"What did you do?"

Published24 September 2016

Reading Time 3 mins

Author Stories of Nepal

Location Nepal

"My wife was going to give birth any moment. But I had no money, not a single rupee in my pocket. I had managed to get a small loan and use that for her care during her pregnancy. But it had run out and the day was here. I had no work and the family business had gone to ruins. My wife would ask me if I had arranged some money and I would tell her not to worry and would quietly leave the room. I did not know what to do or where to go. Borrowing money was not easy as the people around me also didn't live a rich life. So that day I left my house in desperation. I was just wandering aimlessly when I saw some men had gathered under a tree. I went to see what the ruckus was about. There were a group of men playing cards. I was about to leave and someone pulled my hand and sat me down and told me to finish his game while he went to the toilet. He had already left and the gamble looked big as the money had already piled up in the centre. I won that game for him. He came back and handed me a 200 rupees and thanked me for winning. Someone made space for me and without thinking I bet the 200 rupees he had given. I saw it as a sign from God. Maybe I will have the money for my wife and the baby after all. I kept winning. Every game. By the end of the day, I had won 65,000 rupees. Everyone was shocked to see my luck. It was one of the very few times I have played cards. With that money tightly held I went home not believing what had happened. When I reached home, my mother was waiting outside the gate and she told me my wife had given birth to a healthy son. I could not hold my joy and ran to see my wife and the baby. I held my son in my arms and tears welled up. I thought with his birth my desperation had ended. I gave my mother some money to buy what was needed and told her not to worry. She saw the bundle of money and asked me, 'What did you do?'. I replied with great happiness, 'Nothing, God did.' "(Ram Babu Ray, Janakpur, Dhanusa)

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