NfN NETWORK
Phulia, March 20: A B Sc second year girl yesterday had returned a bag containing Rupees one lakh in cash to its original owner which she found on the road in front of her copier shop in Nadia’s Phulia.
21 year Kuheli Basak of Phulia Kalipur village, daughter of a toto operator, has been struggling with poverty for long. Nevertheless, she did not allow the poverty to defeat her values and ethics. So on Saturday evening when the enterprising girl, who runs copier and mobile recharge shop, found the kitty containing 44 currency notes of Rupees 2000 and 24 notes of Rupees 500, she decided to wait eagerly expecting that the original owner would return.
Cloth trader Ujjwal Halder was lucky enough as she met Kuheli near her shop while searching for the bag frantically on Monday morning, who eventually relieved him of tension and handed over the bag containing money to him after checking his authentication.
Halder said: “I lost hope to get back the money and searching it half heatedly near the girl’s shop as I passed through the area. But I am indebted to the girl as she called me inside her shop and handed over the bag. Such honesty is now rarely seen. She could easily keep the money as her own, but she comes out to be exception”.
On Saturday evening Kuheli found the small leather bag lying on the road, MH34, almost in front of her shop. She brought it to her shop and found the cash inside.
Kuheli, who a few months ago set up her copier shop using Rupees 25000 she received as a “Kanyashree” beneficiary, said: “How can I take a money which I have not earned. I realised that the bag was accidentally fallen from someone’s custody and also realised how the person was feeling after loosing hard earned money. I could not find any phone or other clue to contact the owner. So I decided to wait atleast upto the morning before handing it over to police”.
On Saturday, Halder, who is also a resident of Phulia lost the bag while returning home after withdrawing money from a bank.
“After withdrawing money, i bought medicine and then kept the bag inside the back carry box of my bike. But I did not notice when it had fall. I noticed the bag missing while going to pay money to the Masons engaged in construction work at my home. I started searching it frantically, but could not found it till late Saturday night. On Monday morning I decided to go back naer the bank and adjacent areas where I also went. It was then Kuheli noticed me and asked if I had lost anything”.
Kuheli said: “My father always taught me never to cheat anybody. So in rarest thought I imagined to take the money. I know that there cannot be any easy way to become rich.For this i have been fighting with poverty keeping my dignity high”
Kuheli in last year set up the copier shop.
“I used the Kanyashree benefit to purchase a computer and copier cum printer and installed it at our shop in kalipur. i also help students to submit online forms for competitive examinations and also recharge mobile phone. I took a few thousand rupees from my father too to set up this business, which I generally do during after noon once I return from college. My brother, who is also a student, some times extend help me and this way I earn few hundred bucks everyday to help my father”, a proud Kuheli said.
Kuheli would add Rupees 4000 which she got as gift from Halder. Halder was happy enough to give it as a token of respect to the girl, which she did not want to accept .
“I humbly requested him not to give me anything…but he vehemently requested to accept it.”, she added.