'Doordarshan' punditji An Indian folktale

Long ago there lived a man in the temple town of Dwaraka in Gujarat. He made a good living performing pujas for worshipers who came to town. 

He was contented and happy until he started exaggerating his divine powers. When he told devotees who came to the temple of his special connection with God, they were impressed.

They usually gave him more money. One day after a good meal at the temple, he felt particularly happy; he called some people over to sit by his side to hear about his “superhuman abilities”.

“I am so blessed by God that he reveals himself to me in his Divine Form. I see him here in this pillar, this tree and in this coconut; I see Him in distant temples even while I sit here with you! Remarkable, isn’t it?” he spoke proudly and without much thought to what he was saying. However, people who heard him took him quite seriously.

“Do you see God even in faraway temples as you are seated here? If so, then you must be next only to Him!” exclaimed the people.

Soon word got around that a local punditji at Dwaraka could see Goddess Kanyakumari in a temple at the southern tip of India; and he could also see Goddess Kali in Kolkata from where he lived.

Fame and wealth came his way. Nobody doubted his powers; nobody bothered to check if his claims were real. However, there was an old lady who lived across from his house, who didn’t think much of what he had said about himself. She decided to test his powers.
One day she called some important people of the town for lunch and she made sure that the punditji was one of the special invitees.

Before her guests came in, she served lunch on thalis. She washed the feet of all her guests and made them sit down to eat. The food looked attractive. There was rice, poori, dal, aloo ki sabzi, dahi vada and jelebis.

“Good food, umm. . . looks delicious!” thought the pundit. He chanced to glance at his plate and those of others. He noticed that everybody had four jelebis but he had just one.

“Didi, you have served me only one jelebi but you have served four to the others!” he said to the old woman rather shamelessly.

“Yes, that’s what I expected him to say, poor fool,” she thought to herself as she came to stand in the centre of the room where lunch was being served.

“Punditji, I am surprised by what you are saying. Would I serve more on one plate and less on another? No, never! I do not disrespect my guests. Look under the pooris on your plate and you will find three jelebis more there.

I am surprised that you did not see them. For a man who can see God in distant temples, you should have seen the hidden  jelebis!” said the woman in a loud voice so that all might hear.

Everyone in the room heard and so did all the people of Dwaraka; and all had a hearty laugh.

Shamed, the man with “Doordarshan” abilities slipped out of town quietly, never to be seen again.