CHANDRANI Majumdar
During the summer vacation, Samiran Chakraborty and his family returned home after a few days’ trip to Darjeeling.
Samiran Chakraborty was a professor, his wife was Vasundhara Devi, and their son’s name was Sarthak. They owned a private car, yet they chose to travel to Darjeeling with the help of a travel agency. About a week after returning home, Samiran suddenly met Kaju.
Kaju was their car driver, who had been working for them for about two years. He greeted them, saying, “Sir, are you and your family doing well?” Samiran replied, “Yes, we’re all fine. But why have you come today?” Kaju answered, “I knew you would be returning today, so I came just to meet you once.” Kaju lived in a tribal neighborhood to the west. He had grown up in an orphanage and later stayed in this region because of his work. Neither Samiran Chakraborty nor his wife ever treated him with much respect. Whenever Kaju came to their house, they never even showed the courtesy to let him inside. His only duty was to come in the morning, take Samiran to college in the car, and bring him back home in the evening. For this work, he was paid a good monthly salary, and that alone was enough to make him happy.
Several times, Samiran had insulted Kaju for various reasons. Yet, driven by the need to earn his livelihood, Kaju never quit the job and silently endured all the humiliation. That day Samiran said, “Alright, Kaju! Now go home. Come early tomorrow, exactly on time. We have a lot of work at home.” Kaju simply replied, “Yes, sir, I’ll be there.”
For some days, everything went on as usual. But one day, unexpectedly, Kaju did not come to work. When Samiran called him, he learned that Kaju was unwell and could not come that day. Samiran got angry, hung up the phone without a word, and, still fuming, decided to drive the car himself. But fate was unkind. After driving a short distance, while taking a turn, his car collided with a bus, and he met with an accident. In an injured state, Samiran was rushed to the hospital.
On hearing the news, Vasundhara Devi and their son Sarthak hurried to the hospital. The doctor informed them that a large amount of blood was required to save Samiran’s life, but the hospital did not have the necessary blood group in stock. Unfortunately, neither his wife nor his son’s blood group matched his.
A little while later, Kaju arrived at the hospital and expressed his willingness to donate blood for his master. Miraculously, his blood group matched perfectly with Samiran’s. By God’s grace, the man’s life was saved.
A few days later, when Samiran recovered a little and met Kaju, he embraced him and began to cry, saying, “Forgive me, brother. How many times have I insulted you at the wrong moments, and yet you are the one who saved my life in this hour of danger!”
Kaju smiled gently and replied, “Sir, protecting you is part of my duty. I was born an orphan; I don’t know what my caste or religion is. But to me, there is only one true religion, and that is the religion of humanity.”
Hearing these words from Kaju, Samiran and his family realized their mistake and were deeply humbled by the greatness of his spirit.