Shyam’s elder brother had gone to Pune to study at their maternal uncle’s house. He was very patient and endured much. He studied with great effort, bore everything quietly, and focused on his learning. Pune was an expensive city, so even when the school had holidays, he rarely came home. For one or two years, he would come home only during the longer vacations.

Once, he was struck by smallpox. Smallpox is a dreadful, terrifying disease. When one hears of it, the heart is filled with fear. His whole body was covered with the eruptions of smallpox. Only by the grace of God did he recover, but he was left very weak. After recovering from this illness, he came home during the summer vacation. His body still burned with fever. His eyes were red and inflamed. At such times, it is customary to give the patient cool, soothing foods. Gulkand—made from rose petals—is considered the best, but it is very expensive. Since it was not possible to get it for him, Mother cooked onions with sugar to make a syrup and gave it to him to eat. Onion is said to have a cooling effect. It is also easily available and beneficial.

She would always give the onion sweetmeat to Dada to eat. Shyam noticed all this. It seemed to him that only Dada got to eat it. So he said to his mother, “Aai, you only ever give the onion sweetmeat to Dada. You pour pure ghee over it for him. You give him everything nice to eat. Dada gets everything! If I had a goddess for a mother, maybe I too would get good things to eat.”

These words of Shyam hurt Dada deeply. He felt very bad. He told his mother, “Aai, I feel ashamed to eat all this alone. So from now on, give it to everyone. Am I not grown up now?”

“Oh, are you all stepchildren then? And why do you say such things? Don’t you know he is your own elder brother? Don’t you know that ever since the goddess came, there is light in his eyes and strength in his feet? At night he cannot sleep well, he tosses and turns in pain. The onion sweetmeat is a remedy for his illness. What kind of wish is this, to want the goddess to come just so you can eat well? What is the use of your reading then? Was a person born only to eat? How much love did Lakshmana and Bharata have for Rama! What virtues have you learned from your reading? Would you want your younger brother to die? Leave aside your own brother, you should be ready to serve even strangers. When you go to Dapoli, don’t you apply oil to your uncle’s feet? Don’t you fetch water for him? Don’t you serve him sweet things? Is it right to be jealous of your brother? Before you grow up, will you all become enemies to each other? Shyam, this