The Watchman and A Small Boy

Once upon a time, there lived an old man named Raghunath. He was an old aged sensitive man and had no family. He was single and lived alone in a small kutch. He was poor but a fun-loving person. He worked in a high school as a watchman. He enjoyed being alone and loved when any children accompanied him.

The children of the school in which he worked loved him too. Most of them were fond of him as he used to tell short stories to the children during recess time. Apart from telling stories, Raghunath also sometimes treated children with toffees and chocolates.

The old man always tried to help children and people. He was very helpful. Even if anybody says him bad, he doesn’t argue or mind and tries to ignore it. He lost his grandchild and family in an accident. So, he loved the children like his own grandchildren.

Though every child was fond of him, there was one boy who disliked him. He hated the old man so much that he didn’t even talk to him. But the old man still wanted to talk to him.

The watchman went to him several times and tried to treat or talk to him, but the boy didn’t even bother. On the other hand, he disrespected the old man and said bad words.

When his friends asked him why he disrespects the old man that way, he answered that he is a watchman and is of a low standard. He doesn’t have the right to talk to him as he belongs to a Brahmin family. No one argued with him, but everybody disliked his answer. He was the only one to make a differentiation.

One day the watchman brought a chocolate for the boy to make a bond of friendship with him. He gave him the chocolate with a big smile on his face. But the boy’s behavior was so bad.

He took the chocolate in his hand, threw it away in the dustbin, and said, “I don’t accept gifts or chocolates from a man who is a watchman like you.” The poor man felt disheartened and went away with tears rolling down his cheeks.

The other children who saw the incident gossiped about it and blamed the boy badly.

The next day was the last day of school before winter vacation. Everyone was happy as the holidays were about to begin. In the last period, when the last bell was about to rain for the last class, the naughty boy went to the washroom. There were hardly 5 to 6 minutes left for the bell to ring when the boy suddenly got locked up in the washroom by somebody.

The bell rang after 5 minutes, and the boy could not come out of the washroom. He tried harder and in several ways to open the door, but he failed. He started to shout louder to call for help, but nobody came as the bill rang, and the children were eager to return home.

The watchman’s duty was to check all the rooms, classrooms, and washrooms properly before closing the school gate. So, as usual, on the very last day of school, the old man went to each room to check whether there was any student left to go back home or was stuck accidentally. He almost checked all the rooms and went to the washroom to check if everything was okay.

When he reached the second floor of the building, he heard the boy’s voice calling for help. He reached up to him and found him locked up there in the washroom by chance. He immediately opened the gate and let the boy come out.

At that time, almost everyone went back home. But no one came to school and asked for the boy because the boy used to go back home all alone.

When the old man rescued the boy, he was in tears, and he hugged the old man to thank him for saving his life. If the watchman hadn’t come to save him, he would have been locked up in the washroom for the whole vacation and would have died of starvation.

The boy was still astonished to find the old man behaving so well with him even after his bad and harsh behavior. When the boy thanked the old man several times, the old man replied, “It was my duty! Long live my child.”

Moral of The Watchman and A Small Boy Story

As we can see, even after disrespecting the old man for his profession, he was the one who saved the boy at the end of the story.

You should never disrespect anyone regarding their profession or standard, as everyone is equal in our society.