Page 144 - Reliance Foundation School Koparkhairane - School Magazine - Zenith 2021-22
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LIFE’S UNPREDICTED BEAUTY Once an old lady knocked at his door saying “O, the great owner of this house!
Please give me some food or money! I am a hungry old lady; wouldn’t you like to
Once, there was a poor man called Raja. The only companion he had was a horse. help me?” Raja came out and flatly refused, with a lot of arrogance. The old lady
He was a very unlucky person. Someone told him to pray to Goddess Lakshmi, and tried again, “In the name of Goddess Lakshmi, please give me some money! Or
he did. He prayed to her day and night. One fine night, the goddess spoke to him else, you will lose all your wealth and youth slowly by slowly!” Raja chuckled and
in his dreams and said: “Dear Raja, when you wake up, with your eyes closed, refused again. The next few months went very bad for Raja. It was as if the old
touch something that will bring you luck. I will make sure you will become a happy lady’s curse was coming to fruition. He suffered huge losses in trade, and stress, he
and wealthy man due to it.” Raja was overjoyed. The next morning, Raja woke up even started to look aged beyond his age. His merchant friend also left him. He just
at the crack of dawn and felt something smooth and hard touching his hand. had enough money left to buy him a meal for himself. In the end, he even had to
When he opened his eyes, It turned out to be the bell that Raja had tied around sell his mansion, that too at half price. Then, the old lady came to him again. At
his dear horse. He thought “How can a simple bell make me a rich person? But I that time, he was living in a shabby hut with his horse and was wearing tattered
must go on as Goddess Lakshmi herself has told me to.” He went to the nearest clothes. The old lady turned into a beautiful woman adorned with jewels, and said,
city, along with his horse. He passed a crying baby and his mother. As he walked “I am Goddess Lakshmi. I wanted to see if you deserved my blessings or not. I am
on, the jingling sound of the bell quietened the baby. Seeing this, the mother said the old lady who gave you the curse. You had become very arrogant, and you
“Please give me that bell. I will give you five juicy oranges for this. Unfortunately, should not have been. It is your ego that has pushed you down the hill. No matter
I cannot give you more as I do not have anything else.” Raja agreed to the how rich or how poor you are, you should always help someone if you can. Life is
exchange. very beautiful, but only when you keep arrogance and ego out of the way. Now
work hard and live a simple life. Never forget to help people.” Saying this, she
Later in his journey, he found a girl roaming around the streets asking for juicy disappeared. Raja understood Goddess Lakshmi’s words and tried his best to make
fruit. When Raja asked the girl about it, she told him about her ailing mother, who his life beautiful.
could be cured by juicy fruit. She was ready to give a silk shawl in exchange. “I have
five oranges with me, you can take these to your mother. I would be happy if I come Akshita Agrawal - 7 B
of any help to you.” The girl readily accepted, giving Raja the shawl. Raja
exchanged the silk shawl with a dagger from a merchant nearby. Suddenly, he was
knocked on the back by a renowned warrior who was willing to give in exchange
for the dagger 500 copper coins. Raja used some of these to get a proper place to
pass the night with his horse.
The next morning when he was about to start his journey, he stumbled upon a
distressed merchant who wanted to pay for the delivered goods. When Raja
questioned the merchant, he found out that the money of the merchant had been
stolen and needed 400 copper coins very urgently and was willing to return it the
next day. Analyzing the situation, Raja agreed to the deal.
The next day, the merchant thanked Raja profusely and said, “I am very grateful
for your timely help. I have come to return your money but as the princess herself
has brought these goods, it has converted into gold coins. Here, have your Yashika Gupta - 8 C V Lahari - 8 A Suhani Mahajan - 8 C
400-gold coins. Also, I think you were my lucky charm, so will you partner with me
in trade?” Raja agreed.
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