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The Thirsty Crow

Retold by: Chitra Padmanabhan; Illustrations by Shridevi

Kancharam had been flying for 10 hours without a halt. He had come to the western state of Gujarat to attend his childhood friend Bholuram's wedding. He had stayed just for the wedding.

As soon as it was over, he said good bye to his friend and left. Now he was flying back home. That was in Jaipur, Rajasthan. He was very, very tired. And thirsty, too.

The burning heat of the midday sun made him feel faint. Kancharam looked around for water. There was none.

Then he remembered that he was flying over the Saurashtra district in Gujarat. There was a terrible drought there: No water for people or cattle.

He remembered Bholuram's one-eyed grandfather saying that it was the worst drought in a 100 years.

The cattle were dying and the people were leaving their homes to go to places where they could find water. Kancharam got really scared. Where could he find water? He had no strength left in his wings.

It was then that he saw a yellow pitcher on the ground. A pitcher of water!. Yippee, he told himself. He would have danced if he had not felt so weak.

Kancharam went near the pitcher and thirstily put his head inside.