Aarav had decided to give up.

He sat on the steps behind the house with his arms crossed, refusing to finish the wooden boat he had been carving for a week. "It's no good," he said when Dadu came out. "Look at it. The hull is a little crooked. There's a rough patch here. The sail won't sit straight. I worked and worked and it still isn't perfect. So what's the point? I'm not going to do it anymore."

Dadu eased himself down onto the step. He took the little boat and turned it slowly in his weathered hands. "Crooked here," he murmured. "Rough there. Yes, I see." Then he looked up. "Come. Help me light the cooking fire."

Puzzled, Aarav followed him to the hearth. Dadu struck the flint, and the dry sticks caught. A curl of grey smoke rose up, stinging their eyes, before the flames steadied into a warm, bright fire.

"There," said Dadu. "A good fire. It will cook our rice and warm our hands tonight. Tell me — is there any smoke?"

Aarav coughed and waved his hand. "Of course there's smoke. There's always smoke when you light a fire."

"Always," Dadu agreed. "Have you ever in your life seen a fire with no smoke at all?"

Aarav thought. "No. Never."

"And yet we still light fires," said Dadu, "because a fire with a little smoke is far better than no fire and no warm food. The smoke does not make the fire worthless. It comes along with every fire that ever burned." He handed the boat back. "Your boat is your fire, Aarav. The crooked hull, the rough patch: those are only the smoke. Every single thing anyone ever makes or does has a little smoke in it. The carpenter's table has a knot. The cook's bread has a burned edge. Even the temple has a cracked tile somewhere. There is no spotless work in the whole world."

Aarav looked at his small, imperfect boat.

"If you throw away every work that has a flaw," said Dadu, "you will throw away everything, and do nothing at all. The brave thing is not to wait for perfect work. The brave thing is to do your own work as well as you can, smoke and all, and let it be." He smiled. "Now. Shall we see if your crooked little boat can float?"

It floated. A bit lopsidedly, dipping to one side — but it floated, and it sailed all the way across the pond, and Aarav cheered louder than he had in weeks.