By Shikha Tailang
(AI generated translation of : मैं हूँ ना)

Based on his qualifications, Raju got the job of assistant manager in a big corporate house. The package was Rs. 18 lakh per annum. Raju was already very rich. Such a huge payment made him dizzy. Most of his money started getting wasted on going to hotels, drinking occasionally, and taking huge loans to buy expensive mobile phones and luxury cars. Overall, he started wasting money in fulfilling all the desires of hobbies and pleasures that he had suppressed in his heart for years.
He had a friend in the same office- Vikas. He would repeatedly tell Raju ‘Brother, this much extravagance is not right. Save at least ten per cent of your income. Apart from this, try to develop other sources of income as well.’ But Raju would listen to him with one ear and let it out from the other.
But who could have seen the future? Some time ago, coronavirus spread widely in the country. Thousands of people started dying every day. Due to the lockdown, all industries and businesses were ruined. Corona also hit Raju’s corporate house. Many people working in it lost their lives due to the epidemic. Raju also got a severe infection in his lungs. The company started the process of working from home. But Raju was unable to do even that. As a result, Raju’s company terminated his services. Salary stopped coming. It became difficult to manage household expenses and maintain the old status full of pomp and glory. Lying on the hospital bed, Raju kept regretting day and night remembering the things said by Vikas.
Raju was somehow treated in a government hospital. When he returned home after recovering a little, Vikas came to meet him. On seeing him, Raju said, ‘Friend! You have passed through the difficult times very easily, but your life has come to a standstill due to not having a job. Now tell me what should I do?’
On this, Vikas said, ‘No problem. Time is never the same. I have seen ants prepare themselves well to face the winters. They know that there will be difficulty in getting food and water in the winter. That is why they start collecting food and water in the summer itself. They work hard and save a lot in the summers. Similarly, when the days are good, we should work hard and make arrangements for goods, extra income, savings etc. for at least six months of living so that even if we do not have a job, we can spend our lives comfortably. At least one more source of income should be found.
Raju said – ‘Brother, I understand what you are saying. But what will I do now?’
Vikas said – ‘Don’t worry. I am here! I have saved some money, and with that, we both will open a shop together. We will work hard. If we develop the habit of saving and investing, I am sure that we will succeed very well.
The moral of the story: Learn from small creatures how intelligently they work to make life easier. After all, we are all humans and being humans, we must help our friends in difficult times.

(fictional story )