Once, a teacher, named Mahesh, lived in a small village. He went to teach in a school in a distant village. He was a poor man, so he had to walk a long distance to reach the school. This went on for many months, but somehow he could save some money to buy a new bicycle.
He began going to school on a bicycle. He always took others on his bicycle if they had to go to the village or drop somewhere on the way. He did so as he knew how tiring it was to walk long distances. He also helped others in other ways. His nature of helping others made him a popular figure in the village.
One day, Mahesh was coming from school. At a lonely spot, he encountered a robber. Threatening him with a knife, he asked him to hand over the bicycle to him. If he didn’t, he would kill him.
Mahesh told him without fear, “I will hand over my cycle to you, provided you promise that you will not tell anybody about it.”
The robber was surprised and thought, “What sort of person he is? Instead of resisting me, he is willing to hand over the bicycle with a promise that I will not tell anybody about it.”
The robber took away the cycle happily. Mahesh didn’t tell anybody about the incident and began walking to the school as before. People thought his cycle might have broken down.
One day, the cycle broke down, so the robber took it to the repair shop. The mechanic immediately recognized the cycle and asked the man, “I know this is Mahesh’s cycle. Has he loaned it to you, as I don’t see him around on the cycle?” The robber felt disgraced and left soon after getting the cycle repaired.
On an occasion, he came across a teacher from another village. The man immediately recognized the cycle and asked, “Gentleman, how did you get this cycle, as it belongs to Mahesh?” The robber again felt disgraced and left the place at once without any reply.
On another occasion, he went to a general store to buy something. The shopkeeper at once recognized the cycle and asked him, “Gentleman, how could you get this cycle as it belongs to Mahesh.” The robber at once left, feeling disgraced again.
On some other occasions, people pointed out to the robber that the cycle belonged to Mahesh. Many asked him how he got it. He felt disgraced every time he was asked.
It happened many times. At last, he felt so humiliated that he returned the cycle to Mahesh, apologizing sincerely to him. Besides, he promised not to rob anybody. Mahesh’s behavior had so deep an impact on his personality that he started doing hard work to earn his living. Over time, Mahesh and he became good friends.