A 100 Rupees

While going for a walk one evening, a man saw a slip of paper stuck on to a lamp post. For some reason he stopped by to read it. It said, “I have lost a Rs 100 currency note on this road. I am not able to find it. If anyone finds it, please give it to me at my little hut at the end of this road.”

The man thought to himself that the writer of the note must be really hard up; otherwise writing this is a little unusual. He decided to go to the end of the road to see for himself. He reached a tiny shabby looking cottage.

He knocked at the door and. An old woman, bent with age, slowly opened the door and waited asked, “Who is it?” The man realised that the women’s eyesight was far from good she was trying hard to make out who it was that had rung the bell.

The man said, “Ma, I saw the note with your message on the lamppost. Your currency note had flown away just a few feet away, but I guess you could not see it. Here, take it …”

The woman’s lips trembled as she said, “Son you must be about the fiftieth person to have come to give me the hundred rupee note that I never lost, after reading the message that I never wrote.”

The man was taken aback! He said, “Oh! Oh! But Ma, please keep this money. I would be happy if you do.” After much coaxing, the old woman agreed to keep the money. She said, “Son, please do me a favour, I don’t know who has put that message on lamp post. As you can see I can barely walk or see. It is impossible for me to go there. I never went there, so I never lost any money. I would like to go there to remove that slip of paper, but I am unable to do so. Please remove that paper on your way out.” The man nodded and took leave of the old woman.

As he crossed the lamppost, he could not bring himself to tear that paper away. He realised that the old woman would surely have requested those fifty odd strangers to remove that message. But they had not!

One good soul had put up that message. It was an indigenous method devised to help a helpless woman. But many other good souls had contributed in the goodness. As they say- “Jyot se jyot jalaate chalo, prem ki ganga bahaate chalo.”

One person wrote that slip. Many would have read it. Fifty odd went on to help the old woman. Many would have read it and done nothing. Ask yourselves if you could you can be like the writer of that slip or one of those fifty good Samaritans.

There are people who do good just for doing good and for no expectation of return or recognition.

They know that even if no one else saw, God definitely did! Who else matters anyways?