Karma as a Hand Pump

Once upon a time, a man got lost in the desert. The little food and water he had with him quickly ran out. For the past two days, he had been craving every drop of water. He knew deep down that if he didn't find water within the next few hours, he was certain to die. But deep down, he believed in God that some miracle would happen and he would find water. Then he saw a hut. He couldn't believe his eyes. He had been deceived by mirages and illusions before. But the poor man had no choice but to believe. After all, this was his last hope. He started walking towards the hut with all his remaining strength. As he got closer, his hope grew, and this time, luck was on his side. There really was a hut there. But what was this?

The hut was completely deserted, as if no one had wandered there in years. Still, hoping for water, the man went inside the hut. Surprised, he couldn't believe his eyes. There was a hand pump. The sight of the hand pump filled him with renewed energy. Craving for every drop of water, he began to operate it rapidly. But the pump had long since dried up. The man despaired, feeling nothing could save him from death. He collapsed, exhausted by thirst. Then his eyes fell on a bottle tied to the roof of the hut, filled with water. He managed to reach it and was about to open it and drink, when he noticed a piece of paper stuck to the bottle, which read, "Use this water to operate the hand pump and don't forget to refill the bottle."

It was a strange situation. The man was desperately thirsty. He couldn't decide whether to drink the water or pour it into the hand pump and start it. All sorts of questions began to arise in his mind: what if the pump didn't start even after pouring water? What if the words were false, and what if the underground water had dried up? But who knows, the pump might start working, or what if the words were true? He couldn't figure out what to do. Finally, after some thought, he opened the bottle and, with trembling hands, began pouring water into the hand pump. After pouring, he prayed to God and started the pump. One, two, three, and cool water started gushing out of the hand pump. The water was like nectar. The man drank to his heart's content, his spirits revived. His mind began to work. He refilled the bottle with water and tied it to the ceiling.

As he did so, he saw another glass bottle in front of him. He opened the bottle's lid and found a pencil and a map, showing the route out of the desert. The man memorized the route and put the bottle with the map back where it was. After this, he filled his bottles (which he already had) with water and started leaving from there. After going a little ahead, he looked back once. Then after thinking for a while, he went back to that hut and removed the paper stuck on the water bottle and started writing something on it. He wrote - "Believe me, this hand pump works".

This story also teaches us that before getting something big, we have to give something from our side. Like that man poured all the available water into the tap to turn it on. If seen, in this story, water represents the important things present in life. There are some things which have special value in our eyes.