The Lost Gold

 Lost Gold 

There is a couple in their nineties. The man narrated a story of their past, a story of ‘lost gold’. 

The couple went to attend a marriage. The lady in rush or in pressure of silky garments dropped ornaments weighing 12 tolas. They came to know after some hours and the mood of joy changed into a state of sorrow. Wife was crying and husband dropped a letter before his house deity that he wouldn’t accept the gold even if it was returned by somebody. 

Luckily, the gold was found out by a poor unemployed man who came next day and handed it over to the family. But the husband was determined to not to accept it. They debated for whole night and as the husband was adamant, they finally decided to offer it to the Guru of the man who found out the gold. The man was follower of BAPS Seaminarayan. They all went to offer the gold to Pramukh Swami. As he was getting ready to pick up flight for London his access was denied initially. But when Dr. Swami came to know that the visitors have come to offer gold, they were allowed to meet. They dedicated the gold to him but he advised it to do so before the Shriji. Two idols (Swami-Narayan) were brought immediately to whom they offered the gold, of which half was kept and half was returned as offerings. Look at the nature of the husband, he sold it to the market and from the money received, he organised a lunch party of his society of 160 families, narrated the whole story of the lost gold and paid respect to the man who returned the gold by giving him a silver memento of Sidi Saiyyid’s jali. 

My wife asked me a question, who became the real beneficiaries of the lost gold? Neither the family who lost it, nor the person who found it. The BAPS and the Society were the real beneficiaries who received the lost gold and the delicious lunch respectively. The story proceeds further. 

The man who returned the gold was unemployed after closure of Calico Textiles Mill. He went as volunteer to serve water in the Katha of Morari Bapu organised by Karasanbhai Patel of Nirma. The man came in the eyes of Karsanbhai and luckily for him he was from the same village of Karsanbhai. He was appointed in the store section and later promoted to supervise the purchases of the company. The company gave him flat near law garden Ahmedabad and granted scholarships for the education of his daughter. He visited USA couple of times and live happily these days. 

The husband who denied accepting the gold was making will of individuals free of cost, and by chance he made a will of a Marvadi Sheth of a tree garden in Kolkata who invited the couple in a marriage event of the family. The Marvadi Sheth gifted a gold necklace of 25 tolas to his wife. The lost gold doubled and returned though another hand. But the story moves further. The husband was a sleeping partner is a travel business which went in losses. One day, the wife of his partner raised the issue of some losses in the business. He immediately gave away those 25 tolas of necklace to her. But how long one can held an unlawful collect. They return the necklace after three years when the couple returned from the USA. 

Good acts always pay back. 

Punamchand 

28 September 2024