They tried asking Varsha why she needed so much money. So, she reminded her parents that they had told her to spend the money wisely. So, she was doing the same and she asked them to trust her. Since Varsha was a young child her parents did not want to confront her or probe more details from her. But, at the same time, they also wanted to make sure that their child was not doing something wrong. So, they discussed amongst themselves and came up with a small plan.
Next morning, Varsha's mom packed her lunch box and school bag and her dad dropped her to her bus stop. That day, Varsha's mom took leave from her office. She went to Varsha's school and met with her school teacher Miss Shantha. She told Miss Shantha about Varsha's money spending habit. Miss Shantha said that she was not aware of Varsha's bad habit and promised her mom that she would keep track of it.
After Varsha's mom had left, Miss Shantha approached Ananya who was Varsha's best friend and asked her to meet her in the staff room during the lunch break. Ananya came to the staff room during the lunch break and met Miss Shantha. Miss Shantha asked Ananya to sit down. She then asked her why Varsha had been spending so much money off late. Was she into some bad habit? Ananya became silent for a moment after hearing this and lowered her head. Miss Shantha had a strict temperament and she scolded Ananya for holding back details about her friend's bad habit. Ananya finally spoke. She told Miss Shantha that Varsha was a very good girl. She said that her friend had been spending the money on a very noble cause.
Miss Shantha became curious and asked Ananya to continue. Ananya said that their classmate Rakesh's father recently passed away in a car accident. Rakesh was from a poor middle-class family and his mom was a homemaker. His dad was the sole breadwinner for the family. After he passed away, it became very difficult for his mom to sustain their livelihood. Even though Rakesh was a bright student but his mom could no longer afford to pay his school fees. So, finally, she had decided to pull Rakesh from his studies and ask him to go to work.
Rakesh told his classmates during the recess that he would be leaving school that week. After hearing this, everyone became very sad. It was Varsha who cried the most since she had studied with Rakesh since the Montessori. She promised Rakesh that she would not let him leave the school. From that day, Varsha started saving her pocket money. She stopped spending anything on snacks. But, when she realized that all her savings were not sufficient to pay her friend's school fees she started borrowing more money from her parents. Finally, at the end of the month, she was able to save enough money to pay for Rakesh's school fees. She has been doing this for the past two months. Ananya started crying after saying this and begged Miss Shantha to not punish Varsha.
Miss Shantha was left speechless. She hugged Ananya and consoled the child. She promised her that she would not punish Varsha. But, she also requested Ananya to not tell Varsha anything about their conversation. Ananya promised her teacher that she would not disclose details of their conversation to anyone and left. That evening, Miss Shantha went to Varsha's house. Varsha was very happy that her teacher was accompanying her to home. She was very fond of Miss Shantha. When Miss Shantha, came to her home, she ran to the kitchen to fetch some chocolate cake and lemonade for her teacher.
Miss Shantha sat down on the sofa with her mother. Miss Shantha narrated the entire story to her mother. When Varsha returned with the lemonade and cake she saw that her mother was crying. Her mother ran and hugged her daughter and kissed her forehead. She said that Varsha had made her so proud. Varsha was a little confused and asked her mom what had happened. Her mom said nothing and asked her to give the cake to her teacher. Her teacher smiled at her. She had the cake and lemonade and took leave of them.
Next morning, Varsha's mom and dad went to the school and met the principal Mr. DeMelo. They told the principal that they wanted to take care of Rakesh's school education. Mr. DeMelo said that Miss Shantha had already informed him about Varsha's nice act. He appreciated her parents for helping Rakesh. That day, the Principal called Varsha on the assembly stage and praised her for her kind gesture and good moral conduct. Varsha thanked the principal and requested him to open a charity box in the school for funding the education of children who were not from very affluent backgrounds. Mr. DeMelo promised her that they would start this noble initiative very soon. Varsha's parents felt very proud for having such a noble daughter.
The End
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