Melting Hearts with Kindness

The tiny and peaceful village of Shigaon was untouched by chaos. But Aditya had changed that in a moment. Aditya was a 30-year-old man, and a very clever thief. He had been robbing people since he was very young. Within a few weeks Aditya had robbed nearly all houses in the town and had left people scratching their heads. He was known to be heartless and cunning.

After Aditya had stolen to his hearts content from Shiggaon, he decided to move on. He packed all his belongings and set out on the journey ahead . As he walked through a forest near a village, it started raining heavily. Seeing a house nearby, he knocked on the door and waited outside. An elderly woman opened the door and invited Aditya inside. When he asked her if he could spend the night at her place, she said, “You are more than welcome to accompany my granddaughter and me. She will be delighted to meet you.” Saying this, she called her granddaughter, Shanaya. Shanaya was a very loving and kind girl who was about 15 years old. They treated him with a lot of kindness and gave him the love of a family he never had received.

That night, when everybody went to bed, Aditya thought of stealing valuables from the house. As he reached his hand out to pick up the riches left here and there, something seemed to stop him. He ignored the feeling, gathered all the valuables and walked out the door. As Aditya walk through the woods again, he felt an emotion that was new to him – guilt.

He thought about how the old lady had treated him and how he was repaying her favour. He imagined how Shanaya would cry in despair the next morning. He could not bear the thought. He turned around, surprising even himself.

The next morning, Shiggaon was again buzzing with excitement. All the stolen valuables had been returned. Not even a penny was missing from the old lady’s home, and Shanaya found a heartfelt ‘Thank You’ note from Aditya at her bedside. Kindness had unlocked an iron door.