This story goes back a long, long time, when India was divided into many kingdoms and ruled by kings. There was a small kingdom in the central part of India, which was ruled by Maharaja Pratap Singh. Maharaja Pratap Singh was very rich and had a small family. His wife’s name was Maharani Roshni and they had a 7-year-old son, Ajay Singh. They also had a pet lion named Sher Khan. Ajay Singh was taught to live like a prince. There were strict rules in the kingdom that he had to follow. One of the rules was that he was not supposed to be with the class of children from the low income group. He wasn’t supposed to talk to them or even go near them.
Om Prakash, a poor man who worked as a servant in Maharaja Pratap Singh’s palace. He also had a 7-year-old son named Raju. Raju was very playful and behaved exactly like a child. He was adorable and enjoyed his life without any strict rules.
It was the time of the year when India’s most intense weather event, the monsoon, was on its way. During this season, it was common to see children running and dancing in the rain.
Prince Ajay stayed inside on a rainy day and followed the palace rules. He was painting and Sher Khan was sitting next to him. Suddenly, he saw a shadow splashing in the rain. He ran to the window and saw that the shadow was none other than Raju. Sher Khan got very excited and began to circle near the window. Ajay said to himself, “Oh my God! Raju is only wearing shorts and a vest and he is jumping in the mud puddles. I think his mother will be very angry. He is doing the most messy act one could possibly do.” . The next minute, Ajay saw that Sher Khan had run out the back door and joined Raju. Sher Khan was running in the mud puddles and enjoying the rain too. Ajay was worried that his mother, Maharani Roshni, would be very upset if Sher Khan walked with muddy paws on the carpet inside the palace. He thought that he should make an effort to get Sher Khan to the palace before his mother saw him. He put on his rain boots, grabbed an umbrella, and went outside. He told Sher Khan, “Sher Khan, come! Follow me.” But Sher Khan was having a lot of fun circling in the water and he hardly heard anything. Ajay repeated his words, but Sher Khan was roaring and running. He tried to pull Sher Khan up, but Sher Khan jerked back so hard that Ajay fell off.
When Prince Ajay fell into the mud, he was angry at first, but lying there he saw Raju and Sher Khan still playing together, getting wet and dancing in the rain. Ajay found that it was a lot of fun to step in puddles and splash rainwater everywhere. In fact, it was fun playing in the rain. He took off his rain boots and joined Raju and Sher Khan. The three of them continued the fun even after the rain stopped. When it started to get dark, Raju went to his house. Prince Ajay and Sher Khan returned to the palace. Maharani Roshni saw everything from the palace window. She was upset not only by the fact that Prince Ajay and Sher Khan were muddy and wet, but also by the fact that Ajay was playing with Raju when he was not supposed to. Ajay was punished for his action. They forced him to stay in his room all night without eating.
Raju had enjoyed playing with Prince Ajay so much on that rainy day, that the following week, Raju returned to Prince Ajay’s palace and knocked on his bedroom window. Ajay was still on the bed, but he came closer to see that it was Raju holding a small kitten in his two hands and stroking it. He was tempted to go to Raju and pet the kitten, but he remembered that if he did, his mother would get angry again, she would make him stay in the room and he would be punished. However, the kitten was so cute that Ajay couldn’t resist. He climbed out the window and stayed in the backyard stroking the kitten with Raju. Unfortunately, Maharani Roshni saw him again with Raju. Prince Ajay was once again called into the palace and this time, he was punished even more. They told him to stay in his room and did not offer him breakfast or lunch. Raju heard about Ajay’s punishment. He couldn’t bear the fact that Ajay had to stay hungry for so long. Raju went to his house and brought a full plate of lunch for Ajay. Raju quietly went to Ajay’s window, slipped into the palace and shared his meal with Ajay. Prince Ajay ate hard old wheat tortillas, which were probably cooked by Raju’s mother the night before. He ate them with curries, the flavors of which were different but delicious. After Ajay ate, Raju quietly ran away.
Although Prince Ajay saw Raju from time to time, he tried to stay away from Raju and avoided getting close to him for fear that his mother would see him and get into trouble. One Sunday afternoon, Maharaja Pratap Singh and Maharani Roshni had gone to the neighboring kingdom to visit a friend’s palace. Ajay came out of his palace and saw Raju climbing a tree. Raju taught Ajay to climb a tree and played with him. Before Maharaja Pratap Singh and Maharani Roshni returned to the palace, Ajay was already at home and no one knew that he had a play date with Raju.
One day, Prince Ajay was walking back to the palace, when some flowers on the bush attracted him. He approached the bush and to his greatest surprise, those flowers turned into a snake. The snake climbed onto a nearby tree branch and it looked like the snake was going to bite Ajay with its head extended. Suddenly, Raju came from behind and quickly broke the tree branch and threw it, far back into the bushes. He took Ajay’s hand and made him run away with him.
Prince Ajay returned to the palace and told his father and mother what had happened. Maharani Roshni was impressed by how Raju saved Prince Ajay’s life. From that day, he allowed Prince Ajay to be Raju’s friend. She herself invited Raju to the palace and thanked him for saving her son’s life.
Prince Ajay and Raju became best friends despite caste and income barriers. They played together, climbed trees together and petted animals around. They also danced in the rain and jumped together in mud puddles every monsoon season.