Ganapati's childhood promise

Any time this uncle visited Ganapati’s family, he always brought Ganapati five or six toys. And whenever Ganapati went to his uncle’s house, his uncle would treat him like his own son. He made sure that he had exactly the same toys to play with as his own youngest daughter, Dipali.

One day, while Ganapati and Dipali were playing together, Ganapati boasted, “When I become great, I will give you a most beautiful necklace.” At the time, Ganapati was eight and Dipali was six.

“Will you keep your promise?” begged little Dipali.

“Definitely I will,” said Ganapati.

When Ganapati and Dipali grew up, they rarely saw one another. Ganapati and his family moved to a spiritual community in a faraway town and Dipali got married and had five or six children of her own. Her husband was quite wealthy.

Many years later, when Ganapati was an adult, he went to America to open a spiritual centre of his own. One day, out of the blue, he received a letter from Dipali. She wrote, “When we were young, you promised to buy me a necklace. Will you keep your promise?”

Then Ganapati remembered the promise he had made when he was just a little kid. He immediately sent money to his sister, and his sister sent the money to Dipali so she could buy a very nice necklace and fulfil her heart’s desire.

In this way, Ganapati kept his promise.