Learn Curve for Girls

Suhani Dewra

Once upon a time there lived a girl named Beauty. One morning her father was leaving to a big town for work. He asked Beauty’s sisters what they wanted from the town.

“Get me a gold necklace, daddy,” said the eldest sister.

“Bring me a golden dress, daddy,” asked the second sister.

It was now Beauty’s turn. “How about you bring me Salman Rushdie’s famous book ‘The Satanic Verses’, daddy. I long to read that book,” said Beauty.

The father left to town.

In the town, he carried on business all day. While leaving the town, it struck him that he needed to buy his daughters the gifts they asked for.

He first went to a jewellery store to purchase an illustrious looking necklace. His next stop was a garment store where he bought a long golden gown for his second daughter. Pleased with his buys, the father now went to the bookstore to find Beauty’s book.

“I am looking to buy the book ‘The Satanic Verses’ for my daughter, can you show me where it is placed,” the father asked the man at the counter.

“We don’t sell that book here. It is banned,” informed the man.

“Oh!” remarked a sad father.

There was a man standing a little away from them who overheard their conversation and proposed to share his copy of ‘The Satanic Verses’.

“I had bought the copy while I was in the United States. I don’t mind giving it to you for your daughter. Seems like she has a good taste in selecting the books to read,” proposed the man.

Beauty’s dad thanked him much and took his email ID.

“My daughter would surely want to personally thank you for your gesture,” he said.

When Beauty got the book, she jumped with excitement.

“O thank you, daddy for bringing me the book. But this doesn’t look like a new book. Looks like somebody has used it,” she said staring hard at the cover of the book.

“Yes, my dear. It is a pre-used book,” he said.

Beauty’s daddy then narrated the complete event that had unfolded at the book store.

“I must thank that gentleman, daddy. Glad that you brought me his email ID,”

That night Beauty started reading the book and as it grew on her, she took a break to write a thank you note to the owner of the book. Soon Beauty finished reading the banned title while parallelly keeping in touch with his new friend. They wrote to each other about the books they had read and what other titles they planned to read in the future. The conversations continued and soon they realized they were in love with each other.

With the turn of events, Beauty got married to the gentleman and lived happily ever after.