Story of Poor Indian Farmer and his Generosity
Photo credit: BBoomerinDenial from morguefile.com
(Note: Image does not illustrate or has any resemblance with characters depicted in the story)
In a small village called Junapur there lived an old man by the name of Jeevan Ram. He was around sixty years old, but still he was a very active and vibrant man for whom age did not matter. He loved life and was a hard worker and he felt that if a person worked hard then, he can achieve anything in life.
Jeevan Ram was a farmer and he cultivated wheat in his field for a living. He was a married man and he had two daughters who were of marriageable age. In India, when a poor farmer has daughters, then it is a matter of great worry for the father, as he has to arrange for a large amount of money for their marriage and for the dowry. Jeevan Ram was never worried about arranging money for his daughters as he believed in his ability in working hard and saving for them. But life had other plans for him that year, which was a crucial year as both his daughters were supposed to be married that year.
It was the month of August and the rain gods were in their happiest moods and they were showering the village of Jeevan Ram with a lot of rains. He was pleased as he had planted his fields with the best of seeds and had put the most expensive fertiliser in his field such that he would be able to harvest a bumper crop, when the crop is ready to be harvested. Jeevan Ram had worked very hard on his field this time, as not only his life but the future of his daughter’s lives also depended on the crop. Whatever profit he would earn form his produce, would help in paying up for the dowry of his daughter’s marriage and for his future as well.
He prepared the soil and tilled the land with double the effort and despite his age he worked as hard as he could along with the help of his wife and daughters. He took a heavy loan from the bank so that he could cultivate his soil with the best of seeds and used the best of fertiliser so that he gets a good bumper crop. Thankfully he had large piece of land to cultivate his crop, so he could expect a lot of profit from his yield through it.
Jeevan Ram had faced a lot of difficulties before cultivating this crop. He was sick for a long time and a lot of money was spent on his treatment such that he becomes alright. This sickness had given him a lot of tension as he had not only became weaker in health but he also had to spend all his savings in his treatment. By God’s grace his health improved by July and he regained his former physical strength in a months time around August when he cultivated his land for the crop.
I am talking in detail of all the hardships Jeevan Ram faced in order to cultivate the land as you will be surprised when you see what he will do later in this story.You have to understand that how even after facing so many hardships he had taken certain very surprising decisions later on in the coming months.
Jeevan Ram had a very close friend called Mangesh Prasad. He was his friend since his childhood days.When after a few months Jeevan Ram reaped a bumper crop from his field, then Mangesh Prasad helped him in selling of the crop such that he gets good money for his crop. It was a sunny day and both the friends set off to the city market so that they sell off their crop to the dealer who was located there. They carried the sacks filled with the crop in small truck and went to the city and on the way they were chatting happily about the good produce and how Jeevan Ram would be able to marry off his daughters with pomp and show and would have no worries at all.
Both the friends reached the city market and unloaded the sacks of grain and went to meet the dealer in the shop.They had to wait at the shop as the dealer had gone somewhere and the person at the shop said that the dealer would come in about half an hour. Both the the friends sat quietly in the shop and talked in hushed tomes, but very excitedly, that now finally they would get good money for the crop. Suddenly they saw a sad looking man enter the shop. He came and sat next to them and he looked very sad and forlorn. Jeevan Ram asked him what was wrong. The man said that he was in big soup as he had lost all his crop when he was bringing it over there to the shop. The truck which was carrying his produce had suddenly vanished and he had done everything to locate it, but failed to do so, despite the fact that he had reported to the police , but nothing happened. The truck was apparently robbed by some very prominent crop robbers who very active in that area.
Jeevan Ram and his friend were shocked to hear this man’s story. They were at a loss as to what they should tell to this man so that he feels comforted and he does not feel so sad and broken. Jeevan Ram was particularly shaken as he could understand the man’s plight as he felt that if he had lost his produce then what would happen to him! Jeevan Ram asked him as to now what he would do. The man pleaded in front of him and told him to give him the money of his produce and told him that he would give in writing that he would repay the entire amount in one weeks time. But because at that time the man had to pay his moneylender very urgently therefore he wanted Jeevan Ram to give him the money which he gets from the produce and he assured him that he would return the money in a weeks time.
He told him that he would give him his correct address and phone number and would give in writing that he would return the money in a weeks time after borrowing from his friend who lived in another city and it was not possible to go to him fast and get the money that is why he was asking the money from Jeevan Ram, who would get the money for his crop from the dealer. But now if he did not get the money then the moneylender could even have him killed. It was a do or die situation for the man and now Jeevan Ram was in a fix as to what he should do. He was a compassionate man who helped people in need but, now when he faced this situation he really did not know what to do. On the one hand there was this man who was total stranger but, he was in distress and he was pleading to Jeevan Ram to help him as a fellow compatriot. He consulted his friend and the friend told him not to comply to the man’s wishes and he felt that the man was an impostor and was trying to cheat him off his his hard earned money.
Jeevan Ram sat down and thought over about the situation and finally took the hard decision of letting the man take the money of the produce from him, on the promise that he would give it back in a weeks time. The crop dealer of the shop came after sometime and then after Jeevan Ram sold his crop, he took the money and gave it to the man who thanked him profusely and even signed on a paper declaring that he would return the money in a weeks time and he left.
Jeevan Ram’s friend was very angry that he had given the entire amount of money to a stranger on humanitarian grounds and now he was asking that how would he get his daughters married and what about this future. Jeevan Ram said that if God had desired him to help this man, then he was glad that he had helped this man in distress. Both the men came back to their village and they faced a lot of flak for what they had done in the city market. They could not understand that how could a man give away his entire hard earned money to a total stranger and they were all of the same opinion that this stranger had cheated Jeevan Ram. But Jeevan Ram could not forget the honesty in the man’s eyes and he knew that he had not been cheated.
After a week when Jeevan Ram was preparing for going to the stranger’s village to take the money back from him they were in for a surprise, the man had himself come to village to return the money and when he met Jeevan Ram he was delighted and he gave him back not only the amount he had borrowed but three times the amount, as he was other wise a very rich farmer but he was in a very difficult situation when he had met Jeevan Ram. He had large fields in his village and he was only waiting for the money to come and in villages money comes slowly only after they sell their produce which happens even more slowly after a lot of speculation and hassling.
Jeevan Ram was delighted to get back so much of money and thanked God for his good luck.The man left after thanking him again and all of Jeevan Ram’s relatives gathered together and apologised to have doubted him and thanked God for the good luck that favoured him and he got triple the amount of money for his generosity.
There is saying that if you donate one bag of gold you will get back a hundred bags in return. What I want to say is that generosity done in a true spirit is always repaid by God double fold as in this story Jeevan Ram got three fold of what he gave and he was able to marry off his daughters decently and most of all his belief in God strengthened and he felt that in this big bad world there is still substantial percentage of good people who don’t cheat innocent people.
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