Tough but a blessing

Sonu was very irritated with his new school. There was a time when he was free and moved around with friends, never worried about brushing his teeth on time or taking a bath. He used to snatch bread pakoda from a nearby tea shop, eat them even though they were half-cooked, drink water from the water pump at the end of the street, and fall asleep under a tree. 

But Aunt Chandra was very particular about him sticking to the schedule. It was high time he needed to fix this. Two plans came to his mind. He would either act sick or run away. The second plan was very risky because Ramu kaaka was watching the gate with a big stick in his hand. He decided to act sick. 

The next morning, he told Aunt Chandra that he had a tummy ache and couldn't walk. Aunt Chandra had seen many kids like this. The moment she saw that he was holding his chest and complaining of a tummy ache, she knew Sonu was lying. She smiled to herself and excused Sonu from his routine. 

This made Sonu very happy; he giggled as soon as Aunt Chandra left the room and thought, "This was easy." 

Within an hour, Sonu's stomach started grumbling. He waited and waited for Aunt Chandra to bring food for him. He sneaked out of his room and peeped into the dining hall. The other children were eating hot idlis with his favorite sambar. They were chatting merrily and licking their fingers. Sonu's mouth started watering. 

Just when he decided to enter the dining hall, Aunt Chandra came to him and said, "Sonu, you should not eat sambar as you have a stomach ache." 

She took him to the kitchen and gave him a glass of ragi ganji with butter milk and salt. When Sonu smelled it, he made a face, feeling it was awful. But since he had lied earlier, he didn't have a choice. The same food continued for lunch and dinner. 

Before going to bed, he remembered something Aunt Chandra had said during one of the classes: "We should always be happy and grateful that we have hot, tasty food on our plate, that too before hunger strikes. We must thank God for giving us loving people and friends. We should be happy that our days are filled with fun and frolic. We should be thankful that we have a bed, blanket, and pillow to have a comfortable sleep. And we should be extremely happy that every day we have the opportunity to learn new things that will make us responsible human beings when we grow up." 

That was the day Sonu decided that he would never lie and would always be thankful for all the good things in life. He closed his eyes with a smile and fell asleep.