The King in a Fashion Parade by Kumud Kumar

King Shersingh of Champakvan enjoyed fancy clothes and dressing up. He had just got a new Nehru jacket and sherwani stitched for him by the royal tailor, Jaggu the Hyena. 

Shersingh put on his new clothes and was heading to his court when the Queen stopped him. “My dear Shersingh, wait a moment. If you put this rose on your jacket, then you will look exactly like Jawaharlal Nehru, the children’s darling Uncle Nehru, our first prime minister.”

King Shersingh was delighted to hear the Queen equating him with such a great personality! The Queen pinned the flower on the King’s jacket and Shersingh reached the royal court. All the courtiers surrounded him and praised his outfit, the jacket and the sherwani.

“Your Highness! You are looking all the more handsome in this jacket and sherwani,” said Jumpy the Monkey.

“No animal on this Earth looks smarter than you,” said Dolu the Deer.

The courtiers were competing to flatter the King! “Your Highness! If you take part in the fashion parade of Champakvan, then no one in the world can defeat you,” said Meeku the Mouse.

Hearing all this flattery made Shersingh proud. He felt that there was really nobody else on Earth who was as smart or as handsome as he was. He decided that he would take part in the fashion parade!

Prime Minister Chatur the Jackal heard about this plan and came running to Shersingh. “Your Highness! You are the king of Champakvan. Your work is to rule the people of this forest and not to take part in the fashion parade.”

Shersingh did not want to hear this. 

He spoke harshly to Chatur. “Mr Prime Minister, give advice when you are asked! There is no need for your useless words everywhere!”

Poor Chatur left and the King began to prepare for the parade. Johnny the Zebra, the organiser for the parade, began to get very scared. 

And the judges, Mintu, Pintu and Chintu the Rats did not know what to do. “How can we make the King understand why he should not take part in this parade? Who can stop him?” But nobody had an answer.

Finally, it was the day of the fashion parade. Everyone in the forest knew that Shersingh would be taking part, so the crowd was larger than ever before. 

The judges took their places. Competitors walked the ramp in their colourful and elaborate clothes and displayed their talents.

King Shersingh waited impatiently for his turn. He was restless to walk the ramp. But the organisers had placed his name at the very end. They knew his temper and did not want him to be sitting in the audience.

Finally, it was Shersingh’s turn. As soon as his name was announced, the audience went silent and all eyes were glued to the ramp. 

Johnny the Zebra’s heart began beating super-fast. Mintu, Pintu and Chintu stopped breathing. Would the King do well enough to win? If he did badly, what would happen if he was not named the winner? There was fear on everyone’s face.

Then Shersingh appeared, wearing the Nehru jacket with a rose pinned on it. The crowd went wild, cheering and clapping for their king. 

Shersingh was delighted, and began waving to the animals as he walked down the ramp. But in his excitement, he lost his balance and fell off the ramp! The crowd burst out laughing.

Now Shersingh was furious. He got up and roared so loudly, the judges fell off their chairs! As they tumbled, they brought down the table. It was a hilarious scene that Shersingh forgot his anger and he too began to laugh. 

Finally, the judges were helped up and were invited onstage to announce the winners. The three rats were terrified. They handed over the list of winners to Johnny and ran away. 

Johnny took the list and began to announce the winners. But the King’s name was not on the list! The rats had judged fairly and had not awarded the King anything. Johnny was scared and thought Shersingh would be very angry.

Then Shersingh walked up to the microphone and said, “Dear residents of Champakvan! I made a big mistake by deciding to participate in the fashion parade. My duty is to serve this kingdom.”

Then he looked around and said, “I am proud of Mintu, Pintu and Chintu who judged the competition fairly. They must surely be honoured for this. But where are they?”

Everyone started looking for the three judges but Mintu, Pintu and Chintu could not be seen anywhere. Then Kalu the Cat caught their scent from under the stage. They were called and taken on the stage.

“Mintu, Pintu and Chintu! There is no need for you to be afraid. I am very happy to hear your judgment. You made your decision sincerely and fairly. You treated all participants equally, without differentiating between the King and the common people. This is real justice and it should be done like this only.”

Hearing this, Mintu, Pintu and Chintu the Rats looked at one another’s face in relief. Their fear vanished and they smiled. The King honoured them by putting garlands around their necks. The audience cheered loudly and clapped for the judges and the King.