A good daughter

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A man’s wife called him, “How long will you read that newspaper?  

 Will you come here and make your darling daughter eat her food?”      .
He put down the paper and rushed to the scene. His only daughter,
Sindhu's eyes were full of tears. In front of her was a bowl of Curd
Rice. Sindhu is a nice child, quite intelligent for her age. She has
just turned eight. She did not like Curd Rice. He cleared his throat,
and picked up the bowl.“Sindhu, darling, why don’t you take a few
mouthfuls of this Curd Rice? Just for Dad’s sake, dear?”
.
Sindhu softened a bit, and wiped her tears with the back of her hands.
“OK, Dad. I will eat – not just a few mouthfuls, but the whole lot of
this. But Dad, if I eat this entire curd Rice, will you give me whatever
I want?”
.
"Oh sure, darling" he said

“Promise?” Sindhu asked.

“Promise.” he said

"Ask Mom. She should also give a similar promise”,
his daughter insisted.
His wife slapped her hand on Sindhu's, muttering, “Promise”,
without any emotion. Now he became a bit anxious.
.
“Sindhu dear, you shouldn’t insist on getting a computer or any such
expensive items. I dont have that kind of money right now. OK?”
.
“No, Dad. I do not want anything expensive.” Siindhu said. Slowly
and painfully, she finished eating the whole quantity. Then Sindhu
came to her father.

“Dad, I want to have my hair shaved off, this Sunday" Sindhu said .

“Terrible! A girl child having her hair shaved off ?
Impossible!” shouted the wife.

“Never in our family!” her mother gasped. “You have been watching
too much television. Our culture is getting totally spoiled with these
TV programs!”

“Sindhu darling, why don’t you ask for something else? We will be
sad seeing you with a clean-shaven head.” Father requested.

“No, Dad. I do not want anything else”, Sindhu said with finality.

“Please, Sindhu, why don’t you try to understand our feelings?”
He tried to plead with her.

“Dad, you saw how difficult it was for me to eat that Curd Rice.”
Sindhu was in tears. “And you promised to grant me whatever I ask
for. Now, you are going back on your words. Was it not you who told
me the story of King Harishchandra, and its moral that we should
honour our promises no matter what?”
.
He fulfilled her desire. The next day Sindhu's head was shaven.
With her head clean-shaven, Sindhu had a round-face, and her eyes
looked big and beautiful. On Monday morning, he dropped her at her
school. It was a sight to watch his hairless Sindhu walking towards
her classroom. She turned around and waved her hand. He waved
back with a smile.
.
Just then, a boy and her mother got down from a car, and
The boy shouted, “Sindhu, please wait for me!”

Her mother came to Sindhu's father and said “Sir, your daughter
Sindhu has a great heart.” Without introducing herself, the lady
continued with tears in her eyes.
“That boy who is walking along with your daughter is my son Harish.
He is suffering from leukemia. Harish could not attend school for the
whole of the last month. He lost all his hair due to the side effects
of the chemotherapy. He refused to come back to school fearing the
cruel teasing of the schoolmates. Sindhu visited him last week and
promised him that she would take care of the teasing issue. But, I
never imagined she would sacrifice her lovely hair for the sake of
my son! Sir, you and your wife are blessed to have such a noble
soul as your daughter.”
.
Sindhu's father thought “My little Angel, you are teaching me
how selfless real love is!”