Sheikh was carrying a lot of groceries and a kilo of mutton, in both his hands. While he was more than halfway home, he realised that he had forgotten to buy oil and spices. He kept the groceries and the bag of mutton on the street and started thinking what to do. Suddenly, an eagle […]
Sheikh Chilli was sent to the market to buy some groceries for the kitchen. Meanwhile, he saw Hakimji walking quickly on the street. He rushed towards Hakimji and asked if he could accompany him. Hakimji agreed. When Hakimji and Sheikh reached the first patient’s house, they saw a child crying loudly, holding his stomach. Hakimji
Sheikh was gifted a shining silver coin and a watch, once. When he returned to his village, all he did was to gaze lovingly at his watch and tell everybody the time. His mind was in a whirl, thinking about how the watch gave the ‘tick-tick’ sound. He thought maybe the watch was having hiccups,
Once, Sheikh Chilli was accompanying the junior Nawab to the market. On his way, Sheikh happened to raise his hand, which held a stick, pointing at something. The horse, mistaking it for a threat, gave Sheikh a hard kick. Sheikh fell unconscious. When Sheikh did not get up for a while, the junior Nawab went
Soon, Sheikh Chilli got an assistant. He was a bigger fool than Sheikh himself. One summer, the mosquito menace hit the village quite badly. The villagers started suffering from malaria. The disease became rampant. The mosquitoes were breeding around the village pond. Swarms of mosquitoes hovered over the pond. As pesticides did not exist in
Sheikh Chilli and his three friends once went to a fair. Now, Sheikh’s friends were also fools like him. A river had to be crossed to reach the fair. This was the first time that all of them were crossing a river, so they told one another to be careful. Shouting loudly, they reached the
Once, Sheikh sent a bottle of jasmine oil to Fawzia, through post. But soon, he got to know that Fawzia had not received the oil, so he rushed to the postmaster, Rashid. Rashid, who had actually kept the bottle of oil for himself, thought of fooling Sheikh. He said, “Sheikh, while the bottle was going
Once, a saint gave Sheikh Chilli’s mother some ashes to be given to Sheikh with a goat’s milk to make him wise. Happy, Sheikh’s mother sent him to a fair in the neighbourhood, to buy a goat. Sheikh set out, wondering how ash could grow brains? At the fair, Sheikh saw a man surrounded by
Once, Sheikh Chilli’s mother took Sheikh to a Hindu saint who had come to their village, hoping that Sheikh would learn something from him and become wise. The saint said to Sheikh, “Have faith in God, son. He is everywhere, in everything. He is in you, in me, in each living being.” Sheikh came back
Once, a very learned scholar visited Sheikh Chilli’s village. This Learned scholar had immense knowledge. On the villagers’ request, he halted there and talked about a lot of things to benefit the people. After the talk, he answered all questions put to him. Then Sheikh asked the scholar, “Tell me what Koran kachar kachar zap
Once, Sheikh Chilli’s grandfather visited their house. Grandfather had a lot of sympathy for his grandson, as Sheikh was born silly. When he was leaving, Sheikh’s grandfather blessed him and gave him a silver coin. He told Sheikh to keep the coin a secret. Sheikh wondered where to hide it. He remembered a loose brick
When the British were invading India, local rulers were building large armies for defence. Sheikh Chilli was also asked to join the army. He refused after a lot of thought, saying that it would be shameful. The shocked recruiters asked how such a glorious job could be shameful? Sheikh said, “If I go to fight,
Sheikh Chilli had once grown a long beard and a moustache. He was of the opinion that bearded men looked mature. One day, he overheard some people discussing whether a beard should be kept or not. A man said, “According to a great book of wisdom, people with long beards were stupid. The theory was
A farmer had asked Sheikh that whenever he passed by his farm, he should say, “Fly away birds!” So one day, while chanting ‘Fly away birds…’ Sheikh came upon a hunter. On hearing Sheikh’s chants, he started hitting him. “You are telling the birds to fly away, you fool! Here, I am trying to catch
Sheikh Chilli once fell ill. He had fever and a stomachache. His mother told him to visit the Hakim and get some medicine. The Hakim checked him and gave him three doses of medicine to take home. He then advised Sheikh, “You should have only ‘khichri’ (a gruel made with rice and pulse) to eat.”