What Do Women Want the Most?
What Do Women Want the Most?
Long ago, in a small kingdom in Kerala, there lived a king who believed he knew everything.
He knew when the rains would come.
He knew how to collect taxes.
He knew how to command soldiers.
Yet there was one simple question he could not answer,
a question so quiet, yet so powerful,
that it would travel from the palace to the forest,
from a prince to a giant,
and finally to a woman whose voice would change everything:
What do women want the most?
The king also had a son, a young prince, whose marriage was being planned.
One evening, the prince went for a walk deep into the forest.
The air was quiet.
Birds had stopped singing.
Suddenly, a giant stepped out from behind a tree and caught the prince.
The prince’s heart beat fast.
He thought, This giant will kill me.
But the giant did not lift his hand.
Instead, he said calmly,
“You are the son of an all-knowing king.
Answer me one question, and you may go free.”
The prince swallowed hard.
“What is the question?” he asked.
The giant said,
“Tell me, what do women want the most?”
The prince was shocked.
This? he thought. This is the question?
He quickly thought of many answers.
Gold.
Love.
Safety.
Respect.
But deep inside, he felt these were not the answers the giant was waiting for.
So the prince said carefully,
“Please give me one day.
I will go to my palace, find the true answer, and return.”
The giant looked at him for a moment… then nodded.
“One day,” he said.
“Do not fail.”
The prince hurried back toward the palace.
The Old Woman
On the way, near the forest path, the prince saw an old woman.
She was very ugly.
Her back was bent.
Her face was wrinkled.
She looked at the worried prince and said,
“Why do you look so troubled, child?”
The prince told her everything.
The old woman smiled and said,
“I know the answer to your question.”
The prince’s eyes widened.
“Please tell me!” he said.
“But,” the old woman added slowly,
“you must marry me in return.”
The prince stared at her.
Marry this woman?
He could not imagine it.
Without saying a word, he walked away and went back to the palace.
The Search for the Answer
The prince told his father everything.
The king called his minister.
“Tell me,” the king asked,
“what do women want the most?”
The minister cleared his throat.
“Gold, Your Majesty.
And good silk sarees.”
The king was not satisfied.
The next day, he called the temple priest.
The priest smiled gently and said,
“They want protection and family life.”
Still, the king felt uneasy.
Then poets were called.
“They want love,” said one.
“They want praise,” said another.
The king shook his head.
“If it were so simple,” he said softly,
“why does this question trouble us so much?”
He sent messengers everywhere.
They went to coconut groves.
To paddy fields.
To riverbanks where women washed clothes and spoke freely.
Answers returned in bundles.
“They want security.”
“They want children.”
“They want comfort.”
“They want respect.”
The king read them all.
Still, something was missing.
The Decision
As the sun set behind the palm trees, the prince remembered the old woman.
That evening, he went back to the forest.
He found her sitting in the same place.
“I agree,” he said quietly.
“I will marry you.
Please tell me the answer.”
The old woman leaned closer and whispered the answer into his ear.
The prince’s eyes lit up.
He ran back to the giant and spoke the answer.
The giant smiled and stepped aside.
“You may go,” he said.
The prince was free.
The Marriage and the Surprise
The prince returned to the palace with the old woman and told his father everything.
The king said nothing.
Immediately, the marriage was arranged.
That night, the prince entered the room where his bride sat.
He expected to see the old woman.
Instead, he saw a very young and beautiful woman.
He stood frozen.
She smiled and said,
“I was under a curse.
I had to live as an old, ugly woman.
It was written that if I married a prince who kept his word, I would regain my youth.”
The prince was overjoyed.
Then she said softly,
“There is one problem.
I can remain young only half the day.
Either during daytime or nighttime.
You must decide.”
The prince thought.
Seconds passed.
Minutes passed.
Then he remembered the answer she had whispered long ago.
So he said gently,
“You decide.”
The woman’s eyes filled with happiness.
“Aha!” she laughed.
“That is what women want the most,
the freedom to choose.”
She smiled brightly.
“Now my curse is completely gone.
I will remain young and beautiful always.”
A Quiet Ending
The prince learned something that day.
Love is not about control.
Wisdom is not about knowing everything.
True respect is allowing another person to decide for themselves.
And that lesson stayed in the kingdom for a long, long time.