The title may appear to denote some skepticism by insertion of the word 'still ' , but I have reasons for this. In modern times,the story of the wood cutter who was rewarded by God Mercury with gold and silver axes besides restoring to him the iron one that actually was his , will be scoffed at. People can be heard saying -Imandari ka zamana nahin, samajhdari ka zamana hai- as if to be honest is an aberration and a sort of naivette and not the accepted thing.
My daughter since childhood has an insatiable craving for shoes and whenever and wherever she saw shoes on display in a show room , she would throw tantrums for having a new pair. Most of the time , we gave in , she being our darling first born .
She was about seven year old when I was posted at Palampur , the picturesque town in Kangra district.
As is the case with all salaried people, shopping is done mostly in the first week of the month after salary has been brought home. It was planned to have shoes for our two kids . The shoes were purchased and as is the case with the children her age my daughter insisted on wearing new shoes there and then . As a result the old ones were packed in the box.
On reaching home when the box supposed to be containing old shoes was opened, a brand new pair of 'action' shoes was found in it - obviously the shopkeeper had put the wrong box in the carry bag. . On an impulse my wife said , “yeh toh mere number aur size ke hain.” I said , “ Fine , keep them, we'll pay for them tomorrow.” Since my wife did not need a new pair right then , next day , on way to my office I went to the shop to return the shoes. Naturally, the shopkeeper was happy and grateful for this honesty on our part , and handed over the box containing old shoes of my daughter. We did visit his shop on a few occasions afterwards . Needless to say , he charged us less without our asking for any concession. In retrospect , I find this incident quite satisfying as a temporary "gain" of Rs. 565/- or so - if it was chosen to kill conscience for this - would have cost much more in terms of burden of a guilt that would have to be carried for a lifetime.
My daughter since childhood has an insatiable craving for shoes and whenever and wherever she saw shoes on display in a show room , she would throw tantrums for having a new pair. Most of the time , we gave in , she being our darling first born .
She was about seven year old when I was posted at Palampur , the picturesque town in Kangra district.
As is the case with all salaried people, shopping is done mostly in the first week of the month after salary has been brought home. It was planned to have shoes for our two kids . The shoes were purchased and as is the case with the children her age my daughter insisted on wearing new shoes there and then . As a result the old ones were packed in the box.
On reaching home when the box supposed to be containing old shoes was opened, a brand new pair of 'action' shoes was found in it - obviously the shopkeeper had put the wrong box in the carry bag. . On an impulse my wife said , “yeh toh mere number aur size ke hain.” I said , “ Fine , keep them, we'll pay for them tomorrow.” Since my wife did not need a new pair right then , next day , on way to my office I went to the shop to return the shoes. Naturally, the shopkeeper was happy and grateful for this honesty on our part , and handed over the box containing old shoes of my daughter. We did visit his shop on a few occasions afterwards . Needless to say , he charged us less without our asking for any concession. In retrospect , I find this incident quite satisfying as a temporary "gain" of Rs. 565/- or so - if it was chosen to kill conscience for this - would have cost much more in terms of burden of a guilt that would have to be carried for a lifetime.
aarkay जी आभार ! आपके सन्देश मुझे प्रोत्साहित करते हैं! शिमला के रिज से श्रीखंड की पहाड़ियां नहीं दिखाई देती! पुन: आपका आभार!
ReplyDeleteUltimately it is the honesty that triumphs. may god bless U for this nice writeup and message.
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