1. Ganesha and The Rice Pudding

In a far village there lived an old woman. She was weak and wrinkled. The woman lived with her daughter in law while her son lived in city to earn a living. The family was downtrodden and lived hand to mouth.  

The old woman was wrecked by her age. However she helped the family in chorus such as winnowing rice, harvesting crop, fetching water, feeding the lean cow the family domesticated, moulding and drying cow dung and so on. She was an ardent devotee of Lord Ganesha. She visited the Ganesha Temple everyday and offered prayers to the God. Her faith was unbending though her family faced hardships for sustaining. 

It is said that Lord Ganesha always takes care of her devotees.

One year on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi, Lord Ganesha was invited by the villagers for festivities and His blessings. The village people carried idols of Ganapati to their homes. They began worshiping Lord Ganesha. They offered various sweets to the loving diety and sang in His glory. 

Up in his abode Ganesha watched the people sing and pray. Ganesha was pleased to see them. He was elated as people sang 'Morya re, Bappa Morya re...'.

Now Ganesha is not just Intelligent, he is tricky too. So He decided to come to the Earth and bestow a boon to one who pleases Him in face! Indeed, Ganesha came to people in guise.

Here is what happened -

A little paunchy boy walked in the narrow lanes of the village. He wore a cotton garments and his head was draped with a lean cloth  tapestry. He carried some whole rice grains in one hand and a thimbleful of raw milk in the other.

He started his journey across the village from the most decorated house of the village which belonged to a wealthy merchant. The family had been offering rice pudding to Lord Ganesha as a part of ritualtistic worship. The boy stood before their door and called 'Mata, Mata, ...' (meaning respected mother).

The eldest female of the house came out hearing the voice. She asked the boy, "What do you want?".

The boy said, "Mata, here is some rice and raw milk please take these and prepare pudding for me using sugar from your house".

The woman said, "How can I prepare pudding from this much milk and countable number of rice? My family is busy in worshiping Ganesha and I have to be with them". Saying this the woman went inside.  

The boy went ahead. He kept going door to door asking people to prepare pudding for him. However no one bothered to take him seriously.

"Alas! This little boy is for keen to have the pudding made from his own rice", thought the old woman. She had been windowing wheat in her front yard while the boy went door to door asking people to prepare pudding. The old woman was allured by the innocence voice of the boy and smiled to herself. She finished with the winnowing and called the boy, "Come here little boy. I will prepare pudding with your milk and rice".

The boy was very happy. The old woman offered a small plate and a pot to the boy to place the rice and milk. But the paunchy boy argued, "Mata, this won't suffice. Get a big vessel".

The old woman thought that the boy was too innocent in understanding the real requirements. She smiled back and fetched a big plate and a large pot. However, the boy once again refused to place rice and milk in the plate and pit. He asked for bigger ones. The old woman who had been working since the early hours of the day was tired. She was got puzzled by the boy's 'tantrums'. However, she fetched the biggest vessel they had in the house.
This time the boy gauzed woman's irritability and inspire of himself placed the rice in the bigger plate. He poured the milk in the larger pot only to let  a large about of it to overflow. SimilarlyThelarge amount of rice fell down the plate.

"O boy! How can your little palms carry so much ?", the woman asked in amazement. The boy smiled and said, "Mother, before I take the pudding meal, I have to take bath. Please prepare the pudding while I go to the river to take bath. I shall return and take the meal".
Before the old woman could respond, the boy rushed out of her muddy home and ran towards the riverside.

The woman took the rice and milk inside. She called her daughter-in-law Aabha and asked her to prepare the pudding from the milk and rice. She told her daughter in law, "Aabha, this pudding preparation is very unique. Donot taste it before the boy comes to eat it". The daughter agreed in principle.

She began preparing the pudding in a large vessel. After sometime, the milk began boiling. The fumes of milk mixed with rice and jaggery began spreading around. Aabha who had been sitting nearby was tempted. She took a small part of preparation in a spoon to taste it.

The day passed by. It was twilight when the boy came bustling and jingling with joy. Seeing him back, he is woman cheered, "Son, where were you. The entire day has passed. The pudding has cooled down. Now come and eat the pudding".

The boy smiled and said, "Mata, I ate the pudding in the noon itself when Aabha tasted it".

The old woman was taken aback. She could hardly say anything. The boy said, "Mata, I ave come from a very far village. I cannot travel back during night. I am in fact too tired and want to sleep".

The old woman said in a low tone, "Son, my house has no bedroom. We sleep and cook in the same four walls. The jute strangled bed is old and tattered. However, it you want I can lay it for your to sleep".

The boy agreed. The old woman fetched the cot and laid it. Soon the boy fell asleep. His big belly laid against the bed as he snored. The woman also went inside and fell asleep.

In the middle of night, the boy woke up and cried, "Mataa, mother I got to pee. Where should I go?"

The old woman replied in the middle of her sleep, "There is no loo in the house. You can pee besides the yard wall".

The boy peed and went back to sleep. After some time the boy woke up again and called the old woman, "Mataa, I got to poo".

The old woman was distracted. She replied, "Son, house has no loo. You can poo in the courtyard. I shall clean it tommoriw morning".

The little boy pooed all over the place.

The night passed by. Next morning when the old woman woke up, she first went out to see the boy's well-being. However, she was taken aback to see the courtyard. The entire place glittered with gold bricks heaped up in uncountable number. There was a blissful environment all around. The air was filled with pleasing smell of fresh flowers. The flowers blossomed in different hues in the arms of leaves in various shades of green. There was no poo around!

The old woman was now sure that the boy was God Himself in disguise. She gratified Ganesha saying, "O Ganesha, I am so fortunate that you came to my house. I am fortunate that you gave me a chance to please me".

The old woman was reciprocated or her benevolence and generosity. She called her daughter-in-law to gratify Ganesha. They collected the gold believing it to be God's blessing. They became rich and prosperous. The old woman was soon blessed with a son.