Eid ul Azha: A short Story
“There are only two days left for eid and you have not brought any animal for sacrifice”, cried ten years’ old Aslam before his father who was continuously avoiding his pleas with a kind of indifference and serenity. Aslam has been persistently asking his father to purchase an animal for sacrifice. “Why you are not bringing an animal, he has been crying since last two days and you are not listening to him”, finally Aslam’s mother also participated in the affair. “We can’t purchase an animal, and if we do we will have to compromise other expenditures”, Aslam’s father calmly replied. “What would others think about us, they would say that these people could not even fulfill their religious obligations, everybody has brought some animal to sacrifice except for us”, Aslam’s mother gave a counter argument. “We are exempted from sacrifice, for it is obligatory only for those who can afford it”, Aslam’s father calmly replied. “But what you will do to stop him from crying”, Aslam’s mother pointed towards his son. “Don’t get so serious about a child’s desires, he must learn that every desire is not fulfilled and the real sacrifice that one offers is the sacrifice of desire”, Aslam’s father again replied with serenity. “So this year again we are going to sacrifice the desire of our only child where other’s will sacrifice precious animals”, Aslam’s mother said with a little indignation. “He is old enough to know what is necessary and what is unnecessary, he will remember this good lesson for the rest of his life, and for now I believe that he will forget about his desire to buy an animal within a few hours”, Aslam’s father gave a precise reply with calmness.
Aslam’s father was a paramedic in a heart care hospital owned by a certain surgeon Maqsood, who happened to be a very popular man among his staff members. Aslam’s father, though he was not a rich person, was revered and loved by his friends and coworkers for his kindness and good attitude towards his own life and others. His only son was asking him to bring a sacrificial animal for eid, but owing to his financial circumstances he was quite unable to fulfill this desire. He could easily have borrowed money for that purpose, but he was not willing to overburden himself. He lived in a rented house and he had to pay the house rent and his landlord was already demanding him to pay the earlier.
Aslam went outside and found that his friends were gathered at the nearby park, each was holding the reign of an animal and some had even two. He was a little dejected initially but then he got involved with his friends and forgot about his desire to have an animal. They planned to go out and see what varieties people had brought to sacrifice. “That jeweler has brought an ox that worth Rs. 50 lakhs”, said one of the little boys while playing with the rope through which a lamb was tied. “50 lakhs!”, exclaimed the boys , “ we better go to have a look at that animal” , they all said.
The boys at once started walking towards the residence of the jeweler and reaching there they found a crowd gathering around a big and healthy motley colored ox. They also stood before the ox and looked at it with amazement and wonder. People were coming there on a continuous basis as if to pay tribute or homage to a shrine. People stood in reverence before that ox and talked to each other in amazement and with a certain air of awe and respect. “What an ox!” exclaimed a person. “It worth 50 lakhs”, replied another. “The person who bought it must be a very rich person”, said another of the spectators. People were almost worshipping that ox.
All of a sudden a madman, from a well off family, whom no one in the crowd could recognize as a mad man, and who was wearing clean and almost precious cloths, also joined the crowd. As soon as he appeared he bowed before the ox and clasped his hands as if praying. Now the crowd started staring at him with amazement. People thought as if that was the right behavior, and slowly and gradually they all clasped their hands and bowed before the ox.
Then that madman took a thousand Rs note out of his pocket and put it underneath a stone placed near the ox. People again looked at this action with surprise, but as the madman appeared a rich person from his appearance and his act also attested that he was a rich man, no one for a single moment thought critically about his action. And then the whole crowd, one by one put something beneath the stone and after doing this act, prayed.
Children were also watching the scene but they were not feeling any reverence towards the ox like the older people were feeling. One of the child, by chance saw a 10 Rs note that came out and was placed near the stone. That child secretly moved towards that note and grabbed it on the sly so that nobody except for one of his friends, noticed him. The two then left the place, and bought a few sweets from a nearby shop. Aslam and his friends were hungry so they left for their homes for lunch.
In the evening they again visited the place. Now the scene was entirely changed. There was a bunch of beggars asking for alms, for the crowd had grown in number, and people were continuously coming to watch that ox. The stone was now replaced with a box and people were throwing money into that box, and there was a person, may be a servant of the home, who was handling the money. There were hawkers as well and the madman was not there, though everybody was following his method of paying tribute and homage to the ox. This continued till the late hours of night, and then people one by started retreating and only those who were taking care of that animal remained.
Next morning, there was a loud noise and commotion at the place where the majestic ox was kept. “The ox has run away”, people were crying. “Did anybody follow him”, some people asked. “No”, it happened in the early morning, and the servants and the master were there and they followed the ox but they could not catch it”, replied a person. “What happened then, how it is possible!”, exclaimed a few. The ox broke the rope in the morning when the jeweler along with his two servants was there to feed it. They followed the ox but the ox ran away ferociously and swiftly and disappeared in the wilderness, where they were not able to find it. Yet the jeweler had called the police and there was a search operation underway.
People were coming from everywhere to learn about what happened to the ox. The jeweler had a few photographs of the ox and he enlarged those snaps to convert them into posters and they were fastening those posters almost everywhere. Most of the people in the area had gone to search the ox and the rest of them were in contact with them. However nobody could found the ox. The jeweler and his servants were the centre of attraction, and were surrounded by a crowd from all sides. By the evening they all came back unsuccessful and now the jeweler realized that the hopes of finding his ox back were diminished. People left the place as soon as they realized that the ox had disappeared for all eternity and now they were least interested in the jeweler and his home, and this was a very painful realization for the jeweler and his family as well.
The jeweler was not as rich as he pretended to be through purchasing that 5 million Rs ox. He actually purchased this ox to compete his brother who was far wealthier than him and had bought a 35 lakhs’ ox to be sacrificed on the eid day. He did it on the persistent enticement of his wife who wanted to look down upon his rich in-laws , and wanted to show them that they were far richer than them. However the plan came to a naught when that jewel of an ox mercilessly ran away.
Presently she was quarrelling with her husband and their children were standing quite and dejected and were listening to the argument. They were all of the view that their father should buy another ox, for it would be very difficult to face the consequences of not sacrificing anything on eid. “What Uncle Majeed would say, they are not sacrificing any animal “said the eldest boy with a deep sigh. “I will not visit them nor I am going to receive them or anyone else on the eid day”, the daughter warned.” They will ridicule us for this”, said the younger sister. “Why you don’t bring another ox”, said the mother with anger.” I don’t have money to do this, I cannot buy another ox now”, replied the jeweler, “I have already spent everything that I had earned last year and now I will have to borrow money from the money lender.” “Then please borrow it”, replied his wife and there was a commanding tone in it. The jeweler was now completely lost and he gave consent to buy another ox and borrow money from the lender at a rate of 20% per anum.
The jeweler went straight to the money lender and, as the lender knew him well, gave him the amount without any hesitation, though he kept the documents of the jeweler’s shop as a guarantee. He went to the market and purchased another ox. The jeweler was not feeling well and his chest pain reappeared with a growing intensity. When he brought the ox, people again started gathering around his house and the rituals started again. The jeweler though could not survive the loss and had a severe heart attack and was immediately taken to the hospital where he was admitted to ICU.
Aslam’s father, who was a paramedic in the same hospital, was called on an emergency duty. The surgeon wanted to perform a bypass operation. Aslam’s father helped him and the operation was successful. No one from the family of the jeweler came to see him, though they were worried, but they were not able to leave the precious ox and they wanted to participate in the sacrifice as well, for they loved the importance that they would receive from the crowd that gathered to see how an ox of 5 million would be butchered. Jeweler’s wife his two daughters and the elder son, all were more interested in the ox as compared to their father.
In the evening, however, after completing the sacrifice, the jeweler’s wife at last visited the hospital along with her relatives, though she was worried, she was also telling them about the worth of the ox they sacrificed. Her relatives were listening to her with interest and awe and were not able to decide what was the actual loss to the family; the heart attack or the loss of the first ox. Some of them did not even ask about the health of the jeweler and they were only extending condolences about the loss of ox, and others were confused between the ox and the jeweler. Even the family members were confused now, and amidst the false happiness that resulted from the satisfaction of their vanity, they did not know how to compose themselves to address their father’s serious health condition.
When the jeweler finally regained his consciousness and health, he found Aslam’s father near him. He now remembered everything and asked when he will be relieved from the hospital. After two days, Aslam’s father replied with composure typical of paramedics in ICU. The patient also inquired him about his family members and he told him about their visits. He was dejected to know that no one from his family was around him.
In one day’s time, the jeweler got acquainted with the paramedic and he, in the time of need realized the worth of human emotions, and started liking Aslam’s father for his kind and caring attitude. “What did you sacrifice on the eid day”, he asked Aslam’s father, smilingly. “Nothing”, replied Aslam’s father, “I did not have enough money to perform the sacrifice and I could not lend money on interest, so I did not sacrifice.” Jeweler was amazed to listen to this reply. “And what about your family, your wife and children, didn’t they protest”, asked the jeweler. “Yes they did, but I explained the facts to them, and more than that I don’t want my child to nurse unnecessary desires and to do anything from ulterior motives, like conceit and vanity”, replied he. “What then you do on eid day” asked the jeweler. “We meet our relatives and friends , and in the evening we go to surgeon Maqsood’s home, he organizes an eid Millan party for his friends, relatives and staff members there”, replied Aslam’s father. “What does he sacrifice on an eid day”, jeweler again inquired. “He brings three oxen not for more than 1 lakh each, and gives away one to the poors, one to the relatives and one he keeps to entertain us”, replied Aslam’s father. “How rich he is”, asked the jeweler. “He is among the riches people in the town , but he values humanity above everything”, replied Aslam’s father.
The jeweler was amazed to learn this lesson and then when he reflected on his attitude he realized that the important thing for a man is to be a proper human being, and Aslam’s father appeared to him a far greater person than anyone of his family members who acted out of vanity and had no idea of how a proper human being should behave. He also resented their lack of interest in his health and decided to adopt a different strategy at home. He realized that he did not give his children proper idea of what life is, and this could ruin them.
This lesson changed the jeweler a great deal. He stopped his children from purchasing unnecessary things to compete others, and he started puncturing their vanity and false pride. Initially each of the family members, including his wife protested, but after sometime they all yielded, and stop taking interest in things, and luxury items. This resulted in creating among them a care and respect for each other. Now they were better able to understand each other and they established a good communication with each other.
Next year, after paying his debt he was left only with a few lakh Rs. And he decided to sacrifice two lambs worth only 20 thousand Rs. His wife protested a lot but he would not listen to her and remained indifferent. He gave away one to the poor people, one he distributed among his relatives and the third one he kept for a small party in which he invited those who worked with him.This change in his attitude also brought a change in his family and next time when his wife was admitted to the hospital they were not thinking about things but about their mother.
By: Khalid Jamil Rawat
. At least as compared to the foreign invaders , he was a better person. 
Aye parind-e-fikr, tera aastana jal gaya