The kitchen was filled with the sweet aroma of freshly cut fruit. A colorful basket sat on the wooden table, piled high with ripe mangoes, papayas, bananas, oranges, and jackfruit. Subi, a curious little girl with twinkling eyes and untamed hair, climbed onto her chair and looked at the feast before her with pure delight.
“Mom, can I eat them all?” she asked, her voice bubbling with excitement.
Mom laughed. “You can eat some, but remember, fruits are meant to be enjoyed slowly. And don’t forget—throw the seeds away after you eat them.”
Subi nodded quickly, though she was hardly paying attention. Her hands were already reaching for the juiciest mango. She peeled it clumsily, orange juice dripping down her fingers, and took a big bite.
“Mmm, so sweet!” she exclaimed, mango juice running down her chin.
When she reached the large flat seed in the middle, she held it up, turning it around in her sticky fingers. Mom handed her a small bowl. “Put the seed in here, Subi.”
But Subi frowned. “No, I don’t want to throw it away.”
Mom raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”
Subi hugged the mango seed to her chest as though it were a treasure. “Because it’s still part of the fruit. It worked hard to grow inside, so how can I just throw it away?”
Mom chuckled, amused at her daughter’s unusual attachment to seeds. She didn’t push the matter, thinking Subi would soon lose interest. But she was wrong.
The Fruit Feast
Over the next hour, Subi ate her way through oranges, spitting out each seed into her hand and carefully setting it aside instead of tossing it into the bowl. She peeled bananas, chewed happily, and kept the black seeds from the papaya, lining them neatly in a row on the table. Even with jackfruit, sticky and stubborn, she pulled out each golden pod, ate it with glee, and then wiped the shiny brown seeds clean with a napkin.
By the time she finished, the table was covered with little piles of seeds, each one looking like a miniature army ready for battle.
Dad walked in, surprised at the sight. “What’s going on here? Did someone forget the trash can exists?”
Subi shook her head earnestly. “No, Dad. I’m not throwing them away. Seeds are special.”
Dad laughed. “Special? They just make a mess.”
“No!” Subi insisted, her voice strong. “If you plant them, they grow into trees. And trees give more fruit. Why would I throw away something that can grow into more food?”
Mom and Dad exchanged a look. Their daughter was young, but her reasoning was hard to argue with.
Subi’s Secret Garden
From that day on, Subi refused to throw away any seed. Each time she ate fruit, she gathered the seeds into a little box she had decorated with crayons and stickers. She called it her “treasure chest.”
Whenever Dad threw orange peels into the compost bin, Subi would jump up and say, “Wait! Did you check for seeds?” Whenever Mom sliced a papaya, Subi would hover close, making sure none of the slippery black seeds escaped into the trash.
Her parents eventually gave her a small patch of soil in the backyard, thinking it might be a good way for her to learn about gardening. Subi squealed with excitement and carried her treasure chest of seeds outside. One by one, she dug tiny holes and buried them, patting the soil gently as if tucking each seed into bed.
“Grow well,” she whispered. “I’ll take care of you.”
The Waiting Game
Days turned into weeks. Subi watered her garden every morning, carrying a small cup of water from the kitchen sink. Sometimes she sat in front of the patch, staring at the soil as though willing the seeds to grow faster.
“Subi,” Dad teased one afternoon, “staring won’t make them sprout any quicker.”
“Yes, it will,” Subi replied confidently. “They need to know I believe in them.”
At first, nothing happened, and she grew restless. But one morning, as the dew sparkled on the grass, she noticed a tiny green shoot poking out of the ground. She gasped so loudly that Mom came running, thinking something was wrong.
“They’re growing! Look, Mom!” Subi shouted, pointing at the delicate sprout.
Soon more shoots appeared—papaya seedlings with long stems, little orange plantlets, and even a stubborn jackfruit sprout. Subi was overjoyed. She spoke to them every day, giving each sprout a name and cheering them on.
Lessons from Seeds
Her garden became her pride and joy. When friends came over, Subi dragged them outside to show off the baby plants. “These are my mango babies. That’s Miss Papaya. And those are the orange twins,” she would say proudly.
One friend asked, “But why do you keep so many? It takes forever for trees to grow!”
Subi grinned. “Because one day, they’ll give me fruits. And then I’ll plant those seeds too. And one day, there will be so many trees, no one will ever go hungry.”
Her words surprised the adults around her. They realized that what started as a refusal to throw away seeds had blossomed into a vision of abundance and care for the earth.
A Family Tradition
Months passed, and the little backyard patch turned into a lush corner of green. Some seedlings grew taller than Subi herself. Birds began to visit, curious about the young plants. Mom and Dad found themselves joining Subi every morning, helping her water the garden and protect it from pests.
It became a family tradition: whenever they ate fruit, the seeds never went to the trash. They went straight to Subi’s treasure chest and later into the soil.
Dad even built a small wooden sign for the garden that read: “Subi’s Seedlings: Please Grow with Love.”
The Big Lesson
One evening, as they sat together under the stars, Dad asked, “Subi, why are you so determined to save every seed? Most people just throw them away.”
Subi thought for a moment and then replied, “Because seeds are not garbage. They are beginnings. If you throw them away, you throw away a chance for something new to grow. But if you keep them and care for them, they can turn into something amazing.”
Her words settled deep into her parents’ hearts. What had begun as a child’s stubbornness had turned into wisdom they, too, could live by.
Conclusion
Subi’s story became one that neighbors and relatives loved to share. She was the little girl who ate fruit and refused to throw away seeds, who turned a basket of leftovers into a garden full of promise. Her small act of defiance blossomed into a lesson in patience, care, and the endless possibilities hidden in the simplest of things.
And as the years went by, the backyard transformed into a small orchard. Mango trees stretched toward the sky, papaya plants bore sweet fruit, and orange blossoms perfumed the air. Each tree stood as proof of Subi’s belief—that nothing should be wasted when it holds the power to grow.
Subi never did learn to throw away seeds. But perhaps that was the best thing about her.
Because while most people saw them as scraps, Subi saw them for what they truly were: the beginning of life.
