In plain words
Once a fair was held in Calcutta. Vidyāsāgar's mother, too, set out for the fair along with everyone else. While everyone else went in fine, costly clothes, Vidyāsāgar saw his own mother going in an old sari, and he was deeply pained. “Mother! Why are you going in such an old sari?” he asked. The mother: “My son! I am content with what I have. Do not grieve at all over this. Study well; that alone is what I want,” she said.
In time Vidyāsāgar found a good job. With his very first salary he bought fine, costly saris and brought them to his mother. Then that mother: “My son! If you become a man of great learning, rise to a high position and help the poor people of our village... just that is enough for me. These costly saris give me no joy. I have three wishes. Only when they are fulfilled will joy come to me,” she said. Then Vidyāsāgar fell at his mother's feet: “Mother! Fulfilling your wishes is my responsibility. To bear any hardship at all and make his mother happy is a son's duty. So please tell me what your wishes are,” he pleaded. “My son! In our village there are many who are weak, many without schooling, many who are poor. Who is there to relieve their troubles? Only when you give them the help they need will I be happy. The children of our village have to walk a long way to the next village for their schooling. When I see those children I feel great pity. Must they suffer so many hardships just to study? So have a small school built in this very village and give the children the help they need,” she asked. As his mother wished, Vidyāsāgar had a small school built. That mother was overjoyed.
Another day Vidyāsāgar noticed that his mother was very sad, and asked her the reason. Then she: “My son! The people of our village suffer greatly for want of a proper water supply. The well in the village has dried up, and not even a single drop is to be had. We have to carry water from far, far away. How can old women like me fetch water from so far? So if you have a well dug in our village, you will have done the villagers a great kindness.