Being Honest, Being Happy!

Murugan and Peter at Peter's magazine shop in Ernakulam

When was the last time you heard of somebody trying to live up to the eternal principles, the basic values endorsed by all religions?  An incident that happened last week in Ernakulam, Kerala gives us heart, though some may doubt the sanity of the protagonist-in this world of instant gratification.

In the photo above, the man on the left, Murugan, has ample reason to wear that happy grin-he has won the state bumper lottery of 40,00,000 INR (80,000 USD) and a top-end Toyota Innova, in a draw this February. He is a labourer who works on daily wages-to be precise, he was.

But the smile of the man on the right, Peter, comes from something else-an act of honesty. He just gave up the prize of the lottery to its rightful owner-Murugan.Truth, Honesty, Kindness, love, Sharing,...The people who keep these values alive are probably sustaining the human civilization, being examples for others to follow, to hitch their faith to.

Murugan had a daily routine of buying a lottery ticket from Peter's shop. It cost him Rs.20. This went on for probably years. That day in this February, he did not have the money to pay for the ticket. So he asked Peter to keep aside a ticket for him-he would pay latter. Peter obliged for his regular customer.

When the prize results came out, Peter found Murugan's ticket had won the first prize. But Mutugan had not yet paid and not taken the ticket also. So he was not aware he had won-he did not know the winning ticket number.

Peter showed his real worth here-it was much more than those wads of money. He immediately called up Murugan and handed over the ticket, informing him of his win.

The rest of the story has been phenomenal-Peter is now celebrated by the whole city. The State Government has congratulated him and is showing appreciation by suitably rewarding him. His phone has not stopped ringing-receiving congratulations from even far off Gulf and Europe.

Here are just a few of the web clippings on Peter:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldIsmailis/message/24129
http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=130574

We thank you, Peter!
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