A NOBLE DEED

A NOBLE DEED

 

Spending summer holidays in the house of my maternal uncle was the most awaited thing during my schooldays. My mother used to take me there and after two or three days she left, keeping me with my uncles, aunties, and cousins to enjoy the entire vacation in a carefree way. As long as I stayed there, it almost became a ritual for my cousin brothers and sisters and me to sit together in the long veranda in every evening for listening stories from my very friendly youngest uncle whom I called choto mama. His had a never-ending stock of stories consisted of fables, folk-tales, and a variety of other stories that we always felt we couldn’t finish it in our life-time.

One evening he decided to regale us with a story from his own life. We all looked at each other’s face and became impatient to hear what was coming out. He made a subtle observation of our faces and then started in his usual manner.

        *

It was a story of a night when he was all alone in their big two-storeyed house. All other members had gone to attend a marriage at a distant place, so they couldn’t return at night. Choto mama was then barely twenty one years old and had never spent any single day without anybody at home. But he had no other choice as his college-exams were going on. The month was December, so the nights were severely cold. In the evening he himself cooked some boiled rice with potato and soon after taking his dinner he sat down to prepare for his next exam. When he finished, it was already 1a.m. He left the study table and went to bed and in no time fell asleep. Suddenly his sleep broke from the barking of the street dogs. Mama took out his torch behind the pillow and shined it on the wall-clock. It was only half an hour passed. He lay awake for a few moments and then tried to sleep while the dogs started barking again loudly. He sensed something was amiss and moved out of bed putting on his shawl around his shoulder. He didn’t switch on the electric light and passing through the big hall came out to the open veranda taking the torch in his hand. A dense fog surrounded the outside and nothing was clearly visible.  He lit the torch on different places of the front yard but couldn’t see anything beyond the white fog. At first he feared to move out of the veranda but then some voice flowed to his ear breaking the silence of the night. He thought for a while and then leapt outside. The house was surrounded by a brisk wall and there was a gate at the entrance. Choto mama walked slowly through the yard and went near the main gate. He was feeling the chilling wind on his face. In the street light he saw the dogs were still roaming across the road. He peeped through the gate and saw a spark of fire outside the corner of the wall. He brought out the key out of his pocket and opened the gate. Coming to the road he left dumb. An old lady with two little children was sitting near the fire covering them with a ragged blanket in that bone-cutting cold. Mama went to them and tried to recognize them in the light of the fire. Mama had seen the old lady a number of times in their neighbourhood begging with those two children. He couldn’t determine what to do seeing them in that wretched condition. Finally he pretended a cough and the old lady lifted her eyes with utter surprise.

-“Why are you sitting here in this cold?” mama asked her.

The lady remained silent for a while as she didn’t understand what to answer.

-“I live at Rahimpur. Today I couldn’t go to my home as it became dark very quickly.” She replied in a low voice.

Mama knew that Rahimpur was about twenty kilometers from their village.

-“I’ve seen you before with these children. Who are they?”

-“They are my grand children. My son and his wife are dead. They have none except me in this world. So I always take them with me while begging.” She said in the same low voice.

Mama stood speechless hearing their plight. His heart filled in grief. He thought nothing and said,

-“Come with me. Take shelter at our home for the night. .”

The old lady stared at him confusedly and then answered,

-“I couldn’t come. I am a Muslim and a beggar.”

-“That won’t matter so much.” Mama smiled a little. “Please come for the children’s sake. They will get sick here.”

The lady remained sat there without saying anything. Mama also stood there silently. Then the woman got up lifting the children who were sleeping in her lap.

-“Give me one of them.” Mama said to her.

The woman gave one of the children to his lap and picked up her tattered bag and blanket and followed mama to the house. Mama took them to the big hall and asked her to lie on a cot. The woman felt hesitant at first but then took the child from my mama and laid both of them there. She silently climbed into the cot beside the children. Mama moved inside his room and came back immediately with his own blanket in hand.

-“Take it and cover the children properly.”

The woman took it by her trembling hand.

-“Rest here and don’t be panicked. It’s safe. I am going to sleep.” Mama went to my grandmother’s room leaving them at the hall. He took the blanket from there and went straight to his room. He watched the clock. It was a quarter past two. He fell asleep.

Next morning at around seven o’clock he got up hearing a knock at the door of his room. He opened it and saw the old woman standing there.

-“We should leave now. The children are awake. ” She said slowly.

-“Have some tea and breakfast and then leave. You must be hungry.” Mama told her.

-“No, no. We shall take it from outside. I have some money. I’ll buy it. You’ve done so much already. I can’t take it anymore.” She made a plea.

“It’ll hurt me if you leave our home without eating anything. The children are hungry too.” He looked at the children who were sitting helplessly upon the cot. “Sit for a while. I’m just coming.” Mama requested her and went towards the kitchen. Within a few minutes he returned with a cup of tea and some biscuits and bread and gave it to them. They all savoured it. Mama stood there watching them.

After taking the food the woman got up; she took the younger child in her lap and picked up her bag from the cot. The elder one stood beside her. They moved towards the door.

“Wait.” Mama exclaimed. He took his blanket from the cot and went near her. “Keep it. You’ll need it.”

The woman looked up with tears in her eyes and took it saying nothing. She then walked away slowly to the veranda, then to the front-yard and then to the street again. Mama watched them going away standing at the door. He even forgot to notice that the gate remained unlocked the previous night.

         *

We listened to him all glued and heaved a sigh. We thanked him as he taught us a lesson of humanity through his noble deed.