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A short story about unconditional help towards a known stranger. Helping people without any conditions has more value.
Chandra was a noble lady, known for her benevolence and charity. Her husband Mr. Roy was a high court advocate. A man of few words, his professional success did the talking. They had the grace of all the materialistic pleasures of life, one could ask for. But, as it’s said ,there is no one in this world without any problem. The poor couple had a mentally challenged son Sundeep, a perennial grief, which left them shattered.
Their lavish mansion was the talk of the town. It overlooked a beautiful Shiva temple, that attracted hundreds of worshippers on a daily basis. A staunch devotee of lord Shiva, Chandra went to the temple regularly with her son. She had got used to the snide looks that her son garnered from the onlookers, something that didn’t bother her much. Instead she chose to ignore them, for the sake of her mental peace.
There sat a lame beggar outside the temple entrance. Chandra carried lunch for him, the only thing that she did against her husband’s wishes. “ What makes you feed him? Is he your kin? Why so much concern for a stranger”? Mr.Roy rebuked at her. To which she said “ We should not always help people with some inner motive. Unconditional help is equal to serving God”. Though Chandra’s answer made Mr. Roy mum, inwardly he disapproved it.
Once a Monk came to the town, wearing an ochre robe. He called himself the messenger of God, a Demigod, with magical powers. He stayed in a tent in front of the temple. His popularity amongst the temple devotees increased within no time. People thronged towards him, more than going to the temple. They went to the Sage with all their personal problems. His voice had a mesmerizing effect on the masses. The beggar, mute spectator, witnessed all his actions.
The news of the Monk had reached Mr.Roy.He persuaded his wife to visit him. Chandra never believed in human Gods. “You can feed a lame, but cannot visit a Sage ? Why don’t you try your luck for our son’s sake”? Unwillingly, Chandra went to the Monk the next day with her son. He moved his hands up in a weird way ,turned his head vigorously from side to side, spoke ineloquently and gave her an amulet for her son. “You will be blessed soon Son.” he said in a throaty voice.
A few weeks later, on a rainy night, Sudeep went missing. Mr.Roy and Chandra searched for him like maniac throughout the town. Crying uncontrollably Chandra fainted, leaving Mr.Roy in a lurch. He finally lodged a police complaint. A sudden knock on the door brought him to the present. He stood unmoved, seeing his boy with the lame beggar. “The sage is a black-magician. Your son was to be sacrificed today”. Mr. Roy hugged his son. Deep inside, he appreciated his wife’s unconditional help and thanked the beggar with folded hands. The conman was arrested the next day.
This story was first published on Penmancy.
Image Source: Pexels
Finance professional,an avid blogger. I write to keep the child in me happy and contented. Contributing author of the poetry anthology Nyctophilia.Children's book Airavata and The Femme of Animal Kingdom. read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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