Sunday Story: For Her Beloved

Maitri was super excited this morning, and she had every reason to be so! The results of her annual school exams had been declared and she had stood first in the entire grade for the third time in a row! But that was not the core reason behind her excitement—what she was excited about the most was that as promised by baba, she was going to receive a full 100 rupees as a reward. These may be just another 100 rupees for her father or anybody else, but for her, they brought the total of her entire pocket money to two thousand rupees, with which she could now finally buy the sextant she had been wanting for a very long time.

Maitri was an extremely bright and curious child who found every single thing in the world worthy of attention—be it something as small as an insect or something as gargantuan as the moon. And she loved watching the television, especially the programme where they showed people looking at the night sky through their huge tubes that went high up through the roof. She wanted to be exactly like them when she grew up. But it was a distant dream for her, given the financial situation of her family.

Being the determined child she was, such an economic state did not deter her from chasing her dreams. Even if baby steps were what she had the allowance for, she kept taking them nonetheless, but never gave up. Seeing this, her father also found the courage to support her which was until now in the shadows of worry.

Once, when out shopping with her father,  Maitri’s eyes fell on a shimmering object that was peeping through the window of a small shop at the end of the road. As she walked closer to it, her eyes widened—it was an antique maritime sextant that still functioned as if it had been just yesterday.

It was like love at first sight for Maitri. She looked at her father earnestly, who then went up to the shopkeeper to ask how much it cost. After a few seconds, he returned, his face lined with dismay and guilt, and Maitri understood immediately. She returned her father’s disappointment with a smile, held his hand, and walked as merrily outside the shop as she had entered it. Maitri’s maturity surprised her father, while also making him proud of her at the same time. And suddenly, an idea came to his mind.

Upon reaching home, Maitri’s father called her to the courtyard and held out a note of 10 rupees. Maitri, perplexed, looked at her father’s face first, then the note, and then back at his face. His father then told her that he could see how much she loved that sextant, but he could not afford it at the moment. But seeing how much she wanted it, he decided to give her small amounts of money, like the 10 rupees he was then, every time she scored well on her school tests. And when she had enough money collected, she could go and buy the sextant with it.

The plan left Maitri super elated! It was not only going to motivate her to work harder, but also teach her the value of money. Ever since, Maitri started paying extra attention in her classes, trying to understand the concepts, as well as she could, so that she could ultimately buy herself that sextant.

After three years of working hard and numerous tests, Maitri had finally managed to accumulate the amount she needed to buy her beloved sextant—the 100 rupees she received for securing the first position was the final leg on her journey towards her goal. She rushed to the shop, the moment her father handed her the note. After 10 minutes, out she came, beaming from cheek to cheek, finally holding in her hands the sextant she had so far admired only from afar.

Liked this story? Here is another to put a smile on your face—Sky Is the Beginning