A
woman baked chapatti (roti) for members of her family and an extra one
for a hungry passerby. She kept the extra chapatti on the window sill,
for whosoever would take it away. Every day, a hunchback came and took
away the chapatti. Instead of expressing gratitude, he muttered the
following words as he went his way: “The evil you do remains with you:
The good you do, comes back to you!” This went on, day after day. Every
day, the hunchback came, picked up the chapatti and uttered the words:
“The evil you do, remains with you: The good you do, comes back to
you!” The woman felt irritated. “Not a word of gratitude,” she said to
herself… “Everyday this hunchback utters this jingle! What does he
mean?” One day, exasperated, she decided to do away with him. “I shall
get rid of this hunchback,” she said. And what did she do? She added
poison to the chapatti she prepared for him!
As she was about to keep it on the window sill, her hands trembled.
“What is this I am doing?” she said. Immediately, she threw the chapatti
into the fire, prepared another one and kept it on the window sill. As
usual, the hunchback came, picked up the chapatti and muttered the
words: “The evil you do, remains with you: The good you do, comes back
to you!”
The hunchback proceeded on his way, blissfully unaware
of the war raging in the mind of the woman. Every day, as the woman
placed the chapatti on the window sill, she offered a prayer for her son
who had gone to a distant place to seek his fortune. For many months,
she had no news of him.. She prayed for his safe return.
That
evening, there was a knock on the door. As she opened it, she was
surprised to find her son standing in the doorway. He had grown thin and
lean. His garments were tattered and torn. He was hungry, starved and
weak. As he saw his mother, he said, “Mom, it’s a miracle I’m here.
While I was but a mile away, I was so famished that I collapsed. I would
have died, but just then an old hunchback passed by. I begged of him
for a morsel of food, and he was kind enough to give me a whole
chapatti. As he gave it to me, he said, “This is what I eat everyday:
today, I shall give it to you, for your need is greater than mine!”
” As the mother heard those words, her face turned pale. She leaned
against the door for support. She remembered the poisoned chapatti that
she had made that morning. Had she not burnt it in the fire, it would
have been eaten by her own son, and he would have lost his life!
It was then that she realized the significance of the words: “The evil
you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!” Do good
and Don’t ever stop doing good, even if it is not appreciated at that
time. If you like this, share it with others and I bet so many lives
would be touched.
