Cooking – The Magic Way
“Why is the jester absent from the court today?” asked the king, looking at an officer. The king was extremely fond of his jester, Gopal.
The officer hurried to Gopal’s house, which was close by. He found Gopal there but was taken aback by what he saw. He watched silently for a while, although Gopal spoke to him normally, assuring him that he would proceed to the court soon.
The officer returned shortly, stammering, “My lord, you won’t believe me if I tell you what Gopal is doing. He has hung a pot filled with water and rice from the beam of his roof. He has lit a fire on the floor below. He says that as soon as the rice is ready, he will have his lunch and come here!”
The king sat stunned for a moment. “I am afraid our poor Gopal has gone mad. I must go and see him,” he declared.
The King’s Visit
The king marched to Gopal’s house. “My lord! I feel honored by your visit. But why did you take the trouble?” Gopal asked, feigning innocence.
“Well, you speak like a sane man. But how do you expect your rice to boil while the pot is hung from the roof and the fire burns on the ground?” the king demanded.
“It is possible, my lord. Tomorrow I will demonstrate this method of cooking in the court itself,” Gopal replied confidently.
“I will give you a hundred gold mohurs if you succeed in demonstrating your art,” announced the king as he left.
The Court Demonstration
Gopal arrived at the court the next day with an earthen pot and a handful of rice. He hung the pot suspended from a beam after putting in the rice and pouring water. Then, he lit a candle and placed it on a stool beneath the pot.
“Examine whether the rice is boiling or not,” Gopal asked a courtier. The courtier pressed his ear against the pot and exclaimed, “Indeed, I can hear the sound of the rice boiling!”
The king touched the pot and found it quite hot. At once, he handed over a hundred gold mohurs to the jester.
That was all the jester wanted. What he had put into the pot was not merely rice; mixed with it were grains of limestone, cleverly shaped to resemble rice. With water poured over them, they soon began to explode, producing the sound of boiling rice and generating heat too.