A long time ago, in a kingdom ruled a very wise king who was good to his subjects and sensitive to their needs. The land was fertile. It was blessed with rivers and abundant rainfall. The people were hardworking. They produced a lot of paddy and everyone had plenty to eat. Everyone was happy.

Unfortunately, one year the rains failed. The rivers dried up and famine haunted this happy land. The people were suffering. And so was the king. He did whatever he could. Opened the doors of the treasury. Imported food grains and generally did whatever he could to ease the suffering of the people.

The following year, however, the rain came back. People were once again producing enough rice and everything was as usual.

The king, however, realized that though he was a good king, he had no control over the vagaries of nature. So in order to be better prepared next time, he decided to introduce a new staple as an alternative to rice. He, therefore, sent out emissaries to every corner of the earth to find out if there were other crops that could be grown in arid conditions.

A few came back with new and exotic crops. The king distributed these to the people. But the people refused to switch to any other staple. Rice eaters they were and rice eaters they would like to remain. The farmers refused to learn how to grow the new "foreign" food. For generations they had been growing and eating rice. This was too much to ask of them. Even a royal decree could not force them.

One day, the people living near the palace saw that a huge area was being marked off. In a few weeks the area had been fenced in with high walls and guards had started patrolling the area. No one was allowed to go anywhere near the place. The people were intrigued. They were curious. But there was no way of finding out as the king had placed his personal body-guards to guard the place. They kept a watch from a distance.

One day they saw the king enter the area along with his entire compliment of gardeners and a long caravan of covered bullock-carts. The figured that the king was planning to plant something. But what? Was he trying to build a garden? Or was he planting something so precious and special that it needed to be guarded day and night?

The king would visit regularly and supervise the hand-picked palace gardeners. And after a few months a few bold people who ventured near the gates noticed through it, that some crop was growing. But what was it? Was it some special food fit only for kings and nobles?

When their curiosity got the better of them, a few people managed to sneak into the garden and they stole some of the saplings. They brought it back and planted it and watched it grow. And though the plant bore no fruits the roots, when cooked, were both delicious and nutritious. It was tapioca. And very soon the whole kingdom was growing tapioca! And were enjoying eating it too!

That is precisely what the wise king had wanted. He had tried to introduce a new crop which the people had rejected. But when he planted something that seemed exclusive and elusive, they all wanted it!

We see this phenomena even today. Put a well-known label on a pair of jeans and it will sell at five times it's cost of manufacture. Produce limited additions of a rug and it will sell at exorbitant prices. Take gold for instance, it's a useless metal and yet people would kill for it! The value of anything is determined by it's exclusivity.

I can't vouch for the veracity of this story. I don't really know if tapioca was introduced in this way. But it was a story told to me by a wise friend who was illustrating to me how the commonest of things gain value simply by packaging it as exclusive. Hope you enjoy the tale.