The Perfect Cake

One day Rishika got a cake in her tiffin box. Banni had never tasted such a tasty cake before. She wanted to have more. Rishika told her that it can be easily made at home in the microwave. Banni noted down the recipe quickly.

Banni hurriedly came back home, finished her lunch fast. She told mom that she wants to make the cake herself. Mom was happy. Banni went into the kitchen and within 10 minutes it was done.  

Mom took a bite. It was half baked. Mom praised Banni for the presentation. But when Banni tasted it, she got disappointed. Mom comforted her with the sweet words “I took many years to learn cooking, still I make mistakes.  You can try tomorrow”.

Mom found the kitchen in a mess but she did not bring it up with Banni.

The next day Banni came back from the school with some more inputs from Rishika. This time mom told her in advance to keep the kitchen clean and Banni agreed. The cake tasted a little better but something was still missing. She got disappointed again. The kitchen was not cleaned again but mom kept quiet.  

The next day Banni went to the school and angrily asked the recipe again from Rishika.  In agitation she missed the details.

This time also the cake did not come out so well. Angrily she told mom that she will never try again. Mom tried to make her understand but Banni had decided. Mom thought not to push her too much.

One day while working in the kitchen, mom saw a bird making nest at the window and an idea came to her. Immediately she called Banni to the kitchen and said “This pigeon is collecting straw at our kitchen window and soon she will build the nest. Can you prevent her from doing so?”

Banni quickly threw away all the collected straws and the bird kept bringing it. After a week, Banni was tired of throwing it and gave up. But the bird never stopped collecting straws. At last the bird managed to build a beautiful nest at their kitchen window.

Banni kept thinking of it “Why the bird is not tired and disappointed?”

The next morning she decided to bake the cake again. Mom was happy. The cake did not come out so well however she cleaned the kitchen properly with all her heart and asked mom to give her proper feedback.

At school she made a polite request to Rishika to explain the recipe again.

This time Banni heard it patiently to each detail. After a week she made the perfect cake. Everyone praised her but she learned much more than that. She enjoys the cake now and then.