There was a beautiful village named Rampur located on the banks of the river Narmada. The people of Rampur were honest and simple. They believed in internal happiness and not the monetary happiness. There was one such family living in this village where the words like ethics, honesty were alive. There were four family members. Parents and two children. Father’s name was Mohanbhai and Mother’s name was Ramilaben. Mohanbhai was a farmer so there was always scarcity of money within the family. The elder son was 10 years old and his name was Suhas and the younger daughter was Rima who was just 2 years old and the apple of the eye for the entire family.
Suhas was studying in the village school and was in 5th standard. He was a brilliant student but was ragged by his fellow students because of his clothes and shoes. He could not buy proper clothes and usually the same uniform throughout the year. Without thinking much about the repercussions, almost all the students made joke of Suhas’s torn and old clothes. Suhas was also a child and his mind got very disturbed by these constant jokes and taunts. He knew that his father was not in the position to let him buy new clothes or new shoes. One such day during the recess, Suhas was sitting alone and eating his lunch quietly.
His shoulder was tapped and when he looked up, a new boy from his class was there smiling at him. He was Rohan. Rohan asked Suhas, ‘Can I sit with you to have my lunch?’ Suhas nodded happily and they both started to talk. Soon they became very good friends. Rohan was from a rich family, so he could spend money easily. He tried to buy things for Suhas many times but Suhas denied every time as he was trained like that by his parents. Once, Rohan gave Suhas an idea that Suhas should do some part time job to earn money. Hence, he gets the money for his clothes, shoes etc. and if anything is saved, he could help his family.
The thought was rooted in Suhas’s mind to get a part time job. Without letting his family know about this, he quietly started to look for a job. Because of his age nobody gave him the job. Despite of valiant efforts nobody was ready to give Suhas a job or any type of work for money. Everyone said, ‘You are just a kid so keep your focus on studies and not earning.’ Suhas realised that he was not going to get a job like this, so he felt very sad. He was just in that mood and his mother asked him to swing the cradle for Rima. While swinging the cradle, Suhas thought that he does too many odd jobs for the family. i.e. swinging the cradle, buying vegetables from market, keeping Rima safe while his mother is out or busy in some work, cleaning the house, etc.
His little brain got excited and he made a bill of the services provided by him in his own childish way. He mentioned in a paper all the tasks done by him throughout the month and quietly put that bill under his mother’s pillow. The bill had details like, swinging the cradle for Rima – 5 Rs., cleaning – 10 Rs., buying vegetables from market – 20 Rs. At the end there was a note too saying, ‘Please put the money under my pillow.’ Suhas went to school with a happy thought in mind that today he would get some money and he could buy some clothes and shoes. He ran like a bullet as soon as the last bell rang. With a heavily beating heart and shaking hands, he lifted his pillow to look for money. To his surprise, there was no money, but a piece of paper was there.
Suhas unfolded the paper and it was a bill from his mother with some details. He started to read the bill. Food thrice a day – 20 Rs. Took care while he was sick for a week – 50 Rs. Helped him in his studies – 50 Rs. And so on. Suhas realised his mistake and tears started to roll down from his eyes. He went to kitchen and hugged his mother tightly and cried saying I am sorry. I am sorry. His mother said, ‘Son, within family there is no place for money. Every action is done for love and respect and not for monetary reasons. We are raising you and your sister not to get benefits from you or her, but because you are our son and we love you so much.’ Suhas realised his mistake and said, ‘I would never do this again and will only focus on studies.’ The moral of the story is what parents do for their kids can not be measured by anything at all in the world. No amount of money can repay that. All the sons and daughters need to know this that their parents are the angels sent by the almighty God to take care of them. So, please take care of your parents when they are older and don’t forget them in today’s buys lifestyle.
