The Bird with Golden Wings by Sudha Murthy

Book Summary

1. The Bird with Golden Wings – Sudha Murty
Once upon a time, there was a girl named Varsha, who lived with her mother in a village. They were
very poor. Her mother worked as a cook in a rich man’s house. Every evening, her mother returned
from work with little rice, which they used to cook and eat. Varsha and her mother lived happily and
satisfied with what they have.
One evening, Varsha’s mother brought some extra rice. Before leaving the next morning, she cleaned
it and spread it on a mat to dry at the terrace. Then she called Varsha and said, ‘Sit here and see no
bird come and eat rice. I will cook this for us in evening’. Varsha sat down near rice with a stick in her
hand.
After a while a tiny sparrow came hoping nearby. It looked hungrily at the grains. Varsha took a pity
on it and asked her to eat few grains. The bird ate little rice and flew away.
Then an old crow came and cawed loudly beside her with hunger. So, Varsha allowed it to have some
grains to satisfy its hunger. After eating some grains, Crow flew away.
But then, the strangest thing happened. When she looked at sun, a big golden bird was coming
towards her. The bird came beside her and started looking at the rice spread out on the mat. Then in
beautiful voice it spoke. “Will you give me some rice too”? Varsha was very surprised seeing a
bird taking. She said, “Go ahead and have few grains, or else my mother will scold me”.
The old bird hopped forward and in hunger it ate all the rice. Varsha looked on the empty mat and
started crying. Why did you do that? My mother will scold me in evening. What will we eat now? The
bird bent its head and said softly, ‘I am sorry, I was hungry and could not stop myself’. But don’t
worry, come with me to my house in the big Banyan tree outside the village. I will give you
something which will make your mother forget her anger.
Varsha was scared but she knew that she would have to go so that they would have something to eat
when she returned home after work. She nodded her head and bird asked her to sit on her back.
When they reached the tree, Varsha saw a little golden house on the top of the tree. Bird flew to the
house but how would Varsha reach there?
The bird called down, “Tell me what kind of ladder you want?”. Varsha was puzzled and said, I knew
only one kind of ladder, ‘A light bamboo one, ‘she called out. Out of nowhere a ladder of bamboo
appeared before her and she climbed up the tree. When she walked into the bird’s house, she saw
everything was golden. The chairs, tables, plates and glasses were all made up of gold!
Varsha sat on a golden chair and the bird said, ‘You must be hungry. I will give you something to eat.
Tell me what kind of plate you want to eat from?’ Varsha thought she always eat her food on a
banana leaf, which also made food tasty. She told ‘A banana leaf’, please. In a moment, a nice green
banana leaf appeared before her with full of her favourite delicious food, which she ate up all.
Now bird placed three boxes in front of her.’ These boxes contain the price of grains that I ate up.
‘Bird said. Choose anyone and take it with you. Varsha thought, after all it had only eaten few grains
that had been left and also, she has to walk back a long way to home. So, she pointed to the smallest
box. ‘Can I have the small box please?
Bird gave that box to Varsha, and she thanked the bird many times and climbed down the ladder and
went home. There her mother was waiting for her. Varsha told her all about the bird and together
they opened the box. It was filled with precious stones. Now her mother doesn’t have to work in the

2. rich man’s house, and they can open a little shop and earn the money enough for their survival. The
people of the village were surprised to see Varsha and her mother in such a good condition.
But her greedy neighbour Kapila was most curious and wanted to know how they had suddenly
become rich. She came to Varsha’s mother one day and asked about the change. Varsha’s mother
told her the entire story.
The greedy Kapila realized she can also become rich by following same process. Next day she sat on
her terrace with a basket full of grains in front of her. When Sparrow and the crow hopped, she
shooed them away loudly. Soon the golden bird came. Kapila offered it all the rice from the basket.
Bird said, I only want few grains. Kapila replied rudely, ‘All right but you need to pay for it. Bird agreed
and invited Kapila to it’s house on the Banyan tree.
Happily, Kapila went with the Bird. When she stood below the tree, the bird asked, ‘what kind of
ladder do you want?’. Kapila said, ‘A Golden one, of course!’, thinking she will take it back with her
too.
A golden ladder appeared before her, and she climbed up to the golden house. The bird asked, what
plate do you want to eat? ‘Obviously a Golden one’, Kapila replied. When the food came, she
gobbled all down. The bird kept 3 boxes in front of her and asked to choose as the price of grain it
ate. Greedy Kapila choose the largest box. She stuffed it into the bag she brought with her, along with
the golden plate and without a word of thanks, came down through ladders. Then she carried the
ladder all her way back to her home.
As soon as she reached the home, she pulled the plate and box out of her bag. But the plate was now
an ordinary banana leaf. She looked at the ladder and it turned into an old bamboo ladder. She opens
the box with hope. A large black cobra shot out and hissed at her. Kapila dropped everything and ran
out of house. After some time, she gathered her courage and returned to her home with the box,
ladder and plate had disappeared.
The bird with Golden Wings never appeared in the village again.
Moral: Love, kindness, friendship and helping others make us better and award us. But achieving this
goal through greed, selfishness and cunning desires was never possible.