The Victory of a Farmer: Hareshwar Roy
The Victory of a Farmer: Hareshwar Roy
There was a very small village named Jamuaon. In that village there lived a farmer. The name of that farmer was Sudama. He was hardworking and honest.
Sudama was illiterate. He was deeply saddened by this fact. He educated his only son thoroughly. The name of his son was Nirmal. To gather money for Nirmal's education, Sudama had to work day and night. For this, he even had to sell some parts of his land.
Nirmal was a very good boy. He put his heart into his studies. On the strength of his devotion and hard work, he used to secure the first rank in every class. As soon as he passed his B.A., he got a good job. Both father and son were overjoyed; after all, years of sacrifice had borne fruit.
Nirmal received a good salary. Every month, he used to send one thousand rupees to his father via money order.
The village postman, Munesar, was very cunning. He knew that Sudama was illiterate. Therefore, writing 'Received One Thousand Rupees', he would take Sudama's thumb impression. Instead of one thousand, he would give Sudama only five hundred rupees. In this manner, a year passed by.
Once, Nirmal came home. He had received a month's leave. In the course of their conversation, Sudama came to know that Nirmal had been sending him one thousand rupees every month. Sudama clearly understood that the postman had taken full advantage of his illiteracy. He did not tell anyone about being cheated, not even to Nirmal.
Sudama decided to teach the postman a good lesson. Taking Nirmal's help, he began learning to read and write. On the strength of his hard work and dedication, Sudama learned a lot of reading and writing within just a month. Even after Nirmal left, Sudama kept studying. No one got the slightest hint of Sudama learning to read and write.
It was a month after Nirmal had left. The postman arrived at Sudama's house. Just like before, writing 'Received One Thousand Rupees', the postman asked Sudama to put his thumb impression. Quietly, Sudama placed his thumb impression. As the postman placed five hundred rupees on Sudama's palms and turned to leave, Sudama immediately asked, "When will I get the remaining five hundred rupees, Postman Babu?"
The postman was taken aback. "What five hundred rupees?" he asked.
"Oh Postman Babu, you can't fool me anymore; I have learned to read and write. Take out five hundred rupees quickly from your pocket. Also, return the five hundred rupees for each of the past twelve months within a week, or else I will file a case against you."
Hearing Sudama's words, the postman fell at his feet.
Promising to return the entire amount to Sudama, the postman departed.
