Story 8: Mithu Mango and the Monsoon Mystery

It was a cloudy afternoon in Sabzi Nagar, and the scent of wet mitti filled the air. The monsoons had finally arrived. While most of the fruits and veggies were dancing in the rain, Mithu Mango had something on his mind.

“My sweet-smelling socks are missing!” he shouted.

Everyone turned. “You wear socks?” asked Tamatar Tinku.

“Of course,” said Mithu, indignant. “I’m a royal Alphonso. My socks are monogrammed—MM for Mithu Mango. They’re mango-yellow with orange stripes!”

Bindi Bai chuckled. “Maybe the clouds stole them.”

“Or Bhutta Bhaiyya used them as bookmarks again,” whispered Aloo Amma.

But Mithu wasn’t laughing. “These are my lucky socks! I wore them for my Class 1 fancy dress competition when I was a rasgulla.”

Everyone agreed—they had to help.

So, the citizens of Sabzi Nagar became detectives. Operation Sock Hunt was on.

They searched high and low.

• Bindi Bai found a sock puppet in her jhola. Not Mithu’s.

• Bhutta Bhaiyya found a sock stuffed with popcorn under his cot. Not Mithu’s either.

• Aloo Amma found a banana pretending to be a sock. Very confusing day.

Then, Tamatar Tinku spotted something flapping on the banana tree near the temple.

It was the socks!

Turns out, Mithu had washed them during last week’s heatwave and left them to dry.

“But the sun disappeared too fast,” said Bindi Bai.

“And now the rain gave them a royal rinse,” giggled Bhutta Bhaiyya.

Mithu blushed. “Guess I’m not just juicy—I’m forgetful too.”

They all laughed.

Just then, a double rainbow appeared in the sky. Mithu put on his wet-but-clean socks, looked up, and said, “My luck’s back!”

Moral: Sometimes what you’re looking for is exactly where you left it—just with a little rain on top!