beans, rice and mangoes, she says 'No beans, no rice, no mangoes!', grins, runs inside, and paints a bowl of khichdi. When the paint dries: 'The bowl is full of khichdi, Gopi!'

The village comes. 'Into the house the villagers streamed, the young and old all wish to see the magic brush of dreams.'

She keeps the rule. She paints:

• a muffler for a farmer;
• a plough for another man;
• a shawl for a grandmother;
• a fan for a girl.

Each is something a person needs, not just wants.