Two Bandits .

- "Stealing at night is for thieves. We are true bandits-we'll strike in daylight." So, under the midday sun, they entered a village

- "Tell me where the money, gold, silver, and jewels are. My men will collect it. Delay, and I'll shoot"

JIVRAM JOSHI

W ho are we?  Who are you? Once there was a wealthy merchant. He had two sons.

The elder was five years old, and the younger was two.

When the younger son was just six month old, he fell ill. The merchant's wife took a vow: once he recovered, they would take both sons to the hilltop goddess and offer their hair. 

Until then, they wouldn't cut their sons' hair.

Time passed and the younger son recovered.

Their hair grew long.

The wife reminded the merchant to fulfill the vow and visit the goddess.

The merchant was busy and said they'd go later.

When the younger son turned one and a half, the wife insisted again:

"It's time to visit the hilltop goddess. Look at the boys' hair."

The merchant agreed.

The temple was seven villages away, through forests and hills.

They prepared an ox-cart, packed what they needed, and brought two guards.

The guards rode horses.

The wife had two gold necklaces made.

They were identical.

She placed them around her sons' necks.

They set off in the cart.

They reached the temple through forests and hills.

They shaved both sons' heads, fed Brahmins and the poor, offered gifts to the goddess, and started back joyfully.

Halfway through the forest, seven or eight bandits appeared.

They stopped the cart.

The guards came on horseback, but the bandits were clever.

They quickly grabbed the reins of one horse.

Before the guard could react, they threw him off.

The bandits robbed whatever they could from the merchant and his wife.

The wife secretly removed the elder son's gold necklace and hid it in the cart.

But the younger still wore his.

One bandit tried to snatch the necklace from the child's neck.

But the gang leader shouted:

"Don't! Don't take it. Take the child instead. He's beautiful. I like him."

They took the merchant's younger son and ran away.

They had gone with two sons,

but returned with only one.

Twenty-five years passed.

The merchant died.

So did the bandit leader.

The elder son grew up to be more capable than his father.

And the younger?

He had been taken to the bandit leader's home.

The leader had no son, so he raised him as his own.

His daughter-in-law raised the child as her own too.

Growing up among bandits, the merchant's younger son became a strong, fierce dacoit.

He eventually led a large group of bandits.

One day, this gang went out to loot.

They were mounted, young and armed.

The leader said:

"Stealing at night is for thieves. We are true bandits-we'll strike in daylight."

So, under the midday sun, they entered a village.

Gunshots and chaos followed.

Villagers fled.

They reached the merchant's house first.

Inside, the merchant was eating.

He heard gunshots and was alarmed.

Suddenly, the bandits entered.

They caught the merchant.

The leader pressed a gun to his chest:

"Tell me where the money, gold, silver, and jewels are. My men will collect it. Delay, and I'll shoot."

The merchant noticed something:

A necklace on the bandit's neck.

It looked exactly like the one he had.

The leader barked:

"What are you staring at?"

The merchant replied:

"If it's what I think, there's no greater joy than this. My mother used to weep telling this story."

"What do you mean?" the bandit asked.

The merchant reached into his robe,

and pulled out a gold necklace.

"Look at this," he said.

The bandit was shocked.

It was identical to his own.

He removed his necklace and compared it.

Both were the same.

He looked at the merchant:

"These are the same. What's the story behind them?"

The merchant told everything.

The bandit paused.

He noticed they looked similar.

He thought:

"If I was one and a half and kidnapped, I'd remember nothing.

I always believed the bandits were my real parents.

But our skin color is the same.

They were not like me.

This man must be my elder brother."

Suddenly, the bandit embraced the merchant:

"Brother!"

After years, the two brothers reunited.

Like Ram meeting Bharat!

The bandit leader asked his oldest gang members,

And one confirmed the story.

The man once aiming to shoot,

now stood ready to take a bullet for his brother.