Nothing Left
After his wife died, Ramu was left alone in this world. His only son used to live far away and did not even come home for his mother’s last rites. Ramu was 65 years old and losing his wife and the love of his son made him feel like there was nothing left for him on earth.
With time, he fell into a deep depression, and the more he reflected on his circumstances, the stronger his belief grew that it was useless for him to continue living in this world.
One morning, Ramu went for a walk and did not return home. He kept walking until he was outside his city, walking beside a road. Eventually, a bus came by and he boarded it. It was a long-distance bus to some far-off country town. After some hours, the bus passed through a dense forest and stopped for a break. The passengers went off to refresh themselves and Ramu also got off the bus. After a while, he heard the sound of the horn from the bus calling the passengers back but he decided he wanted to get lost in the forest and would not go back.
Ramu headed into the forest and soon realized it was slightly dark even though there was still a lot of daylight. Due to the heat, he started to feel thirsty as he wandered aimlessly. He saw a high ledge in the distance and started to walk towards it.
Suddenly, he came to a place where a slope opened towards a valley below. The path was blocked by two big sticks, and there was a sign written in big letters – DANGER. Looking around, Ramu could not see anyone. He was baffled about who would have set up the sign in such a dense part of the forest. Peeking a little further toward the valley, he saw a deep ditch ahead, and his heart trembled. He sat down and thought about how he was ready to end it all a few moments ago, but now that the opportunity had presented itself, he was scared.
Turning in the direction he had come from, he spotted a little pond filled with water. His thirst propelled him towards it and there beside the pond, he found an empty pitcher and some fruits hidden away from the sun. He was thirsty and hungry, so after a few minutes of thinking, he dug in, ate, and drank.
Now, with a calm mind, he began to wonder who could have set this up. Turning back and walking still further into the forest, he encountered many more signs warning of dangerous pits and paths and trees marked with ‘POISONOUS FRUIT’ signs. Indeed, some guardian angel had been to the forest!
Ramu abruptly stopped and called out, “Brother who saved my life, I want to see you!”
An old man appeared from the bushes laughing and said, “I’ve been watching you for a long time, tell me why you came here.”
“I came here with the intention of ending my life but that sign changed my mind,” replied Ramu.
The old man led him to a clearing where they sat down and talked about their journeys. Ramu told him all about his loss and sadness and the decision to end it all. The old man also told him about how he lost his son in this forest after he fell into a deep pit. In his sadness, he contemplated jumping into the same pit to end it all but something told him that would be an act of cowardice. He then realized that he could make it his life’s mission to save others from the dangers in the forest and began exploring and putting up warning signs.
“Since then, I decided that as long as there was even a single dangerous place in this forest, I would not die. I have lived in this forest, written warning signs at many dangerous places, and learned about edible and poisonous fruits. Because of my work, this forest is not as dangerous as it used to be. Many lost people have found their way and I have led countless others to find water. Every time I help someone, I feel that my decision to not die that day was right,” said the old man.
The old man invited Ramu to his place for the night. The next morning, Ramu decided to not go back to his old life and instead asked to join the old man in the forest, to help him with his work at the forest.
“I have learned that by staying alive, I can help others and save others from dying,” said Ramu.
The old man accepted his decision.
“There will be times where you’re challenged, where nothing seems to be going right, where tragedy strikes, and you’re left to pick up the pieces. These experiences leave us feeling weak and hopeless. But that’s no reason to stay down for long. No matter what you’re going through in life, other people just like you have gone through the same or worse and come out stronger on the other side. It’s times like these you need to be strong and never give up.” ~ Unknown
Adapted from MoralStories26.com
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