Hello everyone,
This is Amita and today I am going to talk to you about a real life story passed on for generations on the act of bravery that a mother exhibited to get to her child in a small town in India.
It has been a sheer joy watching my little angel drift off to sleep in the land of his dream listening to this story.
I hope you enjoy the story and get a restful sleep.
This is a story of a mother named Hirkani.
The name Hirkani means a diamond or jewel.
She lived near the famed Raigarh Fort which is situated in Pune in India.
The king ruling at that time was named Shivaji.
He was a brave warrior who ruled the fort and turned it into his capital in the 1600s which was by the way really long time ago.
The fort sits atop a hill in the western carts and massive walls protected from all sides.
A sheer drop on one side seemed protection enough.
Who would climb up or down the dangerous and steep mountain?
So it was a perfect fort to protect his people.
A village sprawled at the base of the hill that was the source of daily merchandise needed by the citizens living within the fort's compound walls.
To sell their wares,
The villagers trekked up the hill via the road leading directly to the fort gates which opened at dawn and shut at dusk each day.
And there was a rule that dictated that the gates would not be opened for anyone until next morning.
Like everyone else,
Hirkani would also stand in the line at the main gates every morning.
On such day,
While getting ready to leave for fort,
Hirkani got delayed as her child was inconsolable and crying for his mother to not leave.
However,
The milk maid managed to make it to the daily market and sold milk to her regular customers.
Unfortunately she was late to reach the gates in the evening and a soldier in charge had already shut the doors at sunset.
Since she had left her baby at home,
Not returning was not an option.
Hirkani tried pleading to the soldier who did not budge and told that it was the king's order and needed to be followed at all cost.
With the thought of her baby being alone and hungry,
Hirkani did something she had never done before.
She scaled down the dangerous,
Treacherous hillside in the dead of night.
Though severely shaken and scratched and hurt from the harrowing journey,
The mother finally after hours and hours of descending through the steep mountain managed to reach the baby very late at night.
She hugged the baby and put him to sleep.
A new day occurred.
The next day,
Like all other days,
Hirkani was at the fort's gate for the daily market.
The soldier was very shocked to see the milk maid entering the gates.
He immediately took her to the king on the charges of breaking the rules because she left the fort the previous night.
The king Shivaji heard her story and then looked at the scratches on her hands and face.
He was curious to know how Hirkani made her way down such a treacherous descent.
So he took her to the same spot.
Now this time,
Hirkani climbed up the wall,
Looked down and said,
No,
No way,
I'm very,
Very afraid.
It's so steep.
The king looked at her and asked,
Why were you not afraid yesterday?
She did cross this treacherous descent yesterday also.
She said,
Oh,
Dear king,
I had to reach my dear son last night and my mother's heart could only hear was his cries and yearning for me.
Instead of punishing Hirkani,
He praised her with bravery and immediately ordered for the construction of the wall at the unprotected vertical drop and named it after her.
Years later,
Still this purus or this wall exists and so does the tale of Hirkani.
While Hirkani did not have any magical powers,
What she had was a mother's will to get to her hungry child and a mother's love.
Mother's love has no bounds and she loves you very,
Very much.
With this,
My dear,
Wish you a wonderful good night's sleep.
Take care.
Bye bye.
