It happened once that the Emperor Akbar was served a dish of curried brinjal – or aubergines, and he found it to be delicious. He ate it with great enthusiasm, and shared it with his courtiers, including of course his closest advisor, Birbal.

‘What do you think?” he asked them. “Is not brinjal an excellent vegetable?”

“A vegetable of supreme quality,” the courtiers all agreed. “Delicious, master! And very nutritious as well.”

“Birbal,” Akbar said, “is it a good vegetable?”

“A vegetable of the highest quality, majesty,” Birbal replied.

Some days later, though, another dish of curried brinjal was served, and – perhaps from some error in the spices, perhaps because the brinjals had grown elsewhere, who can say? – the dish was very different. Akbar took a bite, made a face, took another and then pushed the dish away.

“What do you think?” he asked his courtiers. “It seems to me that brinjal is a terrible vegetable, not suitable for human consumption.”

And all the courtiers vigorously agreed with him. “You are right your majesty, brinjal is a very coarse vegetable, it should only be served to cattle!”

“Birbal,” Akbar said, “what is your opinion of brinjal? Is it good or bad?”

Birbal looked at the courtiers, who only a few days before had been praising brinjal, and now with one voice were condemning it, and said, “Your majesty, it is very clear that if the Emperor likes it, it is an excellent vegetable, and if he does not, it is the worst vegetable in the world.”