‘Mirror, Mirror, on the wall,’ said Anisha, standing before a magnificent mirror that had once belonged to Snow White’s stepmother. It had been lost for centuries until a young man named Derek Ellsworth came across it in an ancient and dilapidated English castle. He promptly put it to the test. ‘Mirror, Mirror, found by me,/ Who will my life partner be?’
The mirror replied, ‘Of many ladies in the land, a worthy woman takes your hand.’ Derek and his wife lived happily, and though modest Edith ignored the mirror, her husband often consulted it. As Derek grew older, he asked, ‘Mirror, Mirror, should I wear/ A cap to hide my thinning hair?’ The mirror said, ‘Wait till your hair’s completely gone,/ Then keep a wig securely on.’ The mirror always spoke in rhyming couplets, and expected to be addressed in that style.
The mirror remained in the Ellsworth family for generations. In the 1950s, it came to India with Colonel Rufus Ellsworth, who settled in Bengaluru with his Indian wife. When Malini Ellsworth could not decide between her traditional outfits and western wear, the mirror was clear: ‘Gowns and dresses have their place, but they can’t match your sari’s grace.’
Anisha, the girl at the start of this story, was a direct descendant of Rufus and Malini Ellsworth. Confronting the mirror, she demanded, ‘Mirror, Mirror, on the wall/ Who’s the fattest of us all?’
The mirror answered, ‘While you grow sideways every day,/ Plumper far is cousin Jay.’ Anisha frowned. She did not consider Jairaj a rival. If only the mirror had said, ‘Getting thinner day by day,/ You’re slimmer now than cousin Kay’! Kayla was as slender as a reed, besides being pretty and polite.
‘I need the mirror,’ said Anisha’s mother, hurriedly entering the room. ‘Your father and I are off to a party.’ Clutching her pearls, she asked anxiously, ‘Mirror, Mirror, tell me please,/ Is there something wrong with these?’
The mirror reassured her: ‘Not a bit, they are just right, for the folks you’ll meet tonight.’ Anisha’s father rushed in. ‘Mirror, Mirror, is my tie...? Oh no! I can’t think of another line.’ Anisha’s mother scribbled on a piece of paper, and he read aloud, ‘Mirror, Mirror, is my tie,/ Rather heavy on the eye?’, How skillfully her mother rhymed, Anisha thought resentfully.
‘Is there anyone of whom you’re not envious?’ came a whisper. Had the mirror said that? Anisha dismissed the notion as absurd. A moment later, it instructed her father, ‘Far too bright, remove the red/ Choose a beige or brown instead.’
After her parents had left, Anisha began, ‘Mirror, Mirror, see my nose....’ What rhymed with nose? ‘Goes,’ said a voice. This time, there could be no doubt; it was the mirror. The couplet took shape: ‘Mirror, Mirror, see my nose,/ How long before this pimple goes?’
‘A week before the zit departs,/ You shouldn’t be gobbling cakes and tarts.’ ‘One has to eat,’ snapped Anisha. ‘I’m so tired of being plain,’ she added, sensing the mirror’s sympathy. “I don’t shed weight and my face is covered with spots.”
‘You could undergo a transformation,’ said the mirror.
‘I can never be like Kayla,’ said Anisha bitterly.
‘Anisha,’ said the mirror gently, ‘I once knew a lovely woman whose life was ruined by jealousy. Snow White’s stepmother was not always a wicked witch.’
‘May I have the mirror?’ begged Arun. Anisha groaned. Her younger brother was a nuisance. Standing on a stool, the little boy said plaintively, ‘Mirror, Mirror, I’m so small,/ Why am I not big and tall?’ Before the mirror could speak, Anisha said rudely, ‘A dwarf you are and shall remain,/ Don’t ever come in here again.’
As Arun ran out sobbing, the mirror said gravely, ‘Beauty is more than a flawless complexion and perfect figure, Anisha. Why not make yourself an attractive person?’
Anisha went in search of her brother. ‘I have a message from me, not the mirror,’ she said. ‘You’re short because you’re only eight,/ You’ll shoot up at a rapid rate.’
Anisha returned to the mirror. ‘I feel a lot better now,’ she said. ‘Is there hope for me? Sorry, I forgot the rhyme requirement. If I skip my snack each noon, will my pimple vanish soon?’
The mirror smiled and said warmly, ‘Take a closer look at me,/ Your nose, my dear, is pimple-free!’
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