There were days when no one came to the temple. When it was calm, occasionally he saw a small mouse come out hesitantly out of a hole at one corner of the temple. Slowly it approached the plate at the altar, grabbed a piece of coconut or a bit of pudding and darted out off site among the fallen pillars.<\/p>\n
One evening in winter, when there were no devotees and the temple was silent, and Sasri was whispering prayers with half closed eyes, the tiny mouse came out, cocked its head this way and that, cleaned its whiskers and went inside. In a few seconds, it came out carrying a small shiny object in its mouth. The mouse dropped the object on the plate, grabbed a piece of coconut and rushed to its hole.<\/p>\n
Syam Sasri observed the comings and goings of the mouse with interest. After the puja, at nine, he picked up the plate and glanced at the shining object. It was a gold ring.<\/p>\n
Sasri hesitated to touch it, but he was in dire need of money to pay college fees to his daughter. Maybe, God Ganesh has sent this gift to relieve his crisis, he thought. He tied the ring in a knot at one corner of his dhoti, closed the doors of the temple and went home.<\/p>\n
Parijatham suspected something was unusual with her husband as he was not paying attention. He never entered the house without washing his feet. Today, he just came in.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong, my dear. What happened at the temple? Please answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sasri silently untied the knot and placed the ring on her palm. It glittered in the light of the hurricane lamp. After the excitement was over, he explained to Parijatham how he got the ring.<\/p>\n
\u201cTomorrow take it to your goldsmith friend, Bangarappa and pawn it for 3,000 rupees. This will be enough for the college fees for our daughter and the rest for our grocery.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bangarappa carefully examined the ring. He rubbed it against a piece of rough black rock. \u201cYes, it\u2019s gold.\u201d He said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t want to buy gold now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cListen Bangarappa, you have been my friend for 20 years. You fashioned my wife\u2019s mangal sutra<\/em>. I want to pawn this ring for 3000 rupees. When I have money, I will pay you and take back the ring.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t give you that much. Because you\u2019re my friend, I will give you 2000 rupees. That\u2019s all.\u201d\u00a0He locked the ring in a safe box and started counting the money.<\/p>\n Sasri took the cash and came home. Parijatham was happy. She lit a pure ghee lamp to God that day.<\/p>\n
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