A Letter to God

Summary

Lencho was a farmer. He was an extremely hard-working man. However, his crop was destroyed in a hailstorm. He firmly believed in God. He thought that God would surely help him. Thinking this, he wrote a letter to God. He asked God to send him some money. At the post-office, the post master read Lencho’s letter. He and the other postmen collected some money to help Lencho. The post master wrote a letter which was signed with one word - God. The next Sunday, Lencho came to check whether there was any letter for him. The post master gave him that letter. When Lencho found that the money was less than what he had requested for, he was angry. He wrote another letter to God. He asked God to send him the rest of the money. But he asked God not to send it by post because the post- office employees were a bunch of crooks.

Comprehension Questions

1. Give a brief description of the view from Lencho’s house.

Lencho’s house was situated on the crest of a low hill and it was the only one in the valley. One could easily see the river and the field of ripe corn from there.

2. Why did Lencho sit looking at the sky throughout the morning? 

Lencho sat looking at the sky throughout the morning because he knew that his fields would give a good harvest, the only thing needed was a downpour or at least a shower and he was waiting to see the signs of rain.

3. How did Lencho’s hope change to despair?

Lencho waited for a shower of rain that his field needed. But his hope for good rain vanished when the wind changed into a hailstorm. It destroyed everything. So, Lencho’s hope changed to despair as his family would now have to face starvation.

4. What were Lencho’s feelings when the hailstorm stopped?

Lencho was filled with utter sadness when the hailstorm stopped. He was troubled to see the corn which was totally destroyed. Nothing was left in the fields. He and his family would face starvation because the crop was completely destroyed and they had to go hungry without corn.

5. When he found the letter with money in it? What did he

Lencho did not show the slightest surprise on receiving the money But when he counted the money and found it less, he became very angry. He wrote another letter to God, demanding thirty more pesos.

6. Why did Lencho become angry when he counted the money?

Lencho became angry when he counted the money because the money was not a hundred pesos which he had demanded. It was only seventy pesos. Lencho had firm faith in God and believed that God could not make a mistake or deny his request.

7. Why did Lencho write a letter to God?

When Lencho’s crops were completely destroyed by the hailstorm, he wrote a letter to God because He was the only hope in his despair. Lencho asked him to send hundred pesos to sow his field again and support his family till the next harvest.

8. Why and how did the postmaster help Lencho?

The postmaster was determined to help Lencho. He did not want Lencho’s faith in God to be shaken so he asked his employees and friends to help Lencho. He also contributed a part of his salary for this act of charity.

9. Why did Lencho call the post office employees a bunch of crooks?

Lencho called the post office employees a bunch of crooks as he did not get full amount that he had demanded from God. He could not believe that God had sent him less money so he doubted the people at the post office.

Answer the following questions in 100-120 words:

1. The postmaster represents such people who still believe in helping others.Explain.

The postmaster was a kind, generous, helpful, amiable and God-fearing man. He received a letter from Lencho which was written to God asking for 100 pesos so that he could sow his fields again.The postman felt sympathetic towards Lencho. He decided to help Lencho. He gave up a part of his salary and asked all other employees to help. Even friends were made to contribute for a cause of charity and he managed to collect 70 pesos. He sent the money to Lencho along with a reply. He did so in order to preserve the man’s faith in God. This shows the postmaster was a nice man at heart.

2. “If you don’t help me, my family and I will go hungry this year.” Lencho had faith in God but he did he lack the courage to resolve the matter himself?

Lencho was a hardworking farmer. He was completely dependent upon the crops for his living. His annual crop was completely destroyed due to heavy rains and hailstorm. In the entire village, there was no one to help him during the times of financial crisis. He had firm belief in God and hence wrote a letter requesting Him to send 100 pesos so that he could sow his fields again till the next crop. This act did not prove that he lacked the courage to resolve his problem but shows that he did not have any option left. He was an ox of a man but lacked money to stand again.

3. Lencho had faith and confidence in God. Elucidate with examples from the text.

Lencho had full faith in the help of God. The following sentences in the story tell us about it.‘Lencho thought only of his one hope: `the help of God’, whose eyes, as he had been instructed, see everything, even what is deep in one’s conscience.’ Again, Lencho showed not the slightest surprise on seeing the money in the envelope was his confidence. But he became angry when he counted the money. ‘God could not have made a mistake nor could He have denied Lencho what he had requested. It was Lencho’s innocent optimism that eventually led to his getting seventy pesos. The above facts from the text prove his deep faith and confidence in God.

4. Why did Lencho write a letter to God? Who received the letter and what did he do? Lencho was a hard working farmer. He was expecting a good harvest. But unfortunately, a hail storm destroyed his crop completely. Now he had nothing to support the family. He had no money to purchase the seed for sowing the crop. But he had firm faith in God. He believed that God would help him. He was a simple man. wrote a letter to God. He asked God to send him a hundred pesos. He wanted this money in order to sow seeds again and to live until the next harvest season. Lencho

went to the town and posted the letter. At the post-office, a postman took out the letter from the letterbox. He read the address on it and had a good laugh. He showed the letter to the postmaster. The postmaster was greatly impressed by Lencho’s faith. He did not want to shake Lencho’s faith in God. He collected money from his employees. He put this money into an envelope and addressed it to Lencho.

5. How do you think the postmaster felt when he received Lencho’s second letter? What do you think he did? When Lencho opened the letter, he found only seventy pesos in it. He thought that God could not make a mistake. Perhaps the post office employees had cheated him. He wrote another letter to God. He wrote that the post office employees were a bunch of crooks. The story does not tell us what the postmaster felt when he received the second letter. Perhaps he was shocked. It is possible that he realized that sometimes even good intentions are misunderstood. I think he met Lencho and explained everything to him. He told him that the post-office employees were not a bunch of crooks. In fact, they were kind and helpful. They had collected money to help him.

6. Why did Lencho say that the raindrops were like new coins? How did the same rain change the face of Lencho’s field?

Lencho was a farmer who was waiting eagerly for the rain as his crops needed a downpour, a shower. The rain did come. Lencho felt as if they were new coins. The big drops of rain, according to him, were ten cent pieces and the little ones were that of an to blow and with the rain very large hailstones began to fall. He hoped for it to pass quickly which did not happen. The rain, which till then was a hope for better future, changed. It shattered all his hopes and changed the face of his field. The whole standing crop was ruined. Not a leaf remained on the trees. The hailstorm left Lencho facing starvation.

7. How did the hailstorm shatter Lencho’s hope and dreams? The rain that was welcomed by Lencho, all of sudden, changed into a hailstorm. It rained for an hour. The whole corn field was turned white due to the hailstones. It was totally destroyed. Not a leaf remained on the trees. The corn was totally destroyed. The flowers were gone from the plants. Lencho’s soul was filled with sadness. The hailstones destroyed everything. Lencho’s hope changed into despair and badly shattered his dreams of better future. It left him helpless and starving for the remaining year.

Questions from the text book.

1. Who does Lencho have complete faith in? Which sentences in the story tell you this?

Lencho had complete faith in God.

The sentences in the story that show this are as follows:

(i) But in the hearts of all who lived in that solitary house in the middle of the valley there was a single hope: help from the god

(ii) All through the night, Lencho thought only of his one hope: the help of God, whose eyes, as he had been.

2. Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho? Why does he sign the letter ‘God’?

The postmaster was moved by Lencho’s complete faith in the god. So he decided to send money to Lencho. Moreover, the postmaster did not want to shake Lencho's faith in god. So he signed the letter ‘God’. It was a good ploy to convey a message that God had himself written the letter.

3. Did Lencho try to find out who had sent the money to him? Why/Why not? No, Lencho did not try to find out who had sent the money to him. This is because he had great confidence in God and never suspected that it could be someone else other than God who would send him money. His faith in god was so strong that he believed that God had sent him the money.

4. Who does Lencho think has taken the rest of the money? What is the irony in the

situation?

Lencho thinks that the post office people have taken the money. It is the post office people who send the money to Lencho. But, on the other hand, Lencho thinks they have stolen his money. He calls them crooks. Thus there is an element of irony in this situation.

5.Are there people like Lencho in the real world? What kind of a person would you say he is? I don't think there can be any such people in the real world. Lencho is literate and yet he dosen’t know how his letter will reach God without any address. He probably is naïve and foolish.

6. There are two kinds of conflict in the story: between humans and nature, and between humans themselves. How are these conflicts illustrated? The conflict between humans and nature is shown by the destruction of Lencho's crop by the hailstorm. As the crops failed due to hail, Lencho started feeling sad and gloomy after money. This shows that man does not have faith in his fellow humans, thereby giving rise to this conflict.

PRACTICE QUESTIONS