May be a repeat but worth reading
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 ge
t 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.
