In a hilly region, there was one village. In that village there lived one poor old widow by name Saguna alongwith her only grandson Kisan, aged 12.
Poor Saguna had lost her only son and daughter-in-law in a road accident leaving the poor child Kisan behind. Saguna had brought up Kisan, the only scion of the family, with love and affection.
A small hut in the village and a goat was the only property of Saguna. She used to work as a farm-hand and somehow make up the living for herself and for dear Kisan.
The village did not have a secondary school. So Kisan used to attend the school situated four kms away from the village daily treading the to and fro distance on foot. Early morning Kisan used to take some exercise and drink the goat-milk kept ready by his grand mother.
Saguna had placed in the corner of the hut a holy image of Lord Venkatesh from the famous Tirupati. Whenever old Saguna earned any money, or purchased clothes or articles or cook the food, the very first thing she used to do was to keep these earnings before the image of Lord Venkatesh, pay him all respects, wait for a while and then accept them as a gift from the Lord.
Kisan was a disciplined child. He passed his SSC examination with exemplary marks. In fact he was the only student from the village to have hit the mark of SSC examination with success. So the villagers honoured Kisan with a suitable function in a local Hanuman temple.
The villagers were proud over the success achieved by Kisan. They decided to help Kisan for getting higher education. An appeal was made to all the residents of the village to come forward with suitable contribution to help Kisan to get higher education in a college situated at the taluka place some 35 kms away from the village. A total amount of Rs 400/- was raised at the function itself. The local sarpanch made arrangement to take Kisan to the taluka and get the admission for him in the college there.
The amount was sufficient to cover the tuition fees. However, further amount of Rs 600/- was needed to facilitate the admission to the hostel.
Saguna was very much worried as to how the money would be arranged. As usual she sat quietly before the image of Lord Venkatesh. She placed the problem before the Lord. She prayed the Lord to help her to overcome the calamity.
After a short while, she purchased a postcard and she asked her neighbour Chandan who was a neo-literate to write the postcard and drop it in the postbox. Chandan did oblige her.
The message in the post-card ran thus: Dear Venkoba, Your child is in distress. It is only you who is our guardian and a saviour. Please send the amount to the principal of the, college and remove the misery of your child. The address over the postcard ran thus: Venkoba, at Tirupati.
The strange postcard reached the sorting office of Tirupati. At night shift the concerned sorting clerk was puzzled. He did not know whom exactly the postcard was to be delivered. Being confused, he consulted the head clerk of the sorting wing. The head clerk carefully read the letter. He was amused. From the contents of the postcard he could realise the position. It was clear that the poor old lady was in distress. Further, she was simpleton and she did have full faith in the Lord Venkatesh. It was an earnest appeal to the God. That appeal touched the inner chord of the head clerk.
The head clerk called the entire sorting staff together. He then addressed the staff thus: ?Friends, see the poor lady is in great financial distress. She has appealed to the Lord. The Lord resides in our hearts. So we must rise to the occasion. Here is my small contribution.?
So saying the head clerk took out two hundred rupees from his purse and placed them on the table. He then appealed to his colleagues to add their offerings.
Soon a miracle happened. Everybody without exception contributed his mite to the pool. Soon the necessary amount of Rs 600 by was raised. The head clerk sent the amount direct to the Principal of the college quoting the name of Kisan. However, on the money order no indication of the sender was given.
The amount reached the hands of the Principal well in time. Kisan'shigher education made a smooth start.
Neither Kisan, nor Saguna nor the Principal knew where from the money had emerged.
Later on with hard work Kisan completed his education. He became a responsible executive in a office.
Little friends, secret donation is the real donation, since it is a source of real, pious and eternal joy.
