Once upon a time, there lived a girl named Radha in a small village in Kolhapur, Maharashtra. She was living all alone with her Mom Parvati. Her father used to drink a lot and beat her mom. So they got separated from each other. Radha’s mom used to do petty household chores in the village and make a little money for their survival. They were living from hand to mouth.
Radha’s mom had a deep desire that Radha should be able to go to school and become a big officer one day. But she did not had any money for this. This meant that Radha could not go to school and will not be able to learn.
Radha too had a deep interest in studying. She used to try to read from the books of her friends in the village. She used to study with her best friend Phuli whenever she came back from school. Phuli used to speak to Radha about her school, her school friends, her books, teachers, etc. Radha too would dream of going to school one day.
Radha’s mom used to work for an Old rich man who used to be Village Head. He was known in the entire village for his wisdom. One day when Radha’s mom came to work for cleaning his house, he saw Radha’s mom little worried. She was worried about how will she earn some more money to send Radha to school just like her other friends. Thinking about this, she was not able to concentrate on work properly. The Old man saw this and asked, “Parvati, Is there any problem?” To which she said “No, Nothing.” The old man doubted it but did not speak at that moment. He remained silent and went away.
After completing her routine chores, Radha’s mom Parvati was headed home. To which the Old man said, ”Parvati, I had some extra work to be taken care of which needs to be done regularly? Can you handle it for me?” Parvati was surprised. She thought extra work meant more money and this would help her in sending Radha to school. She was overjoyed at this proposal. Parvati said, “I will immediately start the work tomorrow. I will come early for it and will complete the work and then leave everyday.” Parvati could not thank God enough for it.
Next day the Old Man gave her some money as advance for the extra work that needed to be done. This money helped Parvati send Radha to school and get her some books, bag and shoes for her new school. Radha too was very happy. She immediately started going to school.
Days passed by and Radha too was very happy since now she had friends, teachers and was able to go to school like other kids. But one thought creeped in her mind. How did God listen to her prayers so early. How did the Old man’s helped her without even informing her about the problem?
One day when she was serving tea to Old Man, she finally said, “Thank you Sir, its because of the extra work that you gave, I am able to send my daughter to school now”. “I know that.” replied the Old Man. To which Parvati was surprised. “How did you know about it?” she asked.
The Old Man replied in his heavy tone,” I was observing you that day. You seemed too worried. I had only asked one of my servant Usha to speak to you. Usha was also one of the maid that was working with Parvati in the Old Man’s home. The Old Man heard the entire conversation between Usha and Parvati that happened in kitchen that day. When Parvati was almost in tears about not being able to send Radha to school, Usha tried to console her. Usha said,” Parvati, you must speak to our boss. He is a good man will help you out to send Radha to school. You definitely speak to him once.” But being self-respectful Parvati did not like taking help from the Old man.
The Old man narrated the whole incident that took place in the kitchen to Parvati. Parvati was loss of words on how to thank the Old Man for his generosity. He intentionally took out some extra work so that Parvati did not feel ashamed to take a help from him. From that day, Parvati started respecting him more.
Moral:
1) Its good to help someone but ensure that you help the person in such a way that you don’t harm their self-esteem.
2) Be grateful for all that you have, especially your school, teachers, books, friends, etc.