11 year old Ayesha was sitting on a bench of a park. It was
a breezy weekend evening and the children from the nearby locality had come out
to play. Ayesha did not belong to this locality, her aunt had just brought her
along for company.
[Aunt had to pay a
short visit to someone in the apartment. On the way, Ayesha was fascinated by the
park bubbling with energy, and chose to wait there, while her aunt finished her
visit. This wasn’t a big deal for her aunt – she let her do so]
Ayesha was thoroughly enjoying the aura of the place – that
of the children chirping around merrily in groups, the cool breeze of the wind
and the leaves swaying in glory along the wind. ‘how I wish I could play with them’ – she wanted to! But nobody here
knew her, and it was supposed to be too short a visit to go introduce and play.
She sat back.
Just then, she heard cute little sighs from her right. A
child sitting on the same bench, was whimpering and mumbling over something. He
seemed to be a 5-6 years old kid.
She turned to the child and lovingly enquired – ‘Whats your name? why are you crying?’
Child – ‘daddy gave me
only 20 rupees. I wanted to buy the new chocolate. It costs 35 rupees. He
refused it’..and then suddenly remembering…’my name is Rohan. What is your
name?’
‘Ayesha. But you can
still buy another chocolate right. You get many good ones with 20rupees too’
‘nooo. that Nishan was
showing it off yesterday. He ate away the entire chocolate without giving it to
me. I too want one. I also want to show him’ – he cried.
Ayesha smiled to herself. This was something new she was
experiencing this day.
‘so you want the
chocolate only to show him? I
thought you wanted the chocolate to enjoy it!’
‘ummm..i want to enjoy
it and then show to Nishan’
Poor little Ayesha still couldnot clearly figure out what
was running in the child’s mind. Nevertheless..
She extended her hand and showed few coins that she had
held, to the child.
‘will you be able to
count the total amount of money these coins will make up’ – she smiled.
The child nodded –
‘yes’ – he meekly answered.
‘its totally 15
rupees’ – the child tried to hand over the coins to Ayesha.
‘keep it with you. 15 added
to 20 rupees will make 35. You can buy the chocolate now’ – she glowed.
‘..and show
to your friend now’ – she mimicked smilingly
The child was dumb struck – ‘then what will you do? You don’t want to buy anything?’
‘not exactly. My
school teacher says you should help everyone who is crying or is needy, and then
God will help you’
‘huh? But my daddy
told you should not take money from strangers’ – the child innocently
blurted out.
‘Oh..okay..then you
can leave the coins beside me..on the bench itself’ – she smiled and again went into the aura
of the park.
Half-heartedly, the child left the coins on the bench and
started moving towards his apartment.
Just then – ‘Hey kiddo, why is
your nose so red. What happened’. It
was Riya didi. Rohan’s neighbor.
‘nothing..i want to buy a choco….’ Riya happened
to drop a print out from her hand that she was taking out from her bag. this distracted tiny Rohan.
‘what’s that didi?’
‘that’s a list of
people and the amount of money people have given to me’
‘Money? But why did
people give you money?’ – innocently.
‘ah.. let me explain
you in brief. There’s this little girl who cannot see, she is blind. She can
regain her eyesight, but her operation demands a lot of money. Her parents did
not have sufficient money, and so they reached out to my school for help’
With mouth and eyes
wide open – ‘haaa…and then?’ curiously.
‘My school chose few
students from my high school, who need to collect money from our locality for
this purpose. I am one of the selected volunteers. Remember the other day I had
come to your place and your mumma gave me some money….?’ – she explained
proudly.
He nodded assertingly - ‘So
you will give this money to them?’ – curiosity increasing.
‘Yes. She needs it
very badly, right? We felt we must help her’ – explaining further –‘I need to give a copy of this list to her
guardian. She had come to visit us, she is talking to my mom. She will be
coming down in few minutes’
The minute Riya finished explaining this, Rohan ran hastily
towards the bench, crying out – ‘Riya
didi. Don’t go away until I return’
Riya was puzzled. Nevertheless, she waited.
‘Ayeshaaaa’ – he
gave a hasty cry. The coins still lay beside her on the bench. ‘I am taking all of your money’.
‘Okay. So finally you
decided to buy your chocolate’ – she smiled. The kid had already fled
towards Riya didi, Ayesha’s words were unnoticed.
‘Here is the list,
aunty. The school will hand over the cheque to you’ – Riya was talking to
the blind girl’s guardian.
‘Wait' - cried Rohan. 'Here it is. Take these. 15 rupees added to 20 will make 35’ - repeating Ayesha's words
Riya was surprised - where did you get this money from?
'15 rupees is my friend's. She wanted to help others. 20 are mine. i too want to help'
Riya was surprised - where did you get this money from?
'15 rupees is my friend's. She wanted to help others. 20 are mine. i too want to help'
Riya affectionately – ‘awwww..that’s so sweet of you kiddie. I will add your name too in
the list…and will not forget to tell your mummy papa about it’ [but mummy-papa
would have already known about it before she could have informed them. Rohan
was already jumping towards his house excitedly to narrate the turn of events..]
The aunt took the list, and thanked Riya. After bidding a
good bye to the lady, Riya turned towards her apartment [in the same direction
where Rohan ran]. The lady walked towards the bench…
***
‘Ayesha, beta? Shall we
go?’
Turning towards her aunt’s voice and smiling – ‘jee chachi’
‘your stick is fallen
down, beta. Guess you did not notice it. You did not stroll around anywhere?’
‘no chachi. I was
enjoying the park from here itself. Did not feel the need’
‘Don’t worry, we will
not need them much longer’ – the aunt handed over the supporting stick to
Ayesha.
Aunt remembered something suddenly, and confessed – ‘So sorry,
beta. I was in a bit hurry, I forgot to tell you that the number of coins I gave
you was totally 15 rupees. Did you come across any vendor? Was the money
sufficient? Hope you had something to eat’
‘No’ – as she
directed her way through the stick, head held up high and smiling.
‘I helped a little
boy, to buy his favourite chocolate…by now he must have got it.’
unaware that her money, alongwith the child's, had travelled back to her; she gleamed as she imagined the happiness the boy would have felt after buying the chocolate...
unaware that her money, alongwith the child's, had travelled back to her; she gleamed as she imagined the happiness the boy would have felt after buying the chocolate...
what goes around, comes around...
…
