ANU’s STORY

For the past few years, we have been buying vegetable plants from a nursery in Pune. Some vegetables can’t grow by simply seeding. There are experts in this field. So certain plants we outsource. Anu, a tribal woman, who works with this nursery used to help us always, since we buy large quantities of saplings. As this is time-consuming work, I always tried to give her some tip money for the help. However, she was reluctant to accept it. But I would force her to take Rs 100 each time.

Yesterday when I visited this place, she was not there. Later, when I was paying the bills, I saw Anu walking through it. The moment she saw me, she came to greet me. Then I asked her: “Why didn’t you come to work?” She said her child was not feeling well. She was on leave for a few days. Her child was suffering from jaundice. I asked her in which hospital her child was treated. She said, since she did not have enough money, she used some native medicines. But it did not bode well for her child. After patiently listening to our advice, she finally decided to take her child to a doctor on the promise that I would bear the cost.

I felt sad when she initially refused to accept the offer. I tried to get her to accept the money, but she told me she could only take it after her boss approved it. Then I took his permission. I tried to give her Rs 2000. At first, she thought it was two Rs 500 notes. But she said only a 500 rupee note was enough. I forced her several times to take the money, but she refused and was happy with just Rs 500. That was shocking. She lived with her child in the backyard of the nursery with other women, and each family had a small room in which they cooked and slept. Such people were not greedy but lived in poverty and self-respect. That is a great lesson!

In today’s society, as we all know, people are greedy for money. Cheating others for money has become common. Even after receiving alms and freebies, they do not hesitate to abuse those who have helped them out of goodwill. I have so many experiences people are offering service later without even fulfilling the commitment they line up for money, today nobody believes in what is value for money. Even those who have a wealth of thousands of crores are unhappy with their wealth. They are greedy to increase wealth day by day. From chowkidars to higher officials, those who serve the people are all waiting for some handover after the service. Even when employers pay them enough, they are unhappy with their wages. All millionaires and small workers are frantically changing their lifestyles several steps ahead of their income,

Everyone pretends to be happy for the moment that they get something special.

People like Anu are different in this world. While her child is sick, and she lives in extreme poverty, she has shown her dignity, and I salute her. I wish there were more people like her in the world, our world would look very different. Anyway, she has finally shown us her gratitude by asking me to see her child. She patiently listened to our request to meet a doctor.