Locating a lost watch

The village headman’s watch was missing. He was doing his morning errands in the backyard. He knew where it dropped: the haystack. The haystack was a thick pile in the barn. The watch too was quite important. It was not that expensive, but it bore sentimental value for him. It was a gift from his wife.

The headman tried to look through the haystack. So did his wife. But both failed. They took half an hour to find the watch before realizing they both had failed. When everything ended in such a way, the village headman was thinking of alternative ways to locate the watch. He wanted it back somehow.

May be they will get to see the watch, when the haystack is emptied. But who knows, you will throw it away unknowingly. Or the donkeys will devour hay along with the watch. He might not feel the watch going down his mouth. So the village headman had a restless night. Finally he drew an action plan.

First thing the following morning, the village headman sent a messenger around the village. The messenger shouted inviting all youngsters and any other capable person to come to the village headman’s place. Locate the watch, and you will be given two-thirds of his harvest, the headman’s message read.

Some villagers were sceptical about this promise. Two thirds is too much to compensate a watch! But there were others who had grown fond of the two thirds of the harvest. They made a dash to the village headman’s residence. There were young men. There were older men. There were women too. They all wanted one thing done: they will somehow locate the watch, and aim for the two-thirds harvest.

Only one was given a chance at a time for the search. Village headman believed in the ‘too many cooks…’ theory. It will only make the haystack a mess. So it took time. One by one most of them tried to locate. But none of them could locate the watch either. He observed the way they were trying to locate the watch.

Everyone was in a hurry. All they were thinking was the two-thirds of the harvest, the headman sensed. So he did not want the search to go on. He was about to give up. But then a little boy approached him.

“I think I will find it for you.”

At first this was just another candidate to find his watch. But the boy’s voice sounded calm and firm. The headman gave it a thought for sometime. And then he said okay. Other candidates saw this and objected.

“You don’t give us a chance. How do you think that little boy can do that?”

“I have a feeling he will try it out. Whether I get the watch or not, I will give him a chance. We’ll see.”

Only two minutes lapsed. The boy came back to them with the watch in hand. The headman felt it will happen, but he was curious how he managed to find it in such a short period. In front of the crowd in his garden, he demanded of the little boy to explain.

“I just sat on the ground to listen. I had the silence I wanted to listen. Then I heard the ticking of the watch. Then the rest was easier.”

Everyone was stuck for a moment. How can such a little boy have such insights?

“It tells us many things,” the village headman said to the crowd, holding his watch.

“There are people among us who are not so tired. They are quite relaxed. Remember you asked me how I believed in the little boy? I believed in the boy the moment I saw him. You all were in a hurry to find the watch. But he was relaxed. That’s why I wanted to give him a chance. And most important, he did not care about the reward. So learn the lesson from him. Give yourselves a break for a few minutes. You can’t do anything with a tired mind.”

Did the village headman really lose his watch, or did he plot to teach the villagers a lesson, Aravinda wondered in silence.

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