There are 3 main characters in the story:

The watch man He is the watch man of the temple and father of 3 unmarried daughters. He always feels sad for not able to do their marriages. To overcome his sorrow he drinks after the duty.

The Boy A son of a peon, whose needs such as biscuits, sweets and cinemas are not satisfied by his father.

The devotees These devotees visit temple and give lot of offerings such as money and other articles to impress the god to grant their wishes.

Let us know something about the temple There is a temple surrounded with a compound wall with 2 gates one is entrance and the other is exit. The devotees enter the temple through the front gate and visit the shrine, then visit neem tree (sacred to Hindus). They put their offering in the hundi near the shrine, but there is no hundi near the neem tree so, they simply throw them on the bark in spite of hanging a note saying not to do that. They lie scattered all around the tree.

Let us go to the story :-

The watchman collets all the money near the neem tree after the temple is closed, drinks cheap liquor with it. One day the boy visited the temple with his parents. He saw the money scattered around the tree. On the same day after the temple is closed the watchman went to the neem tree to collect the money, but surprisingly he could only find not more than 10-15 coins. First he suspected the priest but later suspended the thought as the priest was god fearing. That day he went to sleep with out being drunk. On the next he performed all his duties normally and went out for smoking in the afternoon. When he returned he found the money missing. Then he decided to find out the thief and thought a plan. On the next day in the afternoon he went out from the front gate and came back from the back gate with in lesser time than the time he usually take. Then he found the boy picking up the coins near the neem tree. Then he rushed to the boy and got hold of his collar. He broke a branch from the neem tree and started beating the boy. The boy started weeping. The devotees who saw that interrupted the watchman and asked the reason for beating. Then the watchman said “I caught him stealing the money from the neem tree.” “Aah,”exclaimed the devotees “stealing the God’s money is a sin, he should not be excused.”

Who’s fault is this anyway...........????!!
A) The innocent boy who doesn’t know what is a sin? Who is God?
B) The watchman who beat the boy.
C) The devotees who offered money near the neem tree in spite of the notice.





THE END.