The Return Gift

Many many years ago there lived a wealthy merchant in a distant village across the Sundarbans forest. His name was Mohan, and he was a very hardworking man. Mohan had a wife, her name was Nirmala. They had no children and this made them very sad. The whole village knew him for his good nature and helpfulness. Moreover, his shop in the market was the only one to have an electric bulb and a radio, in those times.

Mohan wanted to earn a lot of money and be rich so that he could make his wife happy. He dreamt day and night of building a big bungalow in the village so that they could forget the sadness of not having children. His wife wished to teach the children of the village in their dream house. She thought that, at least seeing joyous children around will make her content.

The only reason Mohan was able to be so rich was his knowledge about modern technology and city life. Once a tourist visited his village and was almost attacked by a tiger. Mohan had bravely rescued him and so he felt bound to help the rustic man. Mohan was grateful for all the help he received and it was through him that he gained all the knowledge of modern life. His shop in the market sold radios and also repaired them, but only a few in the village could afford to buy one, it was always the nearby city dwellers who shopped from him. Nevertheless, his shop offered a meeting place for the villagers to sit and discuss matters or relax listening to the music.

One day, after a busy day at the shop, Mohan was going back home through the forest as usual. It was already dark and his bag was full of money. He had finally collected enough money to make his dream come true. Suddenly, there was a thunder storm heard and no sooner than this, the rain had started to pour down heavily. Mohan carefully walked through the slippery forest floor and cursed the rain. He was already late and now the rains!!! The forest grew darker and denser. All sorts of animals would soon come out. But Mohan was fearless and sure that as long as he made no harm to the beasts they wouldn’t do anything to him. Besides, these sacred grooves or its animals were not strangers to him; they were his best playmates of the good old childhood.

All of a sudden a boy jumped in front of Mohan from behind a tree. Seeing the boy, Mohan exclaimed,

“Oh, my Kali Ma! You little child, you scared me!”

The boy was serious and held his arms out forward. He was shivering cold in the rain and only then did Mohan notice that he was on gunpoint. Terrified and clueless, Mohan stood still for a moment. He knew how to tackle with wild beasts but not with a gun; especially not with a child holding it.

The boy shrieked out loud and asked,

“Give me your bag now or I will…s…s..shooot you!”

Mohan understood the boy had never used a gun before this, by how he trembled to say shoot. He knew that the child was equally frightened as him and so he chose to talk.

“Oh, please don’t hurt me! I cannot give you this. Listen to me, I can help you, I will help you get a job in the market and you would never have to steal again… forget that, you can work in my shop itself, that way you will never sleep hungry. Trust me and I shall keep my word. Please let me go now.

“No you lie. Everyone lies!!!” the boy shouted back and fired the gun. To both their surprise, the gun did not work. The rain had made the gun powder wet. The boy started to run out of fear. Mohan felt thankful for the rain and quickly ran behind the boy. He hadn’t gone too far and so he caught hold of him.

The boy cried out loud and tears filled his eyes. It was still raining and he was shivering because of the cold.

“Please let me go… I don’t want anything! Please don’t beat me…” the boy kept pleading.

Mohan held the boy close to him in his arms trying to stop him from escaping again and asked him,

“What is your name?”

Still crying the boy replied in a feeble voice,

“My name is Nayom.”

“Where did you find this from?” Mohan asked the boy pointing at the gun.

“Tell me, don’t be afraid.”

The boy was hesitant and wanted to be let loose from the grip but confessed that he found the gun on the forest floor.

“I had found some gun powder too; I took it and kept it safely. I think there was a man who was shooting…a foreigner…long time back. I heard a fire once and I was looking for where it came from…I found the gun when I went looking…please forgive me; please let me go!” The boy had continued to plead.

Mohan realised that the gun might have belonged to the foreigner who he saved from the tiger. Probably he fired at the tiger and that’s why it attacked…Mohan was lost in thought but had not left the boy yet. He held him steady and told him,

“Listen my child, my name is Mohan. I live in the village with my wife in a small house. If you promise me that you will be a good boy, I will take you home. I will take care of you. My wife, she will make you tasty food, and anything you ask for. You can go to school like all the other children in the village make friends and never be alone ever again. You will grow up to be a wise man and have all the happiness in life if you do good things. But first, you have to promise me that you will be a good boy…do you want to come with me?”

The boy had listened to Mohan carefully; his eyes were still filled with tears. He thought for some time. He wanted to be a good boy. He hugged Mohan tightly and cried. Mohan held him close to his heart and tears rolled down his cheeks too…for he got the most precious gift he could ever ask for ¬¬¬– a child. He thanked God and the rain and the forest for giving him this dear child.

Mohan and Nayom walked home holding each other’s hand. Both of them had never felt this joy before. They walked to the village quickly before it got too late. Nirmala was waiting for Mohan at the doorstep ever since the rain started. She was worried and anxious. When Nirmala saw the child in Mohan’s hands she looked at him in wonder at first, Nayom’s eyes brimmed as he saw her and smiled at her. Nirmala couldn’t help but hug him tightly. She made dinner for them and waited patiently to know about him. Mohan explained to her where he found Nayom. Nirmala’s face lighted up with joy. She looked at Nayom and held him in her arms. She thanked the Gods for giving her a child.

Mohan realised what the foreigner had tried to do. He felt sad that the man who helped him had tried to kill a tiger. He realised his mistake and decided to always stay close to nature and protect it. Nature had given him much more than what the foreigner had given him. Had he known the true side of the foreigner that day, he would have never taken the favour. Saving him was duty and he would have done it no matter what. The world outside his village was sure developing at a fast pace, but so was it deteriorating. Men are in in love with money and machines. They kill innocent animals for pleasure and greed. They don’t value human relations  and fail to understand the true meaning of life.