Swab-in-cheek wisdom

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When I was a kid, I used to devour comic books about Indian mythology. One of the best set of stories was about Birbal, the wise chief minister in emperor Akbar’s court. The Birbal-of-the-comic-books used to take the piss out of the wealthy, pompous and illogical with cleverness and humor.

One of the tales I remember was a story, pretty much identical to the one from King Solomon, where two different women claimed to be the mother of a single baby. Birbal ordered that the baby be cut in half and shared between the women. One of the supplicants begged him to stop and gave up her struggle, and her love for the child revealed her as the true mother.

These days, gene sequencers dispense justice like modern-day Birbals:

Sri Lankan authorities say DNA results have confirmed the identity of a baby who was found alive in the rubble of the tsunami disaster. Nicknamed “Baby 81,” the toddler was the subject of a desperate eight-week custody battle involving as many as nine couples… Nine couples claimed the child was theirs, but only Murugupillai Jeyarajah and his wife Jenita followed through, providing DNA samples.

In classic desi fashion, and quite understandably, the real parents made a spectacle of themselves:

Her husband… threatened to commit suicide if made to take part in DNA tests… Jenita told the Associated Press that if the couple got their son back, she would fulfil vows to smash 100 coconuts at a temple of the elephant-headed Hindu god, Ganesh. In addition she was reported to have made a pledge to offer sweet rice to the warrior god, Murugan, and kill a cockerel for the goddess Kali.

It’s also another Moses tale, a baby-in-the-river story which also has Indian counterparts:

The boy had survived the giant waves for nearly 10 hours and was found under a garbage pile by a neighbour of the couple who handed him over to the hospital.

Check out some other Birbal tales. Previous posts: 1, 2, 3.

5 thoughts on “Swab-in-cheek wisdom”

  2. I read another version of the King Solomon story in my beloved Chandamama comics. Except, the King was the Buddha in a past-life, and one of the two women fighting over the child was … a vampire.

    -D

    P.S. – I decided to google Chandamama on a whim, I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to have found the site. I’m verklempt.

  3. I believe Birbal had the opportunity to determine the maternity of a contested baby. He held the baby and challenged both “mothers” to snatch it away from him. The woman who managed to tear away the baby from him would win the baby. One of the women tried really hard to pull the baby- and lost because Birbal figured that a real mother would not use a level of force which can cost her child an arm and a leg (literally).

  4. I skipped these lines. Sorry for the redundant comment. Delete it:-) “two different women claimed to be the mother of a single baby. Birbal ordered that the baby be cut in half and shared between the women. One of the supplicants begged him to stop and gave up her struggle, and her love for the child revealed her as the true mother.”