Jalebis, written by Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, is a value based moral story that shows how a child regrets of making the use of money other way than it was meant for.
Summary
The narrator was a fifth standard school boy. One day he went to school with four rupees in his pocket. He was to pay his school fees. But, Ghulam Mohammed who collected the fees, was absent.
All through the day the coins simply sat in his pocket. But once he walked out of school, they began to jingle. One coin actually spoke to him to eat the hot, syrupy and fresh jalebis. Money was meant to be spent. But the boy hesitated to spend his fees money. He knew how strict his class teacher was.
But the coins were not convinced. They began to speak at the same time. The boy grabbed all four of them tight in his fist. As soon as he loosened his grip, the oldest coin asked him if he didn’t feel like eating jalebis. And then he was to get his scholarship money of four rupees the next day. He could easily pay the fees.
The boy’s mouth watered. But still he dared not to buy the jalebis. He was brilliant in studies. He came of a well-to-do family also. It wasn’t right for him to eat jalebis in the middle of the bazaar. The coins did not give in. They persuaded the boy. They were so keen on being spent that day. The boy returned home and went inside for lunch. He wanted to control his desire for jalebis. But finally he surrendered. He ran to the sweetmeat seller and bought them worth a rupee. He got quite a lot of them.
Seeing his uncle returning from court, the boy ran into a lane. He ate as many jalebis as he could. Soon the boys from the neighbourhood surrounded him. He started distributing them among the children. He spent the remaining three rupees also on jalebis and handed them out to the children. He then washed his hands and mouth. He returned home. He felt it was difficult to digest such a lot. All night he suffered stomachache.
In the morning he was all right and headed for school. He faced another problem. The scholarship was to be paid the following month. His head began to spin. When the recess bell rang, he left the school and reached the railway station. He was sad and scared. Had he known about the delay in the payment of scholarship money, he would have never spent the amount on jalebis.
Spending fee amount on jalebis is now becoming heavy on him. He thought of the teacher’s cane. He began to pray. He recited the entire Namaz to please God. He felt sorry and appealed to God to send him four rupees. But all his plans misfired. Allah Miyan showed no mercy. One day he was caught. The report of his absence from school had reached home. It took him several years to realise that God helps those who help themselves. God doesn’t give anything if one asks for it. One should be careful about one’s behaviour.