Untitled , by YASIR AMIN NATNOO

(Class 9, Paramount Public HSS, Doda)

HONOURABLE MENTION: JUNIORS





She looked outside and smiled after looking at the faces of her parents through the window of the train who were eagerly waiting for her at the Jammu Tawi Railway Station. She stepped down the train with her luggage and hugged them with glee and joy. After meeting and greeting her father ordered his driver to load the luggage in the car so as to make them ready to go home. The family drove half an hour to their home in Bathindi. Her father told the driver to unload the luggage and bring it inside. Few moments later after refreshing themselves they were ready to enjoy the meal which her mother had cooked. After enjoying the meal, the girl went inside her room. After lying herself on the couch she searched for her phone but found out that she had kept her phone in her handbag. At first she thought her handbag might be mingled with the luggage. So she went out of her room to search for it in the luggage, but found nothing. Along with her mobile phone there were other important things in her handbag like jewellery, money,IDs etc. She asked the driver if he had picked her handbag along with other stuff but the driver said no. He added that a pink handbag caught his eye but thought it belonged to other woman who had been sitting beside her through the whole journey. She rushed to the railway station with her driver and inquired about the arrival of the same train which had departed at that very moment. She waited until the train arrived and rushed to the same spot in the train to find out if her handbag was still there but unfortunately it was not there. The incident traumatized her and now she was desperate for her handbag and returned home in hopelessness.

Few moments later after she reached home, someone rang the bell of the door. She opened the door and found a young and handsome man standing upright carrying her handbag. The immenseness of the joy was apparent from her blushing face after the handbag caught her eye. She grabbed the handbag and as a matter of showing gratitude she insisted this man to come inside. She introduced him to her parents. After all this, they asked him how he was able to find the bag and eventually the owner of the bag. He revealed that he was travelling in the same box of the train in which she was travelling and he picked up the bag as a last passenger because he found no one picking up the bag. He added that he picked up the bag with an intention to return it to the owner and not getting it into the wrong hands. After opening the bag he was able to find the address of the owner with the help of the IDs in it.

The family became very impressed by the honesty and sincerity of this handsome youth. They became eager to know about him and his background. He described that he was a single man with no family near the Railway Station and held a night job of weaving cloths and blankets at night and selling them after the dawn for the livelihood. But he never declared that he was a poor fellow although he was but her father envisaged that he was a poor and miserable person. He wanted to offer him some help as a matter of showing gratitude. So he offered him a job of personal assistant in his electronic business plus a place to stay in their home. The young man agreed without an hesitation as he always wanted to get rid of the arduous weaving business.

He worked tirelessly for a year with loyalty and sincerity and made a lot of money. So finally he decided to marry and get settled for real. He proposed the girl for marriage whom he liked for few years and she agreed but on few terms. She said that he should get a loan from his boss so as to buy a flat nearby. He went straight to his boss and asked him for the loan. His boss denied annoyingly.

After five days, his boss told him to look after the business for a day. He also added that there were about ten thousand rupees in the counter which he needed to look after. His boss left and came back in the evening. The boss was extremely shocked to see that his business complex was closed. He hastily dialed the phone call to his assistant but found out that his phone was switched off. The boss then opened the complex with his own keys and was extremely terrified and shocked by looking at the condition of his shop as most his assets as well as ten thousand rupees in the counter were missing. The boss became suspicious of this young man for stealing the money and assets because a few days ago he had asked him for a decent loan. He informed his whole family about the incident and was about to inform the police but suddenly the young man appeared from nowhere. The boss wrathfully grabbed him by his collar and pulled him inside. He told him that he trusted him like his own son and accused him of stealing the assets and the money. This completely befuddled the young man. He wanted to get rid of these fake accusations. To prove his innocence he disclosed all the matter. He said that he had been given an order by a private company to deliver those assets in return of cash. So in order to comply, he loaded the assets in the rented truck and took those ten thousand rupees from the counter to manage the expenses and rents along the way. After delivering successfully , he got the cash in return. He finally returned the cash to his boss which he was carrying in a suitcase. After knowing the whole story his boss regretted accusing him falsely for stealth. He apologized for his actions of not trusting the young man.

As a matter of showing apology his boss decided to lend him money to make him able to buy the flat. Finally the sincerity and the honesty of the young man paid off making him able to buy his new home and live a happy married life.

Moral: Hardwork, loyalty and honesty pays off in the long run.