A Humanity Story: A Dare For You

In life, choosing one decision among right & wrong choices is easy. But what if I say to you, choose one of the two choices? It isn’t easy, right?

We often face these challenges in life. In a way, what should I chase – my responsibilities or my dreams? Yes, I know we all get stuck here.

Now, in the end, stand in the place of Rajesh & make a choice. Let’s see what you would do.

Rajesh Yadav, 50 years old, is a father of two sons. He & his family stay in Indore. To earn a living, he runs a small cake shop.

One day, he closed his shop at night around 10:30 pm. He kick-started his scooter & drove to the nearest ATM to withdraw some money.

Midway through his drive, he received a phone call from his friend (Venkat). Rajesh parked his scotty at the roadside, picked up the call & started talking to him.

Rajesh: Hello

Venkat: Hello. How are you, Rajesh?

Rajesh: All good Venkat. How are you & your family?

Venkat: We are all good. I called you to invite you & your family to my daughter’s birthday party. It’s coming this Sunday. This time we will be celebrating at our house itself. So, please come with your family.

Rajesh: Yes. We will be coming for sure.

Venkat: Are you still in the shop?

Rajesh: I closed the shop. Now I am going towards the ATM to withdraw money. I need to pay my son’s college fees tomorrow.

Venkat: Ok, drive carefully. Call me once you reach your home. Bye.

Rajesh: Sure. Bye.

Later, he started his scotty & reached the nearby ATM. He went inside.

By the time Rajesh was withdrawing money, an unknown man punctured his scooter by stabbing a sharp tool into the tyre. Afterwards, that man ran away.

Rajesh withdrew around ₹1 lakh cash & kept it inside the small pouch. He came out & noticed his scooter tyre was punctured. Now, he gets tense thinking about how he will reach home with this amount of cash in his bag.

At the time, an auto rickshaw was coming in his direction. Rajesh stopped the auto & said to the autodriver – “Will you drop me at Guru Nagar?” The auto driver replied – “Yes.” Rajesh sits in the passenger’s seat & driver starts the auto.

While driving, the autodriver was constantly looking at the bag that Rajesh was holding. Rajesh noticed this & clutched the bag close to himself tightly.

At the same time, he was also noticing whether the auto was going in the right direction or not. After a few minutes, the autodriver took a wrong turn.

Instantly, Rajesh said to the driver, “You took a wrong turn. For Guru Nagar, you should have taken the left but you took the right turn.”

The autodriver replied – “I know sir. I am taking you through the shortcut. Don’t worry, you will reach home in the next few minutes.” The driver’s hands were shivering while saying this & he was nervous as well.

Rajesh felt doubtful. He said to the driver, “Stop the auto now. I will reach home by walking.” The driver replied – “Wait for a few minutes, sir. We are almost there.” Rajesh said no. But the driver didn’t listen. Later on, the driver stops the auto on an empty road. No houses or people were in their surroundings.

He picks the long rod from beneath his feet & steps out of the auto. He pointed that rod at Rajesh & said – “Step out & give me that money. Be quick.” Rajesh was in shock & fear. He steps out & says – “Please let me go. I need this money. Tomorrow I have to pay my son’s college fees. Please leave me.”

The autodriver replied – “I don’t know all that. You just hand over that money to me. Otherwise, I will beat you.” Rajesh refused to give his money. Then the driver came close to him and tried to snatch that bag from him.

Rajesh held that bag tightly to himself. The autodriver tried enough but wasn’t able to snatch that bag from him. Afterwards, Rajesh slapped him so hard that the driver stepped back in shock. Quickly he holds that rod from the driver.

Rajesh grabs the rod completely & throws it far away. He later starts beating the autodriver by slapping & punching him. He was also constantly yelling at the driver – “You are trying to steal my money? Stealing my money?”

The driver’s hand & face started bleeding. He collapsed to the ground with pain & started crying. Seeing this, Rajesh steps back, calms down his anger & prepares to leave.

By the time, the driver kneels down in front of him, starts crying & says – “I am not a thief.” Rajesh steps back & hears him.

The autodriver, with tears rolling from his eyes, said – “I am not a thief. I urgently need two lakh rupees. My mom is in the hospital. To save her, the doctor is asking for 2 lakh rupees to proceed with the operation as early as possible. I tried my best to arrange money. But I am not able to because the amount is too big for me. What should I have done? I found no option other than stealing money. I didn’t have any choice.” He goes on crying.

After hearing all this, Rajesh felt sad for beating him. He started thinking – “What should I do now? Tomorrow is the last day to pay my son’s college fees. But the autodriver’s mom’s life is also in danger. I don’t have money left except for this. God, what should I do now?”

Rajesh is struggling to find a solution for this. Now my question is for you. What would you have done in place of Rajesh? Would you have tried to save the autodriver’s mom’s life, or would you have valued only your needs?