The secret book

Ravi was visiting his grandparent’s house in the picturesque hill station of Panchgani, as usual, during his summer holidays. It was such a pleasant change from the noisy, crowded, hustle and bustle of Mumbai city, where he lived.  

This visit was different, though. His beloved Dadaji was no longer there to welcome him with open arms and a warm hug, exclaiming, “How tall you’ve grown in this short time, young man!” 

Ravi missed his Dada’s presence in the old cottage. He reminisced about the happy hours he had spent with his grandfather in his cosy little study, reading quietly together and having discussions on various topics. Dada had always encouraged him to read saying, “Books have the power to transport us to new worlds and different times. Therefore read, my boy, and open your mind to the wonders of the world.”

He failed to understand why his Dadi was getting ready to sell the house, now that Dadaji wasn’t around, and had started packing all her belongings. She seemed so sad. “Go and have a look if there are any books in Dada’s library that are of interest to you, before I give them all away,” she instructed Ravi. 

Ravi headed to his grandad’s study. He glanced around the room with its wooden shelves running along the walls. Dada’s books stood neatly arranged on them with their names boldly imprinted on their spines of varied colours. He recalled Dadaji quoting the great Roman philosopher and writer, Cicero, saying, “A room without books, is like a body without a soul.” 

He began browsing through the dusty, old books in his grandfather’s collection which had always intrigued him. Ravi was personally into Hardy boys and Harry Potter and thought to himself wryly that he was unlikely to find any of those amongst Dada’s prized collection. Suddenly, a red, hard-bound book caught his eye. It had Treasure Island in gold lettering by R L Stevenson embossed on its spine. “Hmm, that sounds interesting,” he thought. 

Standing on tiptoe, he reached up and took it down from the shelf. Dusting it off, Ravi curiously opened the book. Scrawled across the front page, in his grandfather’s bold handwriting was, “There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island — Walt Disney”.  “That’s strange,” thought Ravi.

When he tried to turn the page, he couldn’t. The pages of the book seemed stuck together. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get them unstuck. “That’s so weird!” he thought and then it struck him that perhaps it was a fake book. But why? Could it be hiding something? 

Fidgeting with the book, turning it this way and that, Ravi realised it was a box that opened. The gears in his mind began whirring. Here he stood, holding a real mystery in his hands, that needed to be solved. “Why is there a blue, satin ribbon bookmark embedded in the spine of this book when there are no pages to bookmark?” He wondered.  He tugged on the ribbon and lo and behold, there was a quiet click and the stuck pages opened like the cover of a box to reveal a treasure trove of various old currency notes from different countries, stuffed inside it.

Ravi ran to his grandmother bursting with excitement at his discovery.  “Dadi, Dadi,” he called excitedly. “Look at what I found,” he exclaimed, showing her the contents of the book. Dadi sat down as she felt her legs giving away, both in shock and relief. The enormity of the discovery had just hit her. The notes would be of great value to numismatists.

It dawned on her, that all her monetary woes would be solved with this windfall.  She no longer needed to sell the house to pay off Dadaji’s medical bills and her rising debts or get rid of his book collection. Dadi laughed and hugged Ravi in joy.

Ravi and his grandmother both felt that Dadaji had guided him to the secret book. Imagine what would have happened had Dadi given away his prized book collection.  

Dadi was sure that Dada would have told her about the secret book himself, as he had hinted to her that he had a little nest-egg stashed away.  Unfortunately, before he could reveal his secret, he’d suffered a sudden stroke one night, which left him in a coma, from which he never awoke.

Thus, by solving the mystery of the secret book, Ravi had solved all his grandmother’s financial problems. ‘Treasure Island’ had revealed a true treasure. Ravi kept the book box and treasures it to date — a valuable, sentimental souvenir in remembrance of his dear grandfather and his love for books.