12. Summary of the lesson "Fair Play"

Jumman Shaikh and Algu Chowdhry were best friends. Jumman Shaikh had an old aunt, and she had some property on her name. The aunt needed someone to take care of her till her death. So Jumman agreed to do that in exchange for the property. Although things went well for a couple of years, Jumman and his wife started mistreating the aunt. She asked Jumman for a monthly allowance to set up a separate kitchen, and Jumman refused to pay his aunt. Soon after that, the aunt took her case to the village panchayat.

 

The aunt nominated Algu Chowdhry as the Head Panch. Algu and the villagers went through the case carefully. Although Jumman was Algu's best friend, Algu decided to stand by justice. He ordered Jumman to pay the monthly allowance, and if not, he should return the property back. Jumman became unhappy and started treating Algu as his enemy.

A few months later, Algu approached the panchayat for a case of his own. Algu had once owned two bullocks. One of them died, and he sold the other one to a man called Samjhu Sahu. However, the bullock died within a month, before he could get paid for it. Although the bullock was healthy when he had sold it, Sahu refused to pay him. Algu took the case to the panchayat.

When Sahu nominated Jumman as the Head Panch, the latter realised his responsibilities. He went through the case carefully and decided that Algu was innocent. He asked Sahu to pay the price of the bullock to Algu. Algu was surprised and was very happy. Soon after that, both the friends embraced, and they were reunited.