Cheque

Almost the entire village had drowned because of heavy floods. What was left was Mr. Iyer's huge mansion where he lived with his wife, Anandamayi, and only son, Adarsh, who was mentally retarded. Shyam was their faithful servant who was called as second son to Mr. Iyer by the villagers because Mr Iyer had trusted Shyam to such an extent that all his bank transactions were handled by Shyam. Mr. Iyer, in spite of being rich, was very stingy. He never used to waste even a single morsel of rice. He used to tell his wife to mix water into the milk so that a day's milk can last for 2 days. He used to skip his lunch so as to save on the grocery for the next day. He used to tell his son not to cry for milk since it was full of water. He used to gift Shyam only once a year, that too used dhoti (a piece of cloth tied around the waste by men) wrapped in a new cover. Shyam was aware of all these things, but he was helpless as Mr. Iyer used to scold him for helping poor people despite his own poverty. Shyam used to always tell him that if we serve people with whatever we have, then God would definitely bless us with more. On hearing this, Mr. Iyer used to mock at him saying that then Shyam would have grown more rich than him in the village and used to laugh it off. But, that never stopped Shyam from doing good.

The flood had costed the villagers their lives. So, they sought help from Mr. Iyer. On hearing their plea, Mr. Iyer brushed them off saying that since they hadn't even paid the interest of the money which they had borrowed from him long back, he wouldn't even think of giving them even a single penny. The villagers waited in front of his mansion for a long time as Shyam had assured them that he would try and get some help from Mr. Iyer. Alas, Mr Iyer could have helped the villagers, but he being Mr. Iyer, was stubborn. He wouldn't budge. On seeing Shyam's dejected face, the villagers left the mansion quietly. Shyam could not take it as there were mothers who had lost their sons, fathers who had lost their daughters, and small children who had lost their parents. They were crying of hunger. Shyam could not be of much help to them as he ran out of money.

Mr. Iyer wanted to play safe so he wrote a cheque to himself and gave it to Shyam to encash it. Shyam took the cheque and went to bank. He had to wait for his turn as there was a big queue near the cash counter. He looked at the cheque and thought for a while. He called his friend, Anil, from the landline and told him to arrange for the things that he would ask for, and after hearing a yes from his friend, Anil, he was satisfied. He encashed the money from the bank and boarded the bus.

He asked the bus driver to stop near a temple. He apologized to God saying that he had cheated upon his owner, Mr. Iyer by carrying the cash with him so that he could help the flood victims who were waiting for him in the bus. He hit his forehead thrice to the floor and left to a place unknown. He was thankful to his friend, Anil, who had not only arranged for the bus, but also helped the flood victims board the bus. On the way, Shyam told the bus driver to stop near a restaurant to have food. The children who were starving to death, had stomach full, the parents who had lost their sons and daughters saw them in Shyam's face. Shyam then stopped at a village where he used to work before and helped the villagers to stay there. He used up the entire money of Mr. Iyer in taking care of the villagers.

Years passed by, and God was kind enough on Shyam, who due to his kindness and helpful nature, had not only become rich inward, but also outward. He thought of repaying the amount back to Mr. Iyer and took out his car and reached Mr. Iyer's village. Small buildings had come up and it took a while for Shyam to find out the location of Mr Iyer's old mansion. It looked even more brighter now, or maybe because of sunlight, thought Shyam and missed out reading the hoarding put up on the bungalow. He went inside the mansion only to be stopped by a peon. The peon asked him many questions and told him to wait in the office room. Shyam was wondering about Mr Iyer and his family and was desparately seeking to meet them and apologize to them. His thoughts were interrupted when clerk called him inside. Before he could speak, the clerk asked him the reason for coming, and when Shyam uttered Cheque, the clerk told him to write it in the name of Adarsha Anandamayi Iyer trust. Shyam was baffled. He wrote the cheque and handed it over to him. The clerk took it and thanked him. Shyam had very many questions to ask, but seeing the clerk so busy, he got up and walked out of the mansion.

He was called back by the clerk who directed him to MDs office. Shyam entered the office and saw that the MD was holding the cheque that he had written. The MD read out the cheque, "we don't accept blank cheque, Sir, kindly take it back, however, I am thankful, to you." MD lifted his head and saw Shyam. Shyam could not believe his eyes. It was Adarsh, Mr. Iyer's son sitting in MDs chair. Adarsh took time to recognise him. Shyam rushed to him and hugged him and told him about how he used to tell bedtime stories to Adarsh to put him to sleep when he was a child. Adarsh couldn't recollect much, but he directed Shyam to his mother, Anandamayi, who was busy in the kitchen. Amma, called out Shyam, Anandamayi turned towards him and walked slowly. She squinted her eyes so as to get a better vision of Shyam. She recognised him and hugged him. Shyam asked for Mr Iyer, and she pointed out at his photograph which was decorated with garland. Shyam fell on her feet and apologized for the unpardonable fault of his. He told her the reason that he had done this with the motive of helping the flood victims.

Anandamayi lifted him and told him that after hearing the news that Shyam had absconded with money, Mr Iyer had died of heart attack. Then, Anandamayi became the sole caretaker of her family. She told Shyam that maybe because he had used Mr. Iyer's money for a good cause, Adarsh had regained his health miraculously which helped her to build up the trust, which was run now by Adarsh for the poor and downtrodden. Shyam could not believe himself until he saw that most of the rooms of the mansion were converted to two bedded rooms occupied by the poor and downtrodden.

He handed over the cheque to Anandamayi who wouldn't take it. In fact, she told Shyam to stay back for lunch as it was the death ceremony of Mr. Iyer. Shyam agreed and had lunch with them. Before he left, he took blessings from Anandamayi and wished Adarsh good luck and slowly slipped the cheque in front of Mr Iyer's photo and turned back to check whether the cheque was intact!!!!