The king arrived at Roopali’s house on cool morning . He saw huge queue of people gathered outside her house. The crowd was whispering to each other as they watched their king proceed inside the house .The guard was about to announce the king’s arrival. He stopped him and stood there watching her in serious discussion with a poor farmer at her house. He was complaining how the drought in last year had left him penniless by destroying all his crops and why he needed a waiver in tax for this year.
After listening to his problem carefully, she spoke gently, “I will speak to the finance minister and get this tax waived for you. I will also discuss this issue with the minister to ensure that tax is waived for all the farmers.” “Consider it as done.”, the king spoke aloud. Roopali and the farmer rose up with folded hands to greet the king.
“We are sorry to keep you waiting. We were not aware of your arrival , your highness.”, she said with gaze bent down. “You don’t have to be sorry. I saw you busy resolving an issue and I wanted to see how you were faring in your work. Hence I didn’t let you know about my arrival.”, he said. He looked at the farmer and said, “I hereby declare that all those farmers who have suffered from the last year’s drought will have their tax waived for five consecutive years and they will receive all the help they require to sustain their livelihood and crops. I am also sorry for not looking into this matter earlier.”
The farmer was left with joy shining from his eyes. The crowd was about to disperse when he signalled them to wait and said, “You don’t have to leave . I will wait here while your supervisor listens and resolves each one of your issues. You have waited very long to be heard.”, he spoke. The crowd became happy while Roopali continued with her work.
He watched her resolve issues. Some issues were sticky and some were petty. But she resolved each one of the issues with all her capabilities. There were times when the issue was beyond her expertise and in those cases, she would tell them that she would get back later. The queue reduced gradually. It took her four hours to finish solving everyone’s issue.
Once she was done with work, she made lemonade and prepared a plate filled with snacks for the king. “Your highness, forgive me for keeping you waiting and not being able to serve you properly. My maid isn’t well and I had given her off today . I wasn’t expecting you too.”, she said embarrassed. The king smiled and said, “Please don’t be guilty. I understand that one’s first priority should be serving their city and people. Hence I let you serve the people first and not me. I don’t mind waiting four hours to get such refreshing drink and snacks from you.” She blushed.
(To be continued)
After listening to his problem carefully, she spoke gently, “I will speak to the finance minister and get this tax waived for you. I will also discuss this issue with the minister to ensure that tax is waived for all the farmers.” “Consider it as done.”, the king spoke aloud. Roopali and the farmer rose up with folded hands to greet the king.
“We are sorry to keep you waiting. We were not aware of your arrival , your highness.”, she said with gaze bent down. “You don’t have to be sorry. I saw you busy resolving an issue and I wanted to see how you were faring in your work. Hence I didn’t let you know about my arrival.”, he said. He looked at the farmer and said, “I hereby declare that all those farmers who have suffered from the last year’s drought will have their tax waived for five consecutive years and they will receive all the help they require to sustain their livelihood and crops. I am also sorry for not looking into this matter earlier.”
The farmer was left with joy shining from his eyes. The crowd was about to disperse when he signalled them to wait and said, “You don’t have to leave . I will wait here while your supervisor listens and resolves each one of your issues. You have waited very long to be heard.”, he spoke. The crowd became happy while Roopali continued with her work.
He watched her resolve issues. Some issues were sticky and some were petty. But she resolved each one of the issues with all her capabilities. There were times when the issue was beyond her expertise and in those cases, she would tell them that she would get back later. The queue reduced gradually. It took her four hours to finish solving everyone’s issue.
Once she was done with work, she made lemonade and prepared a plate filled with snacks for the king. “Your highness, forgive me for keeping you waiting and not being able to serve you properly. My maid isn’t well and I had given her off today . I wasn’t expecting you too.”, she said embarrassed. The king smiled and said, “Please don’t be guilty. I understand that one’s first priority should be serving their city and people. Hence I let you serve the people first and not me. I don’t mind waiting four hours to get such refreshing drink and snacks from you.” She blushed.
(To be continued)
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