Diwan Todar Mal - Ransom of Gold

Dadi: "*settles into her chair with a heavy sigh* Guddu, come sit close to me. Tonight I want to tell you about a man who bought four yards of earth... for 78,000 gold coins."

Guddu: "78,000 gold coins?! For just four yards? Dadi, that's impossible! Was he crazy?"

Dadi: "*shakes head slowly* No beta, he was the sanest person in a world gone mad. This happened in December 1704, during a time of terrible darkness. Do you know who Guru Gobind Singh Ji was?"

Guddu: "The tenth Sikh Guru, right?"

Dadi: "Yes. And this story is about his two youngest sons - Sahibzada Zorawar Singh, just nine years old, and Sahibzada Fateh Singh, only seven. *pauses* Younger than you are now."

Guddu: "*eyes widen* What happened to them?"

Dadi: "They were captured by the cruel Nawab Wazir Khan of Sirhind, along with their grandmother Mata Gujri Ji. The Nawab brought these little boys before his court and gave them a choice - give up your faith, or die."

Guddu: "*whispers* What did they choose?"

Dadi: "*voice trembles* These brave little souls, Guddu - nine and seven years old - they looked at the mighty Nawab and said no. They refused to give up their faith. And so... they were bricked up alive inside a wall."

Guddu: "*gasps* Dadi... that's... that's horrible."

Dadi: "*nods, wiping eyes* Their grandmother died of shock when she heard. And then came an even crueler decree - no one could claim the bodies. No one could give them a proper cremation. Anyone who tried would face the same fate."

Guddu: "So the bodies just lay there? Nobody helped?"

Dadi: "Everyone was terrified. But there was one man - Diwan Todar Mal, a wealthy merchant of Sirhind. When he heard what had happened, his heart broke. He went to the Nawab and asked to buy a small piece of land to cremate the martyrs."

Guddu: "Did the Nawab agree?"

Dadi: "*bitter laugh* Oh, he agreed - but with a wicked condition. He said Todar Mal could have only as much land as he could cover with gold coins. The coins would be the price."

Guddu: "That's strange... but if you lay coins flat, you could cover some ground, right?"

Dadi: "That's what Todar Mal thought too. He gathered coins and returned. But then the Nawab changed the rules. He said the coins must stand on their edges - vertically, not flat."

Guddu: "*thinks* Oh! That means you'd need way more coins for the same space!"

Dadi: "Exactly, beta. The Nawab wanted to make it impossible. He wanted to humiliate anyone who dared to honor the martyrs. But Diwan Todar Mal... *voice fills with pride* ...he didn't give up. He sold everything he had. He borrowed from everyone he knew. And coin by coin, standing on their edges, he covered that ground."

Guddu: "How many coins did it take?"

Dadi: "78,000 gold mohurs. For just four yards of land. They say at today's prices, that would be over 250 crore rupees."

Guddu: "*stunned silence* And he paid it? All of it?"

Dadi: "Every last coin. On December 13, 1705, Diwan Todar Mal finally cremated the bodies of Mata Gujri Ji and her two brave grandsons with full religious honors. He gave them the dignified farewell their sacrifice deserved."

Guddu: "What happened to him after?"

Dadi: "*voice softens* The Nawab was furious. He destroyed all of Todar Mal's remaining properties. The man who had gathered 78,000 gold coins in hours became a beggar overnight. He and his family had to flee, and they lived the rest of their lives in poverty and anonymity."

Guddu: "*long pause* He gave up everything... and he knew he would lose everything..."

Dadi: "Yes, beta. He knew. When he went to buy that land, he knew he was buying his own ruin. But he went anyway."

Guddu: "Why, Dadi? Why would someone do that?"

Dadi: "*takes Guddu's hands* Because some things matter more than gold. More than comfort. More than even your own future. Those two little boys stood against an empire with nothing but their faith. Todar Mal couldn't save them alive... but he could honor them in death. He could say to the world - their sacrifice was seen. Their courage was witnessed. Someone cared."

Guddu: "*quietly* The place where he laid those coins... is it still there?"

Dadi: "It's now Gurdwara Jyoti Sarup in Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab. Millions visit it every year. The gold coins are long gone, but what Todar Mal bought that day... that lives forever."

Guddu: "Dadi, do you think... if something like that happened today... would someone step up?"

Dadi: "*smiles gently* That's the question, isn't it? Would we have the courage to sacrifice everything for what's right? Most of us will never face such a test. But in small ways, every day, we choose - do we stay silent when we see wrong? Do we protect our comfort, or do we speak up?"

Guddu: "It's scary to think about."

Dadi: "It is. But Guddu, remember this - Todar Mal was just a merchant. Not a warrior, not a saint, not a king. Just an ordinary man who saw something unbearable and said, "Not on my watch. Not while I can still act." That's all any of us can be - ordinary people who refuse to look away."

Guddu: "*thoughtfully* 78,000 gold coins for four yards... but really, he bought something much bigger, didn't he?"

Dadi: "*hugs Guddu* Yes, beta. He bought dignity. He bought memory. He bought the right to say that even in the darkest times, humanity didn't completely fail. *pauses* That's worth more than all the gold in the world."

Guddu: "I won't forget this story, Dadi. I promise."

Dadi: "Good. And whenever you feel small, whenever you think one person can't make a difference... remember Diwan Todar Mal, standing alone against an empire, counting out gold coins for two little boys who died standing up for what they believed in."