Once upon a time there lived Shambhu with his wife Shanti in a small village.
He owned a big house and earned well for a living. The only issue Shambhu had was that he was very greedy.
He tried to save money through everything; by not buying good clothes, or getting his house polished or be it the regular cooking gas.
Shanti was forced to live a pitiful life even though she knew they were rich enough to live a decent life.
One day Shanti gave Shambhu a list to buy some kitchen essentials.
Shanti was sitting at the door when Shambhu came back.
She loosened up when she saw a pack in Shanbhu’s hand.
“Thank God. He got the ingredients I asked for.”
“It is so hot out there.” Shambhu said as he handed over the package to Shanti.
Shanti smiled and took over the shopping bag from Shambhu's hand to look in to it.
Her face stiffed.
"I asked for sugar and you got Jaggery; not enough for a day!"
“You don't know the price of sugar. Try managing with Jaggery." Shambhu replied.
"And what about the coffee I asked you to get?"
"Oooohhh!! I asked for 10gms of coffee powder and the shopkeeper asked for the price of gold. I thought it was better to not get any. I don’t want coffee from now on."
"My God!! Your greediness will kill both of us.” Shanti exclaimed hopelessly.
Shanti got water for Shambhu and continued.
“That Patils have called us for dinner tomorrow night. What should I tell them?"
"Dinner? Sure we'll go. I am always available for free food." Shambhu winked.
Shanti was furious but said nothing. This was very usual for Shanti to react.
Few days later, Shambhu was sitting under a large tree that stood in front of his house. It was hot but he wouldn't go in to the house to save electricity bill.
"Shambhu, Shambhu ..." Shambhu heard his name getting called from a distance.
Shambhu looked in to the direction of the sound.
It was Tullu who was running towards Shambhu.
Shambhu looked at Tullu and it showed that the guy had run a long distance and was all sweaty and weary.
"What's the matter Tullu? Why are you panting?" Shambhu asked.
“I just came to inform...” Tallu said still gasping for breath “that there's treasure in the village.”
“Treasure?” Shambhu stood up astonished.
Shanti came out of the house as she heard the voices from outside.
She saw Tullu and came closure to both of them to overhear what was going on.
“I heard some people say that the forest nearby our village comprise of a huge tree which has a hidden door at the back.” Tallu secretly informed as Shambhu and Shanti stood patiently surprised “The door opens only once a year.”
“This is all rumour.” Shanti said.
“No. It is not.” Tallu continued “How do you think Shyam got so rich in a day? He left the village and went to stay in the city. All from the silver, gold, diamonds he got from the tree.”
“Then why only him? There could be many people getting rich in the whole day.” Shanti argued.
“They say the door opens only for sometime at 12:00 AM at night and will only allow one person. Anyone entering the tree cellar after that will turn to ashes. So people are generally frightened to take risks. “
All the while Shambhu was only listening to the story with no queries to ask.
Shanti looked at Shambhu and she was frightened to think of the evilness that could be running in his mind.
There was complete silence for another few seconds.
After a while Shambhu asked,” When does the cellar open next?”
“This Friday night.” Tullu said.
“No. You are not going.” Shanti said with fear in her voice.
And Shambhu smiled.
Friday was three days away and Shambhu locked himself in a room and spent sleepless nights thinking on the way to get the maximum treasure in the available time.
Shanti was upset and fearful of the risk involved. She knew that there was nothing that she could say to make Shambhu change his mind.
On Friday night, as Shambhu left he took a big heavy plastic vessel in his hand. Shanti watched him leave with tears filled in her eyes.
Two days later, when Shambhu didn’t come back, people in the village started looking for him. Some said, he was converted to ashes by the forest witch while some said he ran away with the treasure found, never to come back.
Shanti couldn't stop crying. Some of the villagers went to the forest to look for Shambhu.
They were surprised to find what they saw.
What happened was, before the clock hit 12:00 AM, Shambhu covered himself with a hard glue all over his body.
As soon as the door opened, Shambhu ran in to the cellar and jumped on the lump of silver, gold, diamonds lying around. He rolled all over and as he realized that he was completely covered in the valuables, he ran out.
He laughed and jumped in happiness and darted towards the village. But as soon as the hard glue settled, he got stuck and wasn't able to move. He tried with all his strength but all in vain. His lips were glued so heard that he could only make small noise that wouldn't help him.
The scene of Shambhu standing in the running pose in the middle of the forest surprised the villagers. They got closer to him and saw him covered him in jewels and valuables. They plucked out as much items off him as they could and saved it for themselves. Later they decided to call his wife.
Shanti got the news of her husband and she ran to the forest. She saw Shambhu stuck to the earth.
Shanti went near him. And Shambhu, as he saw Shanti, tears fell down his eyes.
Both of them were relieved to find each other safe.
With the help of the villagers and after a day of rigorous efforts, Shambhu was finally able to move.
By this time, he had realized that no luxury or money could replace the love and company of his family.
From that day on, Shambhu decided to live a life well deserved by him and his wife.
Fortunate for his wife, Shambhu was a changed man, away from the greed and being mingy to a generous man whom everyone loved.
© Copyright 2014. All Rights Reserved.
He owned a big house and earned well for a living. The only issue Shambhu had was that he was very greedy.
He tried to save money through everything; by not buying good clothes, or getting his house polished or be it the regular cooking gas.
Shanti was forced to live a pitiful life even though she knew they were rich enough to live a decent life.
One day Shanti gave Shambhu a list to buy some kitchen essentials.
Shanti was sitting at the door when Shambhu came back.
She loosened up when she saw a pack in Shanbhu’s hand.
“Thank God. He got the ingredients I asked for.”
“It is so hot out there.” Shambhu said as he handed over the package to Shanti.
Shanti smiled and took over the shopping bag from Shambhu's hand to look in to it.
Her face stiffed.
"I asked for sugar and you got Jaggery; not enough for a day!"
“You don't know the price of sugar. Try managing with Jaggery." Shambhu replied.
"And what about the coffee I asked you to get?"
"Oooohhh!! I asked for 10gms of coffee powder and the shopkeeper asked for the price of gold. I thought it was better to not get any. I don’t want coffee from now on."
"My God!! Your greediness will kill both of us.” Shanti exclaimed hopelessly.
Shanti got water for Shambhu and continued.
“That Patils have called us for dinner tomorrow night. What should I tell them?"
"Dinner? Sure we'll go. I am always available for free food." Shambhu winked.
Shanti was furious but said nothing. This was very usual for Shanti to react.
Few days later, Shambhu was sitting under a large tree that stood in front of his house. It was hot but he wouldn't go in to the house to save electricity bill.
"Shambhu, Shambhu ..." Shambhu heard his name getting called from a distance.
Shambhu looked in to the direction of the sound.
It was Tullu who was running towards Shambhu.
Shambhu looked at Tullu and it showed that the guy had run a long distance and was all sweaty and weary.
"What's the matter Tullu? Why are you panting?" Shambhu asked.
“I just came to inform...” Tallu said still gasping for breath “that there's treasure in the village.”
“Treasure?” Shambhu stood up astonished.
Shanti came out of the house as she heard the voices from outside.
She saw Tullu and came closure to both of them to overhear what was going on.
“I heard some people say that the forest nearby our village comprise of a huge tree which has a hidden door at the back.” Tallu secretly informed as Shambhu and Shanti stood patiently surprised “The door opens only once a year.”
“This is all rumour.” Shanti said.
“No. It is not.” Tallu continued “How do you think Shyam got so rich in a day? He left the village and went to stay in the city. All from the silver, gold, diamonds he got from the tree.”
“Then why only him? There could be many people getting rich in the whole day.” Shanti argued.
“They say the door opens only for sometime at 12:00 AM at night and will only allow one person. Anyone entering the tree cellar after that will turn to ashes. So people are generally frightened to take risks. “
All the while Shambhu was only listening to the story with no queries to ask.
Shanti looked at Shambhu and she was frightened to think of the evilness that could be running in his mind.
There was complete silence for another few seconds.
After a while Shambhu asked,” When does the cellar open next?”
“This Friday night.” Tullu said.
“No. You are not going.” Shanti said with fear in her voice.
And Shambhu smiled.
Friday was three days away and Shambhu locked himself in a room and spent sleepless nights thinking on the way to get the maximum treasure in the available time.
Shanti was upset and fearful of the risk involved. She knew that there was nothing that she could say to make Shambhu change his mind.
On Friday night, as Shambhu left he took a big heavy plastic vessel in his hand. Shanti watched him leave with tears filled in her eyes.
Two days later, when Shambhu didn’t come back, people in the village started looking for him. Some said, he was converted to ashes by the forest witch while some said he ran away with the treasure found, never to come back.
Shanti couldn't stop crying. Some of the villagers went to the forest to look for Shambhu.
They were surprised to find what they saw.
What happened was, before the clock hit 12:00 AM, Shambhu covered himself with a hard glue all over his body.
As soon as the door opened, Shambhu ran in to the cellar and jumped on the lump of silver, gold, diamonds lying around. He rolled all over and as he realized that he was completely covered in the valuables, he ran out.
He laughed and jumped in happiness and darted towards the village. But as soon as the hard glue settled, he got stuck and wasn't able to move. He tried with all his strength but all in vain. His lips were glued so heard that he could only make small noise that wouldn't help him.
The scene of Shambhu standing in the running pose in the middle of the forest surprised the villagers. They got closer to him and saw him covered him in jewels and valuables. They plucked out as much items off him as they could and saved it for themselves. Later they decided to call his wife.
Shanti got the news of her husband and she ran to the forest. She saw Shambhu stuck to the earth.
Shanti went near him. And Shambhu, as he saw Shanti, tears fell down his eyes.
Both of them were relieved to find each other safe.
With the help of the villagers and after a day of rigorous efforts, Shambhu was finally able to move.
By this time, he had realized that no luxury or money could replace the love and company of his family.
From that day on, Shambhu decided to live a life well deserved by him and his wife.
Fortunate for his wife, Shambhu was a changed man, away from the greed and being mingy to a generous man whom everyone loved.
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