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.
