Duty

Ramesh lived in the forest near the river. Deers and leopards were frequent guests in his house. But Ramesh was loved by the animals and none harmed him.

Ramesh lived alone and used to cut wood for a living. Ramesh’s life seemed very happy but one thing always bothered him, and that was his aunt. Ra-mesh was orphaned before he started his life in the forest. His parents had taken a loan from his aunt and after his parents died, his aunt made Ramesh pay it. Ramesh had to go to his aunt’s house every month and give half of his monthly earnings to his aunt. Ramesh barely managed to make ends meet with the rest of the money. One day, Ramesh suddenly fell ill. The day of the month came to go to his aunt’s house. But this time he could not go. After staying in bed for about a fortnight, Ramesh finally could move around properly. He didn’t have enough energy to go to his aunt’s house on the other side of town.

Ramesh still had to spend a normal day. As there was nothing at home, he went into the forest hoping to find something to eat. He left his hut with his gears.

Meanwhile, Ramesh was in the forest, and his aunt came to find him fearing that Ramesh had run away with all her money. When she reached the hut she saw something too huge to be Ramesh standing right in front of her. An elephant was standing from her! and it was not only an elephant but a gray one! Garay was the elephant that everyone in the district knew about. Garay had killed many people in the past and his fiery nobles were the only proof. The aunt was scared.

She was scared to death but she couldn’t do anything. She could no longer walk and became immobilized. Garay stepped forward with a fiery expres- sion.

Ramesh came near his aunt. Right before Garay’s attack, Ramesh returned from the jungle. He saw his aunt being hunted by a demon. Before Garay could do anything, Ramesh saved her life by pulling her aunt back. Ghareay saw Ramesh standing in front of him and did nothing. Garay was Ramesh’s friend and the animal attacked only after he got scared.

Ramesh’s aunt said, “Thank you so much Ramesh for saving my life.” Ramesh politely replied, “Okay aunty. It was my duty to save you.” Ramesh’s aunt replied, “Your debt will be forgotten from now on son. Thank you for saving me.” Ramesh said, “Thank you very much, aunty.” After the incident, Ramesh’s aunt never got angry with him and Ramesh is living a peaceful life in the forest with his full income.