Twenty Rupees

By Umara Shaikh

“Grandma, it's story time!”, said little Riya. 

“Sure my child, come and lay on my lap.”, said Grandma adjusting her pillow. “Grandma, not the old princess story, I want to hear a different story now!” “Ummm…ok, so pay attention.” 

“Once upon a time, there was a…..” 

“No Granny, I don't want these stories, you might be having so many incidents of your childhood or some interesting events that took place, share one of those.” “Ok Ok little butterfly, lay down.” 

“Leela, was a simple woman, she was kind and helpful and was loved by her children….” “How many children did she have?” 

“45…” 

“What…45 children …wow she had a huge family…I also want 45 siblings.”, replied Riya in excitement. 

“Haha…little lady …Leela was the class teacher of these 45 kids, not their mother.”, said Granny laughing. 

“ Ok now granny, I won't disturb you…. continue..what happened next ..” 

“So she was loved by her students. She always insisted on teaching these 3rd-4th standard kids and used to love her job. Though she was not wealthy, she considered these kids her treasure. 

But one day, she fell terribly ill and was immediately taken to the city for further treatment. She was suffering from arthritis and needed a knee replacement surgery. The treatment would cost approximately 2-3 lakhs, but she was not having this money. She did not want to invest her little savings on herself but wanted to use it for the betterment of the kids and denied the treatment….” 

“Granny, wasn't she having enough savings and what about her family…didn't they help her?” 

“Her savings wasn't enough, so she accepted her fate. She was a widow and had no one to look after her. She wrote her own will directing the usage of her savings and handed it to the nurse. She then requested her to post it on the address of the Sarpanch of the village. But her destiny had different plans. All the prayers were with her. A businessman was there in the same hospital and he wanted to sponsor someone's complete treatment expenses as his wife delivered a healthy baby. The doctors informed him about Leela and he readily agreed. 

Leela was given the best treatment with top notch facilities and she was recovering soon after the surgery. Leela requested the doctors that she wanted to meet the person who saved her life. 

The businessman happen to be in the hospital premises and readily agreed to meet her. The businessman came inside the room and stood by her side and said, “Do you remember me, ma’am?” 

Leela was surprised at this question and adjusted her spectacles to get a clear look. “Umm…have we met before young man, my memory is not that good with remembering people, I am sorry.” 

“But you are great with remembering your students ma’am, Satish Mishra, 3rd standard, 2010.”

“Ooohhh Satish, how are you, my child? I miss the old batches. And thanks a lot for the treatment, I won't be able to thank you enough for what you did. It's truly overwhelming.” “I would not have been able to be here today if you were not there. I already knew I was 

sponsoring your treatment and you won't take it if I would have offered it directly, so I had to make this up!” 

“What do you mean? Why did you do this then?” 

“Remember, in class 3rd I had a best friend Rishi. One day we had a fight for twenty rupees. He thought I took his money and was about to break our friendship. When you gave your twenty rupees to him on my behalf and thanked him for helping you. You also told him that you took it as you urgently required it and forgot to inform him. Since that day our friendship grew stronger and stronger and today we are business partners of a million dollar company. I just wanted to return the favour that you did on our friendship years before. Thank you ma’am.” 

With tears in her eyes, Leela thanked him again and they had a hearty talk for sometime and then he left.” 

“Wow Granny, it was such a wonderful story, is Leela your friend?” 

“Riya…Riya ..come let's go child, it's getting late.”, called Riya’s mother. “Can I not sleep with Granny today?” 

“No child, she is tired and needs rest, let's go.” 

“Ok mom, bye Granny.” 

“Sorry to bother you Leela aunty, but only you can be trusted with the kids, after all you had been my teacher too.” 

Riya came closer to Granny and whispered in her ears, “Are you the same Leela?” On which granny winked at her and bid her goodnight.

By Umara Shaikh