Rukmini Devi was taking her afternoon nap under a tree outside her house when a bird dropped something on her forehead. What she initially thought was poo, turned out to be none other than a piece of gold.
“I couldn’t believe it. I was holding almost 2 grams of gold that fell on me like God’s blessing,” she said.
Following the bird to the pond where it drinks water, Rukmini was shocked to see more such pieces of gold nuggets at the bottom of the water.
“At first I wanted to tell no one, but looking at the amount of gold there was, I knew I would need help,” Rukmini confessed.
All that glittered indeed was gold
Rukmini went straight to the house of Poi’s sarpanch (village head) to tell him and he immediately ordered the area to be dug up.
Over 82 kilos of gold was discovered underneath.
“We were sitting on a gold mine for all these years and we had no idea,” said Krishnaswamy, the village head, beaming.
The villagers’ fortunes changed. That night, there was a feast for everyone. After all, they were all about to be billionaires.
At first I wanted to tell no one, but looking at the amount of gold there was, I knew I would need help
“We will build a temple on our land where the deity will be solid gold,” said villager Gayatri, as her eyes danced with joy.
But then came government officials
It was time for the people of Poi village to get done with the celebrations and start with official paperwork and formalities in order to claim their wealth.
“We were informed about the gold mine underneath the village’s land that was discovered by a lady called Rukmini,” an official said.
Oddly enough, they headed over to Rukmini’s house and upon reaching, they started shaking the legs of the jute charpai (cot) on which she was taking her nap.
“What’s the matter with you, why are you shaking my bed,” asked a furious Rukmini as she woke up from her sleep.
“You’ve been asleep for over 2 hours, Amma. And what gold were you murmuring about while napping?” Her son Madan asked.
Turns out it was all a dream and that you’ve just been fooled on April 1.
Poi, by the way, means ‘lie’ in Tamil, so technically, we’d told you all along!
The lead image at the top shows a woman found gold under village land.
All images have been taken from Shutterstock.
Teesta Rajan is the Associate Director of Village Vibe, who also works as a part-time prankster on April 1.
