A Reward For Kindness

A REWARD FOR KINDNESS


Mrs. Aslam was a very kind and sympathetic lady. She always desired to help others in their hour of need. She could rightly be termed as a humanitarian. Just last month she gave a considerable amount of money to her housemaid who wished to buy some clothes for her five-year-old daughter, Hina.

Mrs. Aslam belonged to a well-off family. She was the only heiress of a big paternal property; she was never reluctant of donating money for human welfare organisations.
Her husband was also a rich businessman and so, there was abundance of wealth in her house. She was a simple domestic woman who was living her life in complacence and peace of mind. She was strongly convinced that she should give others their due share from her wealth and luxuries of life. Her husband was also a very generous man who had no objections on her helping the poor and the needy from his income. Mrs. Aslam was zealous for social service. She was already bearing the educational expenses of three children of a seamstress who, after the death of her husband, was unable to bear the expenditure of her children’s education.

Mrs. Aslam was a mother of two children: Saleem, who was sixteen years old, and a daughter Salma, who was 18. Both were studying in colleges and were kind like her mother. But they were more realistic in their attitude than their mother. They differed with their mother’s habit of taking steps without thinking.
“In my opinion, it is our duty to help others when they are helpless”. She said to Saleem who seemed to disagree with her in this matter.
“Oh, mom-----you seem to be right-----but see, some people don’t deserve our sympathy. We must think before we act and before helping someone we must find out if we are going to help the right person or not. This is a thankless age: an age of selfishness, deception, greed, avarice, and lust for power. There are the people who help no one except themselves and then there is you who is always ready to help others and sympathise with them without any cause, any relationship.” Saleem said earnestly.
“I agree with Saleem, Mom.” Salma said. “You should look before you leap. Last time you let that poor old woman come into the house when it was raining heavily. Why couldn’t she sit beneath the tree outside our house for shelter?”
“But God is pleased with those who do so, my child. He has order us to be kind to his creatures.” Mrs. Aslam replied calmly. “And you should also learn to help others. Saleem and Salma both of you should keep it in mind that a person who helps others in the hour of need is helped by others when he himself is in need.”
“O.k. Mom I’m going to sleep now, good night.” Saleem said.
“I’m also feeling very sleepy.” Said Salma yawning. “So, good night, both of you.”
“Good night” Mrs. Aslam said quietly.

In the morning they got up at 7a.m. When Mrs. Aslam was preparing the breakfast, the door was knocked.
“Saleem, see who that is. Come on, hurry up.” Mrs. Aslam said.
“Ok Mom.” he said.

When Saleem went at the door there was an old woman with a weak and frail body dressed in costly clothes and wearing ornaments of gold.
“What do you want?” asked Saleem.
“I am dying for some water, please give me a glass of water.” she requested.
“O.k. wait a minute.” he answered.

Then Saleem came to his mother and said, “Mom, there’s a woman at the gate; she is asking for water.”
“Yes, go, open the door and ask her to sit in the drawing room. I am coming in a minute with a glass of water.”
“But Mom there is no need for it, give her water at the door and let her go.” Said Salma who was listening to their talk.
“Be quiet, Salma. Saleem go and ask her in.” She said sternly.
“She does not look helpless .She appears to be from a rich family. I don’t think she needs our help” He muttered.
Saleem opened the door and said, “Please, come in.”
“Thank you very much, my son” She said gratefully.

Saleem showed her way to the drawing room .A few minutes later, Mrs. Aslam and Salma came to the room. Salma gave the old woman a glass of water and Mrs. Aslam asked the woman, “What is wrong with you, Ma’am? Are you feeling well?”
The woman replied, gasping, “You are kind. In fact, I am suffering from diabetes. I was feeling dizzy. Many times I become unconscious because of this terrible disease.”
“Oh my God, I am sorry. But man is helpless before the destiny. You can stay here as long as you want. No one will disturb you. I will try my best to make you comfortable here. I am going to the kitchen. Please call me if you need anything.” She said and went away.
“Thanks a lot, sister.” The woman answered.

The woman had a look over the house. It was a very large well-furnished house; the rooms were carpeted; the walls were white washed very skillfully and the drawing room was full of decoration pieces. The ladies of the house were also dressed in precious clothes. Especially Mrs. Aslam awoke her interest who wore a very costly gold necklace. All this filled her with wonder as she was not expecting this much of richness in the house.

“These people must be rolling in gold” she pondered.

The woman was looking like one from a very well-to-do family. But there was something special in her eyes. They appeared to be deceptive.

Half an hour past she suddenly began to cry “oh, I am feeling giddy, oh, oh, my head is aching ----- oh, come, please come”.
Mrs. Aslam and Salma ran towards her.
“What happened to you, Ma’am? Aren’t you feeling well?” Mrs. Aslam inquired.
“Oh, I am feeling dizzy. I fear I may become senseless. Please help me ----- oh, God -----help me”. She cried.
All of the inhabitants of the house were anxious.
“You need not worry, Ma’am”. Mrs. Aslam said. “We will take you to the hospital. Saleem go and hire some taxicab. Salma get her a glass of water”.

The old woman's breath came in short, broken bursts. She stumbled over words as she spoke.
“No, please. Please don’t go my son; there is no-need-- to do so. Just give--- me some sugar. ”. Meanwhile Salma came with a glass of water. “Please take this”. She said.
“Thank you”. The woman said.
“Get her some sugar, too, Salma”
“Ok Mom, just a minute.”
“You people are-kind.” She said in a feeble voice.

The woman spoke in a jerky and weak tone, showing one of her arms, "These are the cell-numbers of my sons. Please put them down and call them. My sons are very obedient. They will come as soon as possible. "
"Ok Ma’am" Mrs. Aslam said and noted the numbers down on a diary.

She came after some minutes and said, "I have made a call to your sons. They say they will come to pick you from here within one or two hours."
"Thank you a thousand times. It’s really kind of you. You are a ---humanitarian. You are very---generous and considerate, you---you” saying this she began to gasp, it seemed as if she was breathing with much trouble.

"Please don't talk much and come into my room until your sons arrive."Mrs. Aslam took the woman to her room and made her lie on her soft and comfortable bed so that she may have a restful sleep.
"How pleased God Almighty will be!” She thought.

She always did such generous deeds to appease God. She was sure of getting a great reward from God on the day of Judgement, but was unaware of the wolf in the lamb's clothing.
The woman closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. Two hours past the bell rang.

"Saleem, see who is at the door." Mrs. Aslam said.
In a short while, Saleem entered along with three men.
"Mom these are the sons of the lady who has come here."
"O.k. Salma, go inside and call the lady."

Shortly Salma came accompanied by the old woman. Now the woman was looking fresh and energetic.
As soon as she came one of the men said, "Oh Mummy, you are here, right!"
"Yes my son." She smiled sinisterly.
"So we are at the right place." The second man said.
"Yes, of course" She said.
"Please sit down all of you, have a cup of tea with us and then you can take your mother along."
"No. We haven't come here to sit. We are in a hurry."

Then all of a sudden they pulled out revolvers from their pockets and pointed their muzzles at the members of the family.
“What --- what are you doing?” Mrs. Aslam was much frightened.
“Shut up, and give us all what you have at the moment. Hurry up otherwise I’ll shoot you all.”
Saleem said, “You deceivers, we helped your mother and you have come to rob us. You, you, oh ---”. One of them hit him hard with his pistol. “Shut your mouth or I’ll shoot you at once”. The second man yelled.
“Mom please give them all what they demand otherwise they will kill us all”. Salma said in a terrified manner. She was very scared of the robbers.

At last, Mrs. Aslam made her way to her room.
“Go with her”. The first man asked the other.
“O.k.” The second man said.

He followed Mrs. Aslam while the first and third man kept on standing there with the muzzles of their guns pointed at Saleem and Salma.
In sometime, the second man came up with a lot of banknotes and jewellery in his hand.

“John, there are 30,000 dollars and these pieces of gold jewellery”. The second man said.
“O.k. But many electronic appliances are still remaining in the house.” The First
Man said.
“But we haven’t brought the Van. What can we do now? ” The Third Man said.
“All right” he said, “enjoy yourself” .He slapped at Saleem’s shoulder.
“We will come again. This will be a very small amount for you. You will see us
again soon. Don’t tell anyone about the incident if you want to save your lives.
O.k. let’s go. ”
They went away from the house waving their revolvers in the air.

The family stood paralyzed and speechless as the unexpected arrival of the robbers had petrified them. Almost half an hour later when all of them regained their senses, Saleem said, “Mom, what do you say now? Were we wrong?”

“No one has looted me.” Mrs. Aslam cried. “I have looted myself. I, only I am responsible for all that happened. Yes, only I am responsible.”

She became silent for some minutes. Then she said.

“Yes I was wrong, indeed wrong. I called the dacoits myself. I am the most damned person in the world. I am the silliest person.” She said sobbing.
Saleem put his hand over her shoulder and said, “No Mom you have done nothing wrong. You have just trusted someone blindly. We never wanted to stop you from helping others. We just say that we shouldn’t trust someone to the extent of getting our own selves into trouble.”

“I would not help anyone now. I will never help any person now.” Mrs. Aslam said determinedly.
“Saleem go to the police station and report this incident. I am sure the dacoits will be arrested quite shortly.” Salma said.
He went to the police station.

Mrs. Aslam was lost in her thoughts. She had faced the consequences of her kind behaviour to others. She thought that the people she helped out of the love of humanity were not human beings at all .They were beasts in the guise of human beings. It seemed to her that people did not deserve to be treated kindly and sympathetically. She knew that the dacoits will be arrested sooner or later, but her trust in the human beings was shaken badly and it was difficult to determine whether she would be able to regain it or not. She was of the view that only she was to be blamed for whatever had happened. She got such a reward for kindness that was hard to forget.