In the olden days, there existed a small village in a far-off country. A few hundred people lived in the village in neatly arranged mud houses among paddy fields.
A man named Musa lived in the village. He ran a shop which was famous for a special sweet that he made himself. His sweets were considered the best treat in the whole village.
Musa had grown old but continued making the sweets. Even after several decades, his sweets were a specialty for the villagers, young and old.
One day, a rich merchant was passing through the village. As darkness fell, he could go no further. He asked a family in the village for shelter. The family happily made him their guest.
Touched by the love and affection of his host, the merchant decided to settle in the village. He constructed for himself a small house and a shop, where he started selling candies bought from the town.
The villagers liked his candies and the merchant soon became famous. People from neighbouring villages started coming to his shop to buy the candies.
Musa was soon forgotten. His sweets were no more in demand.
To celebrate his success, the merchant invited his customers to lunch.
One day, Musa was sitting quietly in his shop. An old man, who could barely stand straight, walked up to him. “Can I try your sweets?” he asked.
Surprised as he had seen a customer asking for the sweets after a long time, Musa asked, “Why do you want to try the sweets when everyone likes the candies from the town?”
The old man replied: “I had heard about the sweets you make when I was a young man. But I never got to taste it. Now, when I am here as an old man, I want to taste it.”
His words brought a smile to Musa’s wrinkled face.
As the old man tasted a piece of Musa’s sweets, he also smiled.
“Your sweets are tastier than the merchant’s candy,” he told Musa. “All you need to do is make people realise that they are only fascinated by something from the town. Try something new and set things right.”
Musa said: “But I am too old to try something new. I am only good at making sweets because that is what I have done my entire life.”
“It is never too late,” the old man said.
His words got stuck in Musa’s head.
In the morning, he made a large quantity of sweets. But this time he shaped the sweets like candies and wrapped them in glossy paper, something similar to the candies sold by the merchant.
Musa put a hoarding outside his shop, which read, ‘Old Man’s Candy’.
At first, only a couple of people bought the candy. As the candy was delicious, it quickly became famous. Soon, people from neighbouring villages also came to buy the sweets.
Musa became more famous than he was before.
The merchant also came to taste Musa’s sweets. He could not stop himself from praising it.
He stopped buying the candies from the town. Instead, he bought candies from Musa and sold them in the town.
