Empowered Men...

Storytelling

Early in the morning, I was treading the grassy path, cutting through the gentle waves of the wind along the river, taking the cue from the sun’s rays. This cold wave of wind was making me feel like winter. This feeling was a bit colder. I was feeling the chill of the cold. The sun was rising; I was waiting for its cue.

When the sun rose, I waited for home. We were looking for fish by washing our hands and feet in the river’s water. As soon as I touched the cold water, my body shivered. When I went home, I took a bath and went to the kitchen to have breakfast. I hurriedly finished my breakfast and started to go to the office. As I approached the signal, I saw a dashing young beggar. He and I stared at each other for two minutes. He begged me, but I refused him.

I sat in the office thinking about him all day and worried about his life. Around six in the evening, I saw him again at the same signal in a different guise, but now he was not begging, but was drawing a picture under the street light. I immediately made my way through the crowd and took the car to the street light. His picture was completed in a moment. I was very surprised. He had painted a very vivid picture of the traffic.

I was speechless seeing this. I was overwhelmed by the living picture. As soon as I saw this picture, I went closer to him and asked How many rupees will you give me for this picture? As soon as these words left my mouth, he became silent. I sent the photo of that picture to my painter friend online and called him and asked what the price of this artwork would be. He thought about it and said that it would be 5 lakh rupees for the National Exhibition and 8 to 10 lakh rupees for the International Exhibition. I was suddenly speechless while talking on the phone. I said to the beggar, “Will you give me this picture for a thousand rupees?” As soon as he heard this, he was surprised and in a moment said, “Yes! Of course I will give you this picture, thank you very much sir!”

When I got home, I just stared at that painting. That painting had settled in my mind. The only regret I had was that I bought that painting worth lakhs for only a thousand rupees. After this worry troubled my mind a lot, I called my painter friend and hurriedly told him, “I will bring you to meet a man; you should have a proper discussion with him, see the painting, and do something to help him sell this and his other paintings or put them in an exhibition!”

He was ready to do this as soon as he heard my speech. He asked me to take the person with him tomorrow. I fell asleep after watching that picture. In the morning, after finishing all the activities, I went to the office at the usual time. I met him again today, like yesterday. As soon as he saw me, he came near my car and thanked me wholeheartedly. I told him all about last night’s call. He brought two or four pictures out of the hut, and I took half a day’s leave and took him to my painter friend. He was shocked when he saw his picture. He immediately asked his name, and he said, “Ajay”. He offered his artworks for display and sale in national exhibitions. After a few hours, he received a check of ten lakh rupees only after one hour. We immediately opened his bank account and deposited a check of 10 lakhs into the bank account the next day. Seeing our struggle, his eyes literally watered. He thanked us profusely and promised us a better life from now on. We took his leave. I finally felt that we taught a man how to earn food/money without begging.