The Penniless Millionaire

I was startled by the sound; I slid the bed sheet from my face and looked around.

My eyes fell on the plate below the stone bench and several coins in it.

I sat on the bench where I was sleeping under the tree and looked around. The sun had risen some time back and in the barren road, there was no one.

I stood up and removed the water bottle from my bag brushed my teeth washed my face and kept them back in my cotton bag. There were very few things in that bag; an extra worn-out shirt and matching worn-out pants and one towel in awful condition but clean.

I wondered where to bathe; the river was quite a distance from the village outskirts where I had slept.

I made up my mind and walked the distance to the river; I kept my bag on the stone steps and jumped into the slightly warm water in my shorts.

I had never experienced so much of joy bathing in a river. I swam to my heart’s content and when I dressed up, I looked at the sky and guessed it must be close 9 am in the morning.

There was a small temple under the tree, I deposited all the coins that were dropped on the plate when I slept on the bench last night.

I walked towards the village savouring the pleasant smell coming from the trees around.

I could see the new building, very close the village outskirts. I went close and could see that the building was ready in all respects. I peeked through one of the open windows and could see a very neat and clean classroom with benches and a large stand with a drinking water bottle on it.

I could see that in the middle of the village under the large banyan tree villagers were standing; a meeting was in progress.

No one noticed me; I went close and listened.

The man in a turban, obviously the village head was sitting on the only chair available, and everyone was standing around; there were about 60 or 70 persons. More or less, the entire village. The old man – nearing 80, looked at me; our eyes met for a brief second. Then he turned his head, looked at the crowd and spoke.

“Friends, God has listened to our prayers. The work that was pending for over 50 years has been completed in less than 100 days. We will not invite any politician for the inauguration of the new school building. No one listened to our pleadings all these years.

Instead, I have invited the teacher who will be heading the school to inaugurate the new school building, tomorrow.

From tomorrow, our children need not walk 20 kilometers to reach the school. 

Please, all of you come with your children tomorrow for inauguration.”

There was thunderous clapping around. 

The village head held his hands, and they stopped clapping. He continued. “Despite my repeated questions, the people who came here to construct the building did not say anything about the person who was responsible for the construction of the school building.

In fact, they had no idea who sent them. Only the contractor, when questioned repeatedly, said that he got instructions to come here and construct the building and all the materials were supplied. He too did not know who paid him the money.”

I moved away and cast a glance back; the village head was looking at me; I thought a glimmer of recognition at the corner of his eyes.

I walked briskly away without looking back.

I walked a little deep into the thick forest surrounding the village; I was looking for some familiar landscape and then I saw the tall tree.

I went close to the tree and then looked for the tell-tale sign I had created; I saw the sharp-edged stone lying nearby, where I had kept it.

I took and dug the ground beneath the tree. Soon, I found it!

The steel box was intact. I opened it and found all the things very much as it was. 

Once I finished my work, I walked towards my next stop; a village completely forgotten by the civilization just under 100 kilometers from the political center.

The village, I had learnt that hardly has about 200 people who mainly depend upon the monsoon to grow crops has been reeling under severe drought-like situation for almost three years now.

When I entered the village, there was not a soul in sight.

Hot sun beating mercilessly was one reason, the other? I found out soon.

The entire village had gathered around the canal which once had flowing water which helped the villagers to not just grow crops but for their daily usage as well. 

The bone-dry canal was full of activity.

I could see large bulldozers and excavators were working as well as dozens of bore well were underway.

I stood amongst the crowd; no one paid attention to me.

I observed the faces of people who were anxiously waiting; then I heard the roar.

The roar of water gushing from the earth several hundred feet into the sky and loud cheers and claps from the villagers.

They were hugging each other and crying loudly.

The youth amongst the villagers ran toward the borewell machine where a few engineers stood admiring their work; they literally lifted all four of them on their shoulders and ran around the water fountain.

The group of people celebrating came and hugged me and one of them thrust a handful of sweets.

The joy and relief on the faces of those villagers were priceless.

I walked away from the crowd trying to find a suitable place to bury the steel box.

I woke up and sat on the ground where I had slept.

Overnight, engineers must have worked to fix up the borewell. I walked towards one of the many pumps set up by them and pushed to find pure sweet water gushing. I washed my face and postponed the idea of taking a bath there. It can wait.

I walked to the center of the village and there were quite a handful of villagers gathered and were speaking animatedly.

They were overwhelmed and just could not stop talking about that movement when water gushed from the ground

They suddenly stopped talking and when I looked up, I could see that the village head was walking towards them.

“Did you find out anything from the engineers?” The village head asked the group.

They all shook their head negatively. One of them spoke, haltingly.

“The engineers were just told to get in the truck and were briefed about their job by the driver who himself did not know much. No sir, we still don’t know who helped us. Whoever it is, God should give him more strength to serve. What politicians could not do for more than 20 years, that person, whoever it is, has got it done in just a week’s time.”

The village head stood in silence and then folded his hands and lifted them towards the sky. Everyone another villager did likewise. He spoke loudly.

“God, we had lost faith in you and in humanity. We were ready to move away from this village where for hundreds of years, our forefathers have stayed. You sent a messenger to restore faith and helped us stay in this village. Thank you, lord.”

He lowered his hands and suddenly noticed me, standing alone, away from the crowd.

He walked towards me, folded his hands and spoke. “You look like a traveler. Are you hungry? Please come, we are very happy today and we must as well restart our culture of welcoming the guests to this village.”

He held my hands and led to his house for breakfast.

I walked briskly after finishing the breakfast and thanking the village head profusely, towards the next and possibly, the last village on my list.

I must have walked almost a kilometer. I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten about the steel box. I walked back to retrieve it from the ground where I had buried it. As soon as I got up holding the box in my hand, I saw the little girl standing behind the tree and watching me.

I did not know what to say or do. I slowly put the box in my shoulder bag and without looking back, walked. After some time, when I looked back, the girl was following me.

I walked briskly even as the girl started running behind me.

I stopped. 

The girl walked slowly towards me; she was around 7 or 8 years old, and had very large eyes and equally large ears. She wore a simple frock. 

Her eyes never left me

She came close, stood watching me and spoke in loudly.

“Are you a thief? What did you steal from my village?”

I couldn’t help but smile.

“No. I am not a thief. I had buried this box when I came to the village and now that I am going back; so, I took it.”

She narrowed her eyes and looked even more suspiciously.

“You look like a thief or beggar. What’s in the box?”

“Look. I am not a thief. I am a stranger passing through the village. I have very little money left and don’t want anyone to steal it. So, I put it the box and when I was leaving, took it with me. I swear, that’s all there is.”

I started walking without looking back.

“I will go and tell others in the village.” She shouted after me.

I was scared that villagers would come running after me. Nothing of that sort happened; relieved, I moved towards the village which was about 20 kilometers or so.

One thing that I started to notice was, that almost all the villages had similar topography; there would be a few houses around the village panchayat and a small temple usually of lord Hanuman at the entrance of the village. There are no shops around.

The only way they can buy their daily needs is to visit the weekly village bazaar that comes up on a schedule and caters to several nearby villages.

The village road was empty.

I raked my brain trying to recollect my last visit to this village.

Then it struck me.

Of course, all the villagers were on the other side; so, I walked and reached the far end of the village and as I guessed it, the entire village was standing near a new hospital building, waiting.

I joined the crowd and looked at the happy faces around me.

As usual, the village head walked along with a couple of doctors wearing white coats. 

The crowd cheered loudly.

The village head beamed and holding the hands of both the doctors, took them to the main door which was decked up.

He turned to the villagers and announced.

“For the first time in the history of this village and nearby villages, we are getting our own hospital with all the facilities. The doctors will visit every day and, in a day, or two, we are getting a few trained nurses as well. 

I tried my best to find out who was actually responsible for gifting this most wanted gift to our village; alas, all that the people who came to set up the hospital said was, that some unanimous donor had instructed them. God bless him and his family.”

I was noticed by a few villagers, and they insisted that I too join them to go inside the hospital.

Indeed, the hospital looked very neat and almost all the equipment was in place.

I enjoyed the food provided by the village head along with all the villagers and doctors and left the village quietly, unnoticed.

It is time I returned after completing my yearly ritual.

My wife was standing near the gate when I got down from the auto rikshaw and made a face when she saw me and spoke in a matching stern voice.

“I would have sent Govind with the car. You did not call last night either. Did you forget the box? Why didn’t you call me?”

I held up my hand in defiance and spoke.

“Yes, the box, the mobile and the leftover money I carried are intact. Sorry couldn’t call you yesterday as the bus journey was very bad…what with horrible roads spoiled more by the rain. Coming from the bus stand by auto was much more convenient than asking Govind. I had no idea what time I would reach.”

I just smiled and walked into the house and was greeted by my man Friday, Arvind who showed eagerness to speak to me.

“Can I just freshen up before you brief me?” I smiled and spoke.

“Sir, I have so much to show you and discuss, I will wait. I have waited for so long another couple of hours won’t matter.” Said Arvind.

I freshened up, ate my breakfast and joined Arvind in the office room.

I extended my hand and spoke warmly. "Thank you, Arvind. All the work was carried out in the villages very neatly and most importantly, as I had requested, discretely. Now, let us see what you have."

He had spread the balance sheet of several companies that we run on the large table and when I went close, spoke with a big smile on his face.

“Sir, we have almost doubled our profit this year and the two new ventures we started last year have turned green as well. And sir, the minister called asking for funds for village development. I said you have gone abroad.”

“Call the minister and tell him that we have already spent all the money we intend under CSR (corporate social responsibilities) and have already planned our next year’s investments as well.”

I spoke remembering the smiles on the faces of innocent and completely neglected villagers who were deprived of what belonged to them. 

It took us a better part of an hour to finish the discussion.

As I came out, I saw my eight-year-old daughter Anu coming down the stairs wearing a funny-looking dress.

It was shabby, off-colour and also patched up in several places; I was shocked

I raised my eyebrows questioningly.

“Dad, when you go next time on your yearly sojourn, I intend to accompany you. You see, dad, poor father and equally poor-looking daughter! We would make wonderful combinations and look authentic as well. Don’t you think so?

And this is literally, is the dress rehearsal for going along with my penniless millionaire father.”