SHORT STORY: REAL VICTORY

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

    Once there lived an arrogant farmer in a village. His name was Sher Singh. He was as dreadful as a tiger. Even for small reasons he used to pick up big fights. He never spoke to the people of the village in a polite manner. And he never visited anyone nor did he wish anyone he came across on the way. The villagers also found him arrogant and avoided speaking to him.

    In the same village one day a farmer named Dayaram came and settled from a distant location. As compared to Sher Singh he was extremely simple and helpful. He spoke to everyone in a very polite manner and he always tried to help the villagers. Soon every villager started respecting him and also started seeking advice from him.

    One day the villagers advised Dayaram—‘Brother Dayaram! Never visit Sher Singh at his house. Try and stay away from him as he is a big fighter.’

    Dayaram laughed and said—‘If Sher Singh tries to fight with me I will kill him.’

    Some villagers laughed at this. They knew Dayaram was very kind. Forget killing he couldn’t have even abused anyone. But someone went and sneaked about Dayaram’s comment to Sher Singh. Sher Singh on hearing this got very angry. And since then he started making attempts to pick up a fight with Dayaram. One day he left his bullocks in Dayaram’s fields. They grazed his crop and even destroyed some; but Dayaram quietly drove them out of his fields.

    One day Sher Singh damaged the drain to Dayaram’s fields with the result water started flowing in the wrong direction. Dayaram without any confrontation quietly set the drain right. And in this fashion he kept harming Dayaram; but Dayaram with his cool nature did not give him an opportunity to pick up a fight.

    One day a relative of Dayaram sent him some Kharboozaas (melons) from Lucknow. And as a good gesture he decided to distribute them in the village. He sent one to each farmer; but Sher Singh refused to accept and sent it back saying, ‘I’m not a beggar and don’t accept alms from anyone.’

    During monsoon, one day, when Sher Singh was returning home from the market in his bullock-cart loaded with grains, on the way it got stuck in a mire near a nullah (watercourse). His feeble bullocks were unable to pull the cart out of the mire. When the news reached the village everyone felt—‘Since Sher Singh is a crook, let him spend the night by the side of the nullah alone.’

    But Dayaram with his robust bullocks immediately left for the nullah to help Sher Singh. People tried to stop him, they advised—‘Dayaram! Sher Singh has troubled you quite a lot in the past. And you used to say if he fights with you, you will kill him. Then why are you going to help him today?’

    Dayaram replied—‘Today I’ll definitely kill him. And you all will be able to see that in the morning.’ And with that he left.

    When Sher Singh saw Dayaram coming with his robust bullocks to help him, he arrogantly yelled—‘You please go back. I don’t require anyone’s help.’

    Dayaram didn’t slow down and continued walking towards him in the same pace and said—‘Abuse me if you feel so, beat me if you wish to, but right now you are in trouble. Your cart is stuck and it’s getting dark. So I just can’t agree to what you say right now, and I must help you.’

    Dayaram quickly released Sher Singh’s bullocks from the harness and installed his own. And thereafter his robust bullocks pulled the cart out of the mire. Sher Singh then drove his bullock-cart home and realized the goodness of Dayaram and started saying—‘Dayaram you killed me with your kindness. And now I am no more that arrogant Sher Singh.’ And thereafter Sher Singh started dealing with everyone with extreme love, kindness and humbleness. To win over evil with goodness is the real victory, and Dayaram achieved that.

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SHORT STORY: LESSON FROM A CRANE

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

    A pair of crane used to live in a farmer’s field near a village along with their newly hatched babies. But even before the babies could grow up to fly, the field of the farmer was ready for harvest. This got the cranes worried fearing their nests would now get destroyed.  And, before the farmer cuts the crop they should leave the place and move to a safer place, but unfortunately the babies were unable to fly. The crane told the babies—‘in our absence if any one comes to the field, learn to remember what all he says.’

    One day, when the crane returned home with food for the babies in the evening, they said—‘today the farmer had come. He inspected the fields by walking around it. At one or two places he also halted and kept staring at the field. He was saying to himself that the crop is now fit for harvest. Today I’ll request the villagers to cut my crop.’

    The Crane said—‘you all don’t worry. The crop will not be cut soon. It will be long before it is harvested.’

    After sometime one day when the crane returned in the evening he found the babies nervous. They started saying—‘we should now leave this field immediately. Today the farmer had come again. He was murmuring to himself that the villagers are very selfish. They are not making any arrangements for harvesting my crop. Tomorrow I’ll send my brothers and have the crop harvested.

    The crane, not worried and unconcerned told his babies—‘the crop will not be harvested soon. In a couple of days you will start flying in a proper manner. So there is no reason for any panic.

    Many days had passed. By now the babies of the crane had started flying and were fearless. One day in the evening they started saying—‘this farmer is only scaring us. He had come even today when he started saying, my brothers don’t listen to me and all of them only make excuses. The grains of my crop are drying up and have started falling. Tomorrow morning I will come myself to cut the crop.’

     The crane upon hearing this panicked and said—‘come on! Hurry up! It hasn’t got dark. Let’s fly off to another place that is safer. Tomorrow the crop will definitely be cut.’

    The kids said—‘why will the crop be cut this time. What makes you say that?’

    The crane said—‘till the farmer was depending on villagers and his brothers the hope of crop being cut was not there. People, who leave their tasks for someone else to perform; their tasks never get done. But those who get ready to do it themselves, their jobs, no one can stop from getting it done. If the farmer has decided to cut his crop tomorrow, sure enough he will do it.’

    The crane along with his kids left for another place forthwith.

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Short story: TWO PONIES

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

   Once upon a time there was a trader who had two ponies. He often used to load his ponies with grocery, to sell them in the nearby villages located in the hills. Once, it so happened, that one of his pony fell sick, but the trader did not come to know of it. He wanted to carry salt, jaggery, pulses and rice to the nearby villages to sell. So, he loaded both the ponies equally and started off in his mission.

    But while negotiating the uneven hilly terrain the sick pony was having problems. They halted for a breather is when he said to his fellow pony—‘today I’m not feeling well. I’ll drop one of the bags loaded on me, so you keep standing here. When our owner notices that he might load it on you. But if you move ahead the owner will load it back on me. In this manner my load will get reduced and I will be able to come along with you.’

    But the other pony said—‘why should I take your load? As if I have lesser load on my back. Sorry, I’ll only carry my share of load.’

    The sick pony kept quiet. But he was feeling extremely sick. And while moving on the hilly track he inadvertently stumbled into a bolder lying on the road and went off the hill and rolled down and finally succumbed to his injuries.

    The trader was shocked at the sudden death of his pony. He stood there for a while not knowing what to do. Then he lifted the bags from the dead pony and loaded them on to the other pony. Now that pony started repenting and thinking—‘had I listened to my fellow pony and taken some extra load he wouldn’t have come across the fatal accident and in turn I wouldn’t have had to carry the entire load on my back.

    Moral of the story: A person who doesn’t help his colleague in danger has to repent.

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SHORT STORY: UNSCHOLARLY SCHOLAR

Copyright@kamleshsujata1

By Kamlesh Tripathi

Long time back a rich man in a small town was standing on the terrace of his house and smoking a cigarette. He was basking under the evening sun and reminiscing, the hard struggle that he had undergone in his lifetime, to earn the high repute and standing, in the society. And, while inhaling a puff each time, it appeared he was as remembering every challenge of his life, and while exhaling, as if how he countered the challenge.

Just then a scholar was passing by on the road. He stopped, for a moment, and looked at the rich man and asked, ‘Hey you, why are you smoking. Don’t you know it is very harmful for health?’

‘Yes I know, yet I smoke, because I like it.’

‘And since how many years have you been smoking?’ asked the scholar.

‘For the last twenty years.’ replied, the rich man, in a jovial tone.

‘And how many cigarettes do you smoke each day?’

‘Say about two packets, which is, twenty cigarettes.’

‘And how much does a packet cost?’

The rich man thought for a moment and then gingerly replied, ‘Say about two rupees.’

‘That means you spend about four rupees a day, which in twenty years with interest should be somewhere around thirty five thousand rupees.’

‘Yes I know. I am a businessman.’ Curtly, replied the rich man.

‘And what other vices do you have?’ asked the scholar in a concerned tone.

‘I also drink?’

‘Drink!! That is really said. But, how much do you drink?’

‘A pint a day, and that costs some ten rupees a day, and that too I have been drinking for the last twenty years.’

The scholar, astonished, halted for a moment to calculate and then said, ‘That means you have wasted another ninety thousand on drinks.’

‘So what, and how does it matter?’ asked the rich man.

The scholar by now was irritated at the rich man, and he decided to give his peace of mind to the rich man.

‘Hey you, don’t you know that both cigarettes and drinks are extremely harmful for health, plus you have wasted over a lac of rupees on your vices. And had you saved all this you could have bought this house, atop which you are standing so proudly.’

The rich man looked at the scholar amusingly, took a deep puff and said,

‘Dear passerby. This house is mine, my vices are mine and I’m in good health.’ But who are you to ask these questions?

The moral of the story is no matter how intelligent you are, avoid, unsolicited and free advice to others, even if the matter is of extreme importance.

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Refrain: cigarette smoking and drinking are injurious to health