UNLIMITED – Value of What We Have

Scene: A lively street-side paanipuri stall. A young boy, Atul, and his mother, Mrs. Mehta, stand in front of the vendor. Atul is busy devouring his favorite snack while watching the paanipuriwala swiftly dunk crispy puris into spicy water and serve them. Suddenly, a thought strikes him.

Atul (excitedly, stuffing a puri in his mouth): Mmmm! Maa, I just realized something! The paanipuriwala is the luckiest person in the world! 😃

Mrs. Mehta (raising an eyebrow): Oh? And why is that?

Atul: Because he can eat as many puris as he wants! Just think about it—unlimited paanipuri! No need to ask anyone, no need to pay! He just dips, serves himself, and munches all day. What a dream life! 😍

Mrs. Mehta (chuckling): Ah, my innocent little economist. So, by that logic, a baker should be drowning in cakes, a jeweler should be covered in gold, and a school principal should be swimming in exam papers!

Atul (blinking, thinking hard): Uhh… but gold and exam papers are different. Paanipuri is FOOD. Who would get tired of eating food?

Mrs. Mehta (smirking): The paanipuriwala, for one. Tell me, if you had to eat paanipuri every day, all day, for the next month… would you still love it?

Atul (confidently): Of course! I could eat paanipuri forever!

Mrs. Mehta: Alright, let’s try a challenge then. No rice, no dal, no roti—only paanipuri for every meal. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. And let’s see how long you last.

Atul (pausing, reconsidering): Umm… maybe not breakfast. Paanipuri in the morning sounds weird.

Mrs. Mehta: Exactly. Just because something is amazing in small amounts doesn’t mean you’d want it all the time. Even the best things lose their charm when there’s no balance.

Atul (curious again): But still, Maa, he must be eating a lot, right? He’s making them all day!

Mrs. Mehta: Beta, do you think a magician enjoys watching his own magic tricks? The paanipuriwala spends all day smelling the spicy water, touching the crispy puris, watching others eat them. After a while, it’s just work.

Atul (frowning): That’s sad. But at least he can eat for free… right?

Mrs. Mehta: Oh, really? A tailor can stitch a thousand clothes but wears the same old kurta. A cobbler repairs expensive shoes but wears worn-out sandals. A bus driver takes thousands of people places, but he’s always on the road himself.

Atul (surprised): Whoa… so everyone is surrounded by what they do but can’t enjoy it like others?

Mrs. Mehta: More or less. When something becomes your job, it stops being just “fun.” Imagine you love playing video games, but suddenly, someone tells you that you have to play the same game for 12 hours a day, every single day, forever.

Atul (horrified): Yikes! Even Minecraft would get boring!

Mrs. Mehta (laughing): Exactly. That’s why the paanipuriwala doesn’t sit and gobble his own puris all day. His focus is on serving others.

Atul: But then… isn’t that unfair? He makes something amazing but doesn’t get to enjoy it.

Mrs. Mehta: Life is like that, beta. The farmer grows food for everyone but eats the simplest meals himself. The doctor cures people but might not have time to rest when he’s sick. The teacher teaches students about life but is too busy to live freely herself.

Atul (deep in thought): That’s really unfair… so who is actually lucky then?

Mrs. Mehta (smiling): The one who finds happiness in what he has. The paanipuriwala may not eat unlimited puris, but he earns money to feed his family. The farmer may eat simple food, but he finds joy in seeing his crops grow. The best life isn’t about having unlimited things—it’s about enjoying whatever you do have.

Atul (nodding slowly): Hmm… so it’s not about how much you have, but how much you enjoy it.

Mrs. Mehta (proudly): That’s my boy!

Atul (grinning): Okay, but Maa… can I still have one more plate of paanipuri? I promise to enjoy it fully!

Mrs. Mehta (laughing): You little trickster! Alright, but this is the last one—before you start feeling like a paanipuriwala yourself!

(Atul happily munches on his puris, savoring each one a little more than before.) 😊