Tuesday 23 July 2013

And I taught Me a lesson



I wonder why I did that. I wasn’t poor; I didn’t need money, yet I stole money from those poor kids. Four coins, to be precise. The kids happened to be playing in the verandah where our room was. It was a trip to a hill station where we stayed in a Dharmshaala. I remember there were approximately 20 rooms on one floor. One of those rooms was ours on the second floor. This trip could have been fun but no, it wasn’t. I had no friends or cousins my age there. Alone and bored, I kept pacing up and down the stairs and remained in the premise. On one such rounds, I noticed a group of poor kids playing with coins.

They had just finished their game and were counting numbers. I ignored that and concentrated on the coins that lay on the stairs below. I picked the coins up exuberantly, and went up the stairs to hand those to them. What mischief took over me, I have no idea. I quietly put the coins in my pocket and pranced toward my room like nothing happened. I knew they had acknowledged the missing coins and I knew they were frantically searching it everywhere but I didn’t turn back.

Once I was in the safety of my room, I giggled. How very smart of me! They will never know it was I. I really can trick people. 

And then I realized. I had robbed them. They weren’t my friends; I wasn’t supposed to play games with them. The coins in my hand felt like thorns suddenly, scratching me to the point that I felt uncomfortable in my own skin. I opened my tight fist to see the coins were of Re 1 each. Not much to me, but they sure meant a lot to them. Guilt trapped me on my bed. Mamma was sitting right beside me, probably unaware of what I had done. But when you are six years old, you just feel like Mamma knows. All mothers just know everything, somehow.

I felt like a criminal. Mamma would hate me if she comes to know about it. Will I be put in jail? I went to the bathroom and cried. For how long, I don’t remember, but the mirror sure teased me to no end. I looked at the entangled hair and the quivering lips and cried some more. A few minutes later, when the adults in the room were engrossed in their conversation, I went out to check on the kids once. They were still searching for their beloved coins. How very cruel of me to do that to them. Please, God, forgive me.

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Of course, I returned their coins to them, adding a few extra of my own and of course, I did that inconspicuously so that no one could ever blame me of my immaturity. I risked my credibility in that whole episode but, thank goodness, I was cute enough to make it through the entire charade. I did not confess this thing to anyone like I morally should have done. I didn’t have to endure any punishment; I didn’t have to apologize to anyone; or bear any guilt in front of anyone. Right, I chose the easier of the two right ways that I had. So what? I have apologized to those kids, to Mamma, and to God a lot many times since then, in my mind. It’s not for nothing that I remember this incident after 17 years of an eventful life.

This incident reminds me that I am not so nice, after all. I do commit mistakes. I can be utterly ridiculous. And I am very much able to hurt people. Everyone is, I reckon. Don’t you think it should be forgivable to be wrong if one has the power to bring himself to do the right thing thereafter? I think it should be. It’s not very rare that you get to do the right thing and when your conscience speaks to you, the choice that you make is all that matters.



I am sharing what 'I Saw and I Learnt' at BlogAdda.com in association with DoRight.in.

14 comments:

  1. A very nice post and full of innocence!We all make mistakes but seldom muster courage to acknowledge it! Best of luck for the contest!

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  2. All the childhood pranks are sweet memories..either good or bad..and this one is obviously the mistake done by you in innocence..nicely weaved..good read..

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  3. It's not easy to accept ones errors leave alone make up for it . But when you do you grow as a person . Beautiful post

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  4. Very nice post.. Good confessetion.. We are human being and it is our nature...to do mistake bt.. Real person is who accept it and more rectify it....!! And in this case u was so little that time so dont feel guilty...best thing is u still rememver and learn from that.. Keep writing

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  5. We all do wrong. But only the righteous will have the courage to correct it. The mindset to correct one's wrong - that is what matters :)

    - Vaisakh

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