Chapter 4 — The Boy Who Wanted Results

The footprints in the sacred garden changed the atmosphere of the Gurukul.

Until that morning, the students had spoken about the mysterious seed with curiosity, amusement, and sometimes disbelief. Some considered it a test of patience. Others thought it was simply another unusual lesson created by the Guru. Prosenjit, however, had begun to treat the seed as a personal responsibility.

Now there were footprints.

They appeared around the patch of earth where the seed had been planted, and although the marks were not clear enough to identify their owner, they were enough to create suspicion.

Prosenjit stood beside the garden, staring at the disturbed soil.

Someone had been there.

Someone had walked around the seed.

Someone had touched the earth.

And perhaps someone had touched the seed itself.

He looked toward the students who were gathered nearby.

His eyes stopped at Kocher.

Kocher immediately noticed.

“What are you looking at me for?” he demanded.

Prosenjit folded his arms.

“I did not say anything.”

“You did not have to.”

Madhu looked from one boy to the other.

“Both of you, stop. We do not even know whose footprints these are.”

Kocher stepped closer to Prosenjit.

“You think I took the seed?”

“I think you were the one who was most interested in finding shortcuts.”

“That does not mean I stole it.”

“You were the one who suggested replacing it with another plant.”

Kocher's face became red.

“I made a foolish suggestion. That does not make me a thief.”

Madhav, who had been silent until then, finally spoke.

“Perhaps the real problem is not Kocher.”

Everyone looked at him.

Madhav glanced at Prosenjit.

“Perhaps the real problem is Prosenjit.”

Prosenjit frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“You have been watching that piece of earth as though your entire life depends on it. You wake before everyone else to look at it. You visit it after meditation. You examine the soil. You count the days. You become angry whenever someone jokes about it.”

“That is because I was given responsibility for it.”

“No,” Madhav replied. “You were given a lesson. You turned it into an obsession.”

The words struck Prosenjit harder than he expected.

He wanted to answer, but no words came.

Before the argument could continue, the Guru arrived.

He looked at the disturbed earth.

Then he looked at the students.

“What happened?”

Madhu explained what they had discovered.

The Guru listened quietly.

When she finished, he bent down and examined the footprints.

He touched the soil with his fingers and looked carefully at the edges of the impressions.

The students waited.

Finally, he stood.

“Did anyone see someone entering the garden?”

No one answered.

“Did anyone see the seed being touched?”

Again, silence.

“Then there is nothing more to investigate at this moment.”

Prosenjit was surprised.

“Guruji, but someone may have taken the seed.”

“May have.”

“We should find out who.”

“We will, when the time is right.”

“But what if the person destroys it?”

The Guru looked at him.

“Why are you afraid?”

Prosenjit hesitated.

“Because it is my responsibility.”

The Guru nodded.

“Responsibility is not the same as control.”

The students remained silent.

The Guru turned toward the garden.

“Sometimes, when we cannot control an event, we become desperate to discover someone to blame. But discovering a person to blame does not always solve the problem.”

Prosenjit lowered his eyes.

“But Guruji…”

The Guru raised his hand gently.

“Enough for today.”

He walked away.

Prosenjit remained standing beside the seed.

He did not understand why the Guru was refusing to investigate.