GANDHIJI AND A COFFEE DRINKER

                                GANDHIJI AND A COFFEE DRINKER

About the lesson 

Mahatma Gandhi was the father of the nation . He was very kind and considerate . He took in nursing the sick . In this lesson, we would see how he served coffee to a patient in the Ashram at Sasbarmati.

Gandhi was a first class nurse to the sick. Where he picked up nursing was a mystery . He certainly did not pass through a nursing school. As in many other things, when nursing became necessary to him  in life, he learned it through the hard way of experience. In  the Ashram at Sabarmati, all sick persons came directly under  his eyes and care. Doctors were of course,  counslted; but the care of the sick, Gandhiji arranged in person. It was a joke, espically among young people in the Ashram, that if you wanted to see Gandhiji every day and talk to him and hear him crack jokes, you had only to be ill and get into bed ! For Gandhiji visited the sick everyday, spent a few minuts at every-bed side, himself saw to things carefully and never failed to crack a jokor two with the paitent . There was no day to busy for Gandhiji to attend sick person .
There was once a young lad who went down with dysentry. He had done his best to accustom himself  to Ashram food, but he failed. He had a great liking for coffee . But in the Ashram, there was no coffee for him nor was  coffee was allowed. In good time, he got rid of his dysentrty and was now recovering. Gandhiji visited him for a few minuts during his usual rounds. Those few minuts were like a tonic to the poor lad,
He pined for a cup of good coffee. One day, he was lying on his back dreaming of it when he heared the welcome sound of the wooden sandals of Gandhiji. A minute later,  Gandhiji entered with his never failing smile and cheering words.
He looked the lad and said : "Now you are decidedly better. You must have recorved your apptite, What would you like to eat ? Ah ! some good , uppuma or thosai ?"
Gandhiji evidently knew all about lad's partiality fot these two good old South Indian dishes. Gandhiji was laughing .The youngester had a sudden brain - wave.
"Could I have a cup of coffee, please"he blurted out.
Gandhiji answered with a peal of laughter, "Oh, you old sinner, that is what you want !" And then seeing the look on the lad's face, he added ,"You certainly shall have your cup of coffee . Yes light coffee wil soothe your stomach. And what will you have with your coffee ? I don't think, we can make Uppuna or thsai, but warm toast would go well with coffee. I  shall send you a tray."
With that, and a kind parting word, Ganhiji lefty room . The lad lay waiting, he could not believe his good luck. Coffee in Sabarmati Ashram ! and Gandhiji himself offering to send it in to him!
Gandhiji's cottage was at the other end of the Ashram, a good way across the road. teh lad could well imagine what would happen. Gandhiji would go to Kasturbain her kitchen and ask for coffee and toast. But it was  an untimely hour. The kitchen would be closed . Ba herself would be taking rest. Had he caused Gandhiji too much botheration? Some twenty minuts passed. Hark! What was that sound? The click-click of Gandhiji,s wodden sandels again. Had the coffee been called off? His heart sank within him. But there was Gandhiji carrying a tray covered with a white khadi napkin. The lad was dazed. What had really happened?
 Gandhiji was speaking. " Now, here is your coffee ans toast. And. mind you, I made the coffee myself. Npow like a good south Indian, will you certify I can make good coffee?"
"but "whispered the lad, " why did you not ask someone else to bring this for me? I am very sorry I  put you to this trouble."
"Now,now" , said Gandhiji , "do not ruin your coffee. Cold coffee is bad coffee. You see Ba was resting and I did not dare to disturb her ."And then he said suddenly, "well, I shall leave you now. Someone will come for the tray." With that off he went.
The coffee was light, but excellent. The lad saipped as if it were necta. But he was troubled. His mind 's eye saw Gandhiji opening the kitchen, lighting the stove, amking the coffee and toast and carrying it to him, all in order not to disturb others at that untimely hour. He was overwhelmed.

                                                                                                 by C. Ramchandran 

A LETTER TO GOD

                                 A LETTER TO GOD  

About the Author

  G.L. Fuents, one of the famous modern writers has written for the young as well as the old. He is a simple, short story writer and humorist . He is a general writer who has written on simple themes. 'A Letter to God' is his simple story which is full of humour.

About the Lesson

Lencho, a hard working farmer, lived in a valley om the top of a low hill. One morning he faced ruin due to a severe snowfall resulting a total damage of his crops. He turned to God in distress and wrote a letter asking him to send money . A postman saw the letter to God and took it to the post-master who first laughed and then was surprised at the faith of the writer . He collected some money from his employees and sent it to Lencho along with a letter. When Lencho got the letter with money and counted it less, he felt furious. so he wrote another letter to god asking him to send the rest of the money not by the post as the post-office employees were a bunch of crooks.

The Houses _the only one in the entire valley__sat on the crest of a low hill.From his height,one could see the river and the field of ripe corn dotted with the flowers that always promised a good harvest.

          The only thing, the earth needed, was a downpour or at least a shower. Throughout the morning Lencho _ who knew his fields intimately _ had done nothing else but seen the sky towards the North- East.

"Now we are really going to get some  water, woman."

The woman, who was preparing supper, replied : "yes, God,s willing."

The older boys were working in the field, while the smaller ones were playing near the house, until the woman called to them all : "Come for dinner ...."

It was during the meal that , just as Lencho had predicated, big drops of  rain began to fall. In the North- East huge mountains of clouds could be seen approaching . The air was fresh and sweet . 

The man went out for no other reason than to have the pleasure of feeling the  rain on his body and when he returned he exclaimed .

"These are not raindrops falling from the sky, they are new coins. The big drops are ten-cent pieces and the little ones are fives...."

With a satisfied expression he regarded the field of ripe corn with its Flowers, draped in a curtain of rain, But suddenly a strong wind began to blow and along with the rain very large hailstones began to fall. These truly did resemble new silver coins. The boys, exposing themselves to the rain, ran out to collect the frozen pearls.

"It's really getting bad now",exclaimed the man , "I hope it passes quickly , for an hour , the hail rained on the garden , the hillside, the cornfield , on the whole valley . The field was white, as if covered with salt. Not a leaf remained on the trees. The corn was totally destroyed. The flowers were gone from the plants. Lencho's soul was filled with sadness When the storm had passed, he stood in the middle of the field and said to his sons.

"A plauge of locusts would have left more then this ... The hail has left nothing ; this year we will have no  corn......

That night was a sorrowful one .

"All our work for nothing"

"There's no one can help us."

"We'll all go hungry this year .....

But in hearts of all who lived in that solitary house in the middle of the valley, there was a single hope ' help from god.

"Don't be so upset, even though this seems like a total loss. Remember, no one dies of hunger."

"That's What they say;no one dies of hunger..."

All through the night, Lencho thought only of his one hope  ; the help of God, whose eyes, as he had been instructed, see everything, even what is deep in one's conscience.

Lencho was an ox of a man, working like an animal in the fields, but still he knew how to write. The following Sunday, at daybreak, he began to write letter which he himself would carry to town and place in the mail;

It was nothing less then a letter to God.

"God," he wrote , "If you don't help me, my family and I will go hungry this year. I need a hundred pesos in order to sow my field again and to live until the corp comes, because the hailstorm....."                               He wrote "To God" on the envelope, put the letter inside and still troubled, went to town. At the Post-office, he placed a stamp on the letter to and dropped in into the mailbox.
One of the employees, who was a postman ans also helped at the post-office, went to his boss laughing heartily and showed him the letter to God.Never in his career as a postman had he known that address. The postmaster _a fat, amiable fellow_________also brake out laughing, but almost immediately he turned serious and, tapping the letter on his desk, commented:
        "What faith! I wish I had the faith of the man who wrote this letter, starting up a correspondence with God!"

So, in order to shake the writer's faith in God, the postmaster came up with an idea:

answer the letter. But when he opened it, it was evident that to answer it he needed something more than goodwill, ink and paper. But he stuck to his resolution : he asked for money from his employees, he himself gave part of his salary and several friends of his were obliged to give something for an act of charity.
It was impossible to gather together the hundred pesoes, so he was able to send farmer only a little more than half.He put the money in an envelope addressed to Lencho and with them a letter containing only a single word as a signature : God .
the following Sunday, Lencho came a bit earlier than usual to ask if there was a letter for him. while the postmaster, experiencing the contentment of a man who was has performed good deed, looked on 

from the doorway of his office.
Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money: such was his confidence _ but he came angry when he counted the money.. God could not have made a mistake, nor could he have denied Lencho what he had requested.
Immediately, Lencho went up to the window to ask for paper ans ink. On the public writing table, he started to write, with much wrinkling of his brow caused by the effort he had made to but a stamp which he licked and then affixed to the envelope with a blow of his fist.
The moment that the letter fell into the mailbox the postmaster went to open it .It said:
"God : of the money that I asked for, only seventy pesoes reached me, ssend me the rest, since I need it very much. But don't send it to me through the mail, because the post-office employees are a bunch of crooks. Lencho,"-------------- end@



                                                                                                                                       by G. L. Fuents