String of pearls
1.Birthday
Mala was very upset. She didn’t feel like talking to any one. She went around for a week with a long face. She had her reasons. Her mother did not want to celebrate her birthday.
Why should we waste so much of money on a cake? We will get you a new dress as usual. We will go to the temple in the morning, and then get blessings from Thatha and Patti. I will cook delicious payasam. We will give it to our neighbours and friends. We will get a new dress for the servant’s daughter. When you wear your new dress, you will feel very happy knowing another poor child too is wearing a new dress. Amma argued like this for days upsetting Mala’s plans.
Mala wanted to throw a special party to her friends alone, as she saw in Western television channels, this year. She wanted to sing, dance and have lots of fun with her class mates. It should be a party only for her friends. She is a grown up now, she thought. She wanted to open all the gift wrapped parcels brought by her friends one by one, and feel the thrill. Even to think of such things was heavenly. Celebrating a birth day in her own way was her right, she mentally told herself again and again.
Mala was 12 years old. Till last year her parents always cut a birthday cake for her, invited the close relatives and friends and sang songs and had fun. She did not understand the expenditure involved. She just enjoyed herself. But this time Mala wanted to have one special occasion for her friends alone and her mother spoilt the regular fun too. She did not want to celebrate the birthday at all – no family and no friends. Mala was very upset. She could not understand why her mother wanted to stop all her enjoyment. May be her mother knew she had different plans- about her special arrangement with friends.
All her birthdays had been real pleasure. Her mother would bake a special birthday cake, get atleast two dresses – one to wear to school and the other to wear during the cake cutting ceremony – and invite atleast five families for dinner. Her mother, who worked in an office, would go on leave on that day and personally supervise all the work done by the servants. She would clean the house herself, as she felt the servant will not do a thorough job. The house would look spotlessly clean, and every one will say how well the family kept such a neat house.
Her father would sit proudly watching Mala sing hymns in front of the guests. Her Thatha would always declare she had the best and melodious voice in the world. Mala’s happiness was complete at such moments. Every year when the calendar arrived she would mark her birthday and wait for the day to arrive. This year all her happiness would not happen. Naturally she was very upset.
She was not even interested in looking at her new dress. Two more days to go for her birthday and she had absolutely no interest in her approaching birthday. No cake, no party, no guests, a big bore, she thought.
The birthday also arrived. Mala did not wear her new dress. Her mother had bought only one dress for the evening. So, she wore her uniform to school.
In the evening, the family went to the temple. Mala wore her new dress. In the morning when she got the blessing from her grand parents, they had given her a book - Thirukkural. The book looked really good with explanations and pictures. This was the first time she had got a book for her birthday.
After the worship, Mala’s parents took her to another house. It was a surprise for Mala. The house was located in a new locality. To Mala’s eyes all the houses looked small and ugly. They entered a small house. It was the house of Mala’s servant. The lady probably knew about this. She had arranged a mat on the floor. There was another girl of Mala’s age waiting nearby. Mala’s parents called her and enquired about her studies. Then Mala’s mother asked Mala to give her a gift. It was beautifully packed. How my mother packed this in her bag, Mala thought.
The girl came forward to receive her gift. Mala looked at the girl. She was wearing Mala’s old clothes. Many times Mala has fought with her mother asking for her old clothes. They would just disappear. Now she understood. The girl took the blessings of her parents and took the gift. This was the first time she had got a real gift packed gift in her life. The surprise was on her face. She ran to the corner of the room – that was the house - and opened it. There was a new pencil box, a few notebooks, a copy of Thirukkural, like the one she got, a new dress and a new doll. The girl was so shocked with happiness, she began weeping with joy. The sight was so touching. Mala’s mother and her servant both had tears in their eyes.
It seems that girl’s father just left them when she was a child of one year old. How difficult it must have been to grow up without a father. Mala began to understand the difficulties of life. She looked at her own father with affection and love. He did not leave them. He loved the family. Her mother worked in a place where she got lot of money – not like the servant. Her mother was educated; she suddenly understood the meaning of education. No wonder her mother was always generous with the servant. She would always send food – may be for the girl in the house. It seems Mala’s parents are educating the girl.
The servant had meanwhile prepared some nice tea. Mala was so happy that she drank it without complaining. She smiled at the servant’s daughter in a friendly manner. The poor girl had been so unlucky.
When they came home, there was another surprise! The usual group of family members and the family friends had already gathered in the house with a big cake. Her parents had arranged so much without informing her. Every family had brought a special dish to eat and it was a real grand birthday Mala had finally.
Later in the night when she thought about it, she realised it was her best birthday as she remembered the happy girl’s expression and later the fun in her house. She felt she had made some body really happy and had been blessed with more happiness.
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2. The power of love
The family was quietly celebrating Deepavalli. The children were playing around. Some were bursting crackers. Some were playing with sparklers. Suddenly there arose a fight. An elder boy screamed at the younger one, “You are a fool. That’s why you fail in all the subjects. Shut up and leave the place”.
The elder boy’s name was Karthik. He was intelligent and had a powerful memory. He could recite long poems and stories with ease. He never made any spelling mistakes. His mind was a camera that recorded everything he saw and heard. Quite naturally he always stood first in class.
The younger child’s name was Suresh. He was a dreamer. He switched off his mind and dreamt of playing in classes. He was not interested in memorising anything. He loved music and dance. Studies were boring to him. He just wanted to have fun.
Karthik thought the boy is just lazy. He thought if he makes fun of his younger brother, he will concentrate more on his studies. Whenever he got an opportunity, he bullied his brother. All his efforts failed. Suresh was only more uninterested in studies. What will he do for a living when he grows up, worried Karthik.
Their parents were not much worried about the younger one. They had the family business and they thought the boys will have to take care of that. Studies were only to gain knowledge of sums to tackle business later. If the young boy wants to have fun now, let him, thought the parents.
This attitude irritated Karthik. He wanted his brother to top his class. In his innocent way he adored his younger brother. He wanted his brother to get all the attention in the school just like him.
He sat down under a tree and prayed for an idea. After he shouted at his brother on the Deepavalli day in front of relatives, Suresh was not speaking to him. All this shouting has not helped the boy, thought Karthik. In his class, some students for whom he is the group leader, the method worked very well. Some how, for his brother, it did not seem to work at all.
He thought about his maths teacher. This teacher was a very strict person. He did not laugh or crack jokes with his students. But the entire class adored him. Also, he never shouted at his students. Still all the students finished the works assigned to him. What is it that this teacher had that all students responded to him well? Karthik sat and pondered. He could not understand.
The next day, he began watching his maths teacher carefully. One boy had not understood the sum on the board. The teacher did not get angry, did not laugh, and just quietly explained the problem slowly, deliberately to the student. The teacher looked so powerful doing that. Also he looked very intelligent. There was no kindness or pity or even condescension in his voice. It was as if there was nothing wrong in not understanding.
Karthik thought a lot about this. He could not understand the method used by the teacher.
One day he sat near his mother watching her talking to Suresh. He had just spilled a cup of milk on the floor. After screaming at him, she took the boy aside and was talking. Karthik was observing the whole incident with interest.
His mother said, “Suresh chellam, do you know the cost of this milk?”
The boy said, “ no”.
“It is expensive. We have to save money to pay for your fees, to get a new house, and for our old age. If we waste things every day, we won’t be able to take care of ourselves. Do you understand?”
Her voice was drenched in love. Her hands stroked the boy’s head. Her eyes were smiling.
Suresh was moved by the love in her voice. He said “Yes”, as if he was in a trance.
Karthik understood the power of love. If only his mother talked about studies now, Suresh will understand Karthik thought. But do I love my brother as my mother loves him? He was not sure.
He decided to talk to his mother about it. Love, true love can change people he realised. He decided to stop his bullying of his younger brother.
The next day Suresh was working on his home work. He was playing with his toy and did not concentrate on his work. Naturally he could not get his answer right. Karthik was watching the boy struggle with his concentration. Finally Suresh threw his note book saying, “I am not good in Maths”, and left the place. Karthik followed him to see what he was doing. The boy had already forgotten his problem and was playing with his friends under the tree.
Karthik called the boy, “Suresh, one minute, come here. Please”. Suresh heard the “Please” and looked at his brother to know if he was just bullying. The brother looked really serious and earnest.
“Yes, What is it?”, he asked his brother.
“No, I just thought I can help you with Maths, that is, if you are interested”, Karthik said. “I am not interested”, snubbed the younger one.
Karthik said, “Okay, but if you want help, just let me know”, and left the place to play with his friends.
After two hours Suresh entered the house. He searched for his brother with his eyes as he went to the bath room to bathe. Karthik was not around. He came one hour later when Suresh was eating. When he saw his brother eating, he said, “Hai” and went to bathe.
“What happened? Why is my brother not bullying me today even when he knows I have not completed my maths work?”, wondered the younger boy.
Can I ask him to help me now? Will he use the opportunity to make fun of me? Thoughts were crowding in his mind. He wanted to check if his brother’s new behaviour was for sure.
He asked, “Brother, can you help me with maths?”
Karthik did not show surprise. He imitated the expression worn by the Maths teacher. He mellowed his tone like his mother. He said, “Of course”, simply.
The two boys sat together and worked out the problem and from then onwards the brothers never fought when studies were concerned. When Suresh got high marks in all subjects, Karthik told every one how brilliant his brother was. Suresh’s face beamed in pride for himself and his brother at such moments.
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3. Internet
The boys were lurched together. They were in an internet hub. They were watching some bad sites. They felt excited and were quiet.
All the kids were from poor sections of society. Durai’s father was a drunkard. He beat up the boy everyday. He did not receive any kind word from any one in the neighbourhood. A father beating up children was a common affair. There was this case of Murali whose leg was broken by his father.
Murugan had no parents even to beat him. His mother had married again after his father was arrested long back. The boy never saw his mother or father again. He slept on the school verandah and worked at all kinds of jobs. He knew all the things such kind of boys knew.
Kumar was a drop out. He could not tackle English in the class room. He took his packed lunch to the park and no body found out for six months. His father was a mechanic and had no time to monitor the boy’s progress. His mother was very ill – had cancer.
These boys wanted to have some fun. They were tired of cinema theatres, beaches and parks. They wanted real fun, the fun grown ups had. Internet had pictures, videos and it was much cheaper than movies.
The money for the internet was stolen from various people – own parents, or fellow travellers. What’s wrong in taking the excess money? Life has to be enjoyed. That was their only motto.
Fate intervened in their lives in the shape of a major power failure. For an entire week the city had no power supply. Life came to a stand still. There were no wells or lakes in the city and the city began stinking due to lack of water. There was severe water crisis in the industrialised city.
The fun industry was also in trouble. Theatres were closed. The internet hubs too were closed. The boys did not know what to do. Their world was closed. They could not understand the consequences of their dependence on electronic pictures for happiness. It was like drugs to them. It helped them to live in fantasy. It made them feel like grown ups. Now all that was over – at least till the power supply was back.
Somebody asked them to help an old age home where because of power failure lots of problems came up. Old people needed help. Out of nothing else to do, the boys went there to help.
The boys collected water from a well a mile away in an old fashioned house and helped the old people do their basic needs. It was really a changing moment. The old men had to be lifted from their beds and they smelled very bad. Because of lack of water they had not been washed for two days. The human body they revered in electronic pictures was rotting alive. One woman’s feet had worms in them. Kumar could not sleep that night.
This is all, the social worker explained. Human body will rot one day. If we have a good family, our children will take care of us. Otherwise life will be extremely difficult in old age. Family is very important, the boys discussed among themselves. What will happen to us when we become old like this, the boys began thinking.
There was a woman who could not walk. She kept rolling her body and moved. There was a man whose body was full of sores. He was screaming in pain calling out “Amma” loudly every second. There was a couple who were chased by their only son. They kept singing bhajans. But tears kept strolling down the woman’s face now and then.
No one came to visit these people. They were cut of from the rest of the world. How would they have been when they were younger? What were their mistakes? Why have their relatives forsaken them like this?
Kumar asked one old man where his children are. He said, “ I used to drink and hit my sons. I enjoyed my life. I had a lot of friends. I used to live in theatres and not go home. When my children grew up, they chased me out”.
There were cases of old men and women who were careless and selfish when they were young and the children punished them later by throwing them out of their houses. Parenthood involved a lot of sacrifices. One has to get a decent job, settle down with a family, earn and save money and love children. One can’t live only for one’s pleasures alone.
I have been living only for my pleasures. I never thought about future. I have to live for another sixty or seventy years in this world. Let me become serious, thought the boy. When I grow up, will I marry? Will I have children? Where will I educate them? Will I have enough money to give them good education? I need to take my life sincerely, decided Kumar. He thought of his mother. She kept moaning softly in her bed. No body in the house bothered about that. They had just got used to all that. His father was too drunk during nights, to notice anything. A mechanic’s life was hard and he needed the drinks badly even to sleep well. Kumar decided that his mother had to be admitted in a hospital. As a son, it was his duty to take care of his mother and not let her suffer like a dog.
He remembered how his mother used to carry him to various hospitals, when he developed a rare skin disease that would not cure for many years. He could not walk and his mother just carried him, even when he was in fifth standard. What has he done for her in return? He did not even get her a cup of hot water. It never occurred to him. He took her cries for granted. It did not move him. It was only her sister who came every day to look after his mother during the daytime. He never bothered about her illness. He was vary rarely at home even to notice what was happening.
He went near her and called, “Amma, do you want anything?” His mother opened her eyes. Her eyes began to cry. Tears rolled down uncontrollably. They just kept coming and coming. The boy could not control himself. His eyes began watering.
Some how, his mother has to be taken care of. She should be put in a hospital, the boy decided. She should not suffer like the lonely old people in the old age house.
After he made up his mind, he approached the soft looking social worker who made the boys help the old people. He knew this person will help him take care of his mother. The social worker suggested that admitting Kumar’s mother in a palliative care unit is better.
He took his advice and admitted his mother in a voluntary organization’s hospice. He went to school regularly and studied his lessons thoroughly. Every week end he visited his mother and sat near her and spoke to her. He massaged her feet. Tears fell continuously from her eyes. For some reason, he knew they were tears of joy. It gave him tremendous joy and peace. There was no time to think of the bad sites in the internet.
The mechanic father was so impressed with his son’s confidence, that he began listening to him. The father and son developed a friendship that never existed before. He asked for money from his father, bought the ingreidiants and cooked rice and sambar for his father. The hungry man ate licking his fingers and kissed his son’s hands.
Kumar asked Durai and Murugan to visit the hospice one day. Lots of people dying with illnesses every day was a very painful sight. The boys planned what to do next. They needed to work and save money to protect their parents and themselves in old age. Where would they keep the money they earn? They did not even have a decent place to save money. Kumar went to his teachers for help. One teacher came forward to help them. Along with the social worker, they opened an account in the bank.
Years later each had managed a small family for themselves and a job. Kumar was the most educated of the lot and had become a Professor of law. He had arranged loans for his friends and all had their own businesses now. Kumar never forgot how the old age home changed his life. He looked at his children who had the security of a good family. They did not have to fight the pain of life as he had to. There was innocence on their faces. They probably won’t go in search of peace and happiness as he did when he was young, he thought.
He thought of his mother who was in heaven now, for whom he gave a decent ending in this life, when he was such a young boy, hardly twelve years old. Now it all looked impossible.
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4. Sorry, sorry
There was commotion in class. Two girls were fighting. One was Shanthi and the other was Malini. Shanthi pulled at Malini’s hair. She punched Malini’s stomach.
The teacher came rushing. Both the girls sat down as if nothing had happened.
The teacher asked: “Who were the girls screaming like that?”
The culprits sat with bowed heads with a cunning smile. They knew what they had done was wrong. The entire class looked at them. The teacher got the message.
“Shanthi and Malini, come here”, she ordered. The girls moved near the teacher and each began blaming the other.
“She only took my eraser”, Shanthi pointed her finger at Malini.
“Yesterday she broke my pencil. She did not get me a new one. So I took her eraser”, argued Malini.
“I did not break her pencil. She is lying”, said Shanthi.
“Who is lying? Let me find out”, said the teacher.
She called for the class leader. The leader’s name was Neela. She was the topper in the class and was a quiet and well mannered child.
“Neela, tell me what is going on here? Who is lying?”, asked the teacher.
Neela assessed the situation. She didn’t want to be in trouble later. That girl Shanthi was known to hit other students when the teacher was not there. At the same time she had to tell the truth. Shanthi has to learn a lesson. So she said, “Shanthi is lying. But she is scared of you. That’s why she is lying”.
This reply was unexpected. The teacher understood how careful Neela was speaking. She said, “Okay, Shanthi, I will not shout at you. You just tell me the truth. Why did you break Malini’s pencil?”, asked the teacher.
Shanthi did not open her mouth for sometime. Then she said, “I did not do it purposely. It just happened”.
Malini intervened and said “She did not even say ‘sorry’. That’s why I got so angry”.
Shanthi jumped immediately and said, “Sorry. Sorry. Malini. Sorry”.
There was something comical about the way she said it that the class began laughing. The teacher also began laughing.
After a few seconds Shanthi and Malini went back to their seats and were seen talking incessantly like long lost friends.
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5. Toys
The house was very messy. The toys were scattered all over the place. A box of crayons had spilled on the floor. A few dolls were sleeping here and there. There were toys in every room.
Manikandan was not bothered about arranging these toys. He was ten years old, and still did not learn to arrange the toys. Any body that entered the house was shocked at the mess. His mother arranged the toys every day at least two times – after he left for school and after he slept in the night. When he came from school, he would throw all the things once again, and would sometimes go out and play. His mother did not have the energy to shout at him any more. She began praying to God to bless her son with some discipline.
One night the boy had a dream. His dream hero, the most powerful cricket hero, had come to his school. He liked specially Manikandan very much. Manikandan showed him how he bowled and batted. The school was very proud that the cricket star should like Manikandan very much. Every body clapped. Manikandan was in the highest possible level of happiness. He could not be without smiling. His mouth reached to his ears in wide smiles.
Later, the hero wanted to see the house of Manikandan. So Manikandan brought him home. When his mother opened the door, she opened her mouth in surprise.
That day his mother was not well and the house was not arranged. Manikandan’s toys were strewn everywhere. There were toys on the sofa too. The hero could not even sit. Manikandan began arranging the toys one by one. His mother was very apologetic. She said, “I am so sorry. I am not well. I could not arrange the toys”.
The hero said, “Its okay. It is your son who has to keep the house clean. You have other responsibilities in the house. My children always arrange the house well after they finish playing.”.
After that the hero began arranging the toys himself along with Manikandan’s mother. It took half an hour for them to clear the toys in the house. Now the house looked spotless. Manikandan realised how neatly his mother had kept his home, except for his toys.
He began weeping in shame. All this while he thought it was his mother’s duty to arrange the toys. When she complained, he simply said, “You are not working outside like Sheela Aunty. You are simply sitting at home. Why can’t you arrange the toys your self?” Now in front of his dream hero he lost his face.
Somebody was shaking him. His mother was waking him up. “What happened? Why are you crying in sleep?”, she asked.
“Amma, I will be clean now onwards. Only then our house will always look neat and tidy”, he said crying. “I saw my hero. He came home. The house was full of toys. He asked me to arrange them every day. Sorry Amma, I will never dirty the house any more”, he said in between his sobs.
His mother felt her prayers were answered. She realised how unconsciously he must have felt bad all the time about his attitudes. His inner most thoughts had expressed themselves in a dream. She silently said “Thank you” to God.
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6. Why work?
“Why should we clean the vessels?”, exclaimed the children. They were the petted and pampered children of the powerful mayor of the city. Their palatial bungalow was in the most prestigious part of the city. They had ten servants, drivers, and a few relatives staying with them. For every meal, at least twenty extra people sat with the mayor. He was such a generous man to his servants, relatives and friends.
Only with his own children he was very strict. He had only two children. It was a girl and boy. The girl’s name was Punitha and the boy was Arjunan.
They studied in a posh school. The children in that school brought pocket money every day. They ate samosas, puffs, pizzazs, ice creams every day, before and after classes. Except a few children, most of the school children looked fat already. The school, like most of these modern schools, had air conditioned class rooms. The children never sweated inside the class room. Most of them never were part of any games or sports. Hence, some of them never sweated.
These children came from homes that had servants to do all the physical work. So any body that did chores in their houses was mocked at. Punitha and Arjunan did not want to work in the house, as they felt it was demeaning to do menial jobs. Servants were supposed to do such works, not children from such rich and powerful families.
The Mayor was a man with a different kind of vision. He saw his fat children, saw the school children fat and obese and knew the reason. All these children had no physical activity. A few trim ones probably were interested in sports. So, he encouraged his children to play and work. The children liked to play but did not like the work. They rebelled.
“There are servants. Why should we do the work?”, they argued.
On Saturdays the Mayor made the children clean the window panes, doors, bathroom tiles, fans and even the floor. He also joined them. He felt it took off his stress. The whole cleaning took every Saturday full three hours. The children fell exhausted and slept in the afternoon.
The work was done, but grumblingly.
During the summer, the family went to Kodaikanal for holidays for a month, as usual. Arjunan met with an accident on the hills and broke his legs and injured his hands. He had to undergo series of surgeries. The boy was in and out of hospitals for more than a year. He longed to move around like normal person. He prayed to God to give him his legs back. He never realised what a boon it was to walk around. How he would climb on stools to clean fans, how he would run around the house before the accident!
He wanted to become normal. His sister was happily going around the house humming a song. It was a pleasure to watch his father and sister happily working, sharing jokes, discussing and doing some work or the other in the house. How many fathers in some important positions would ever think of doing such a thing? Arjunan knew he was just very lucky. His father has actually created a happy, contented feeling in the house. Work gave fulfilment to every one. It is the biggest gift we give ourselves. What is the use of this body when it can’t work? People will put you in a room and forget all about you.
I am going to enjoy my life doing a lot of work along with my games, TV and studies, he decided.
He was almost alright in another six months, and couldn’t wait. He saw his sister trying clean the top portion of the big window, he got up and pulled another chair to climb on the window. When his father saw his son climb the big window to clean it, his eyes began watering with tears of thanks to God. He knew he succeeded in protecting his children from excessive money and power. This life of simplicity will always protect them from failures and disappointments later, he knew.
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Arun did not know what to do. He was in eighth standard and that too studying in an English medium school and had not paid his monthly fees yet. His father suddenly fell ill last month and was admitted in the hospital. It was tuberculosis, the doctors said. His mother was a maid working in various houses, but she did not go to work due to his father’s sickness. Some how they managed to eat rice every day with rationed rice. There was no money for any side dish. Under these circumstances, where is the possibility for paying school fees? The teacher had called him and given a warning. He was given two days time to pay the fees. Or, his name will be struck from the list. That’s all.
What is the use of studying so well? One should be born in a wealthy family. His father was so particular that he should study in a private school. Only in such schools subjects were taught well. “Good coaching”, his father had said.
Arun remembered the first day in school. His father took him to the school on his rickshaw. His mother also came with them. His parents had sold his mother’s gold ear rings to pay the annual fees. Still, there was such happiness and pride on their faces. Arun was a little older than the other children in his class, that some of them called him “Anna”. Many children were weeping throughout the day. As for him, though he was scared, he did not cry. This was the moment he and his parents were waiting for along time.
Every day, his father would come home in the evening asking, “What did you learn today?” He would sit with his son and listen to whatever his son said with such reverence. Arun remembered his father’s expressions and something blocked his breath. He felt suffocated.
Who ever thought his father would get tuberculosis? He never drank or hit his mother or even shouted at his son. He only worked and worked. The school fees ate all his energy. His tired and sick father was lying in a government hospital. His poor mother ate only once a day. And now, the question of school fees.
Arun wept in pain. Tears silently rolled down his face. His Maths note book became wet. The teacher saw the tears. The brightest student in the class was crying silently.
He called for Arun later. “What happened, Arun?”, the concerned teacher asked. Arun could not talk. Any way he said, “Nothing sir”.
“I saw your tears. Tell me. Let me see if I can solve your problem”, said the teacher.
The boy’s heart suddenly stopped beating. Oh, he had seen. I should have been more careful, he thought. He felt bad to share his problems with another person. Anyway, what’s the point in telling? His problem is not going to end at any cost. “Nothing sir”, he repeated and left.
The Maths teacher went to the class teacher. “Madam, what is the problem with Arun? He is upset?”, he asked.
“Arun? It could be the fees problem. His father is ill. The boy has not paid the fees. May be that’s why he is upset”, the class teacher answered.
“Can we lend him the money?”, the Maths teacher asked.
“How is that possible? May be this month we will be able to manage. What about the rest of the months and years? How will we manage?”, the class teacher was more practical.
But the Maths teacher was much more human. He paid for the month quietly. Then he began enquiring about voluntary organizations to help the boy. It took quite some time to get a sponsor for Arun. This sponsorship was for complete education, including higher technical education. The sponsor him self had received sponsorship when he was young, he told Arun’s mother.
Arun’s mother could not speak in happiness. Because my son studies so well, and behaves so well, God has been kind to him, she thought. Her heart blessed the people who came forward to help her son. May God bless them with the very best life, she prayed. She said aloud, “Thank you sir, there will come a time when my son also will educate other deserving poor children”, with pride in her voice. She willed for such a time silently.
The teacher said, “Exactly. You don’t have to feel bad taking help. It is the society’s duty to take care of the hardworking, economically backward children. When you start earning money, it will become your duty too, to help other similar children. We have a responsibility towards people who need help”.
Arun took a vow to sponsor children’s education when he grew up as per the wishes of his dear mother and teacher. When he told all this to his proud father, his life left his body in a peaceful manner. He knew his son will be taken care of good people, his soul rested in peace.
As one of the leading architects in the country, Arun earned a lot of money and keeping to his vow sponsored many children’s education later. He made his mother give the sponsorship money to the concerned school or college authorities. It was his selfless and kind mother who made him realise his responsibility towards society. Otherwise he would have forgotten the help he received. He would have become just another self-centred successful man in life. His mother made him a man with social commitment. He wanted this kind of work to grow. So he made his friends also to take up education sponsorship programmes. Let them also come out of their small circles of selfish life, he thought. He knew life becomes more meaningful when we think of others’ welfare too.
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8. Mother tongue
“That girl cannot speak English, she blabbers”, the English speaking girls discussed in corridors. “So sad”, sang voices echoing.
The concerned girl was Kamakshi. She came from a village and was new to the city. She was yet to learn English, the neutral language of the city, a language that linked all kinds of people from different states.
The interesting thing was that Kamakshi did not care a bit about these corridor comments, sly smirks on the sides of lips, lowering eyes to hide smiles and other such monkey pranks. She was friendly with everyone. Spoke in her “special” English with a different tone and accent that others declared “Horrible”. Her pronunciation was different from the city girls. The city girls thought their English was the right one and all other styles of pronunciation were wrong. They were not exposed to the different parts of world where people spoke English with different accents and pronunciations. In their ignorance they were over confident.
Kamakshi had come all way the from a remote village to do her tenth standard. She was a voracious reader of books, newspapers in her regional language and English. After classes she was found in the school library. She went and befriended her teachers and many teachers themselves gave her their books to read! But her classmates laughed at her. They had nicknamed her as “Crow”. Will any one ever befriend a teacher? The class spent a lot of time discussing her character every day. When she walked near them they said “Caw! Caw!” and made signs of wings flying with their hands.
In the first cycle test Kamakshi stood first in all the subjects with a difference of five percentage in marks beating the regular topper of the class. The class was shocked. Normally students who cannot speak English did not pass the examinations. What happened? Have the teachers been partial? Many theories were brought out. The “Crow” factor was analysed thoroughly. Spies were set up to find out if the girl has been talking “too much” to the teachers, after school hours. The report was negative. Kamakshi did not speak to any teacher that “long” time to negotiate for more marks.
It could be the girl is “Drumming” – by hearting all the stuff. Enquiries were conducted with Kamakshi’s roommates in this matter. “How long does she study? When does she go to sleep? Does she mug up?”, the room mates were interrogated with such questions.
One room mate said, “Kamakshi reads a lot of English story books all the time. And she studies only for two hours every day. She goes to play in the evenings. She is a real jolly type, I just love her jokes”, surprising all the listeners.
The class mates waited for the second cycle test. This time we shall see, they decided. In the second cycle test, Kamakshi had improved her total percentage by one more percentage. This improvement continued. She took part in almost all the activities, had acquired many friends in other sections, seniors and juniors. Her spoken English had improved enormously. Her pronunciation and tone had been polished to the style of the city. Within a few more months she would be just like any of them except for her dresses and hair style. She had acclimatized completely. The class hated her because she did not bend to their comments. Why, she did not even recognise their contempt! This was too much.
Fate changes things overnight and this class was not an exception. A girl from the next class broke a chair and threw it inside Kamakshi’s class purposely. There was a war of classes as the school management wanted to know which class did it. Each class blamed the other.
Kamakshi was chosen as the boldest girl to explain the matter to the Principal and other teachers using her rapport with them. She met each teacher personally and explained everything. She took a few more girls with her each time. Within a month these girls told the entire class, “What a smart girl Kamakshi is! How well she talks the teachers! How the teachers respect her!”, and so on and so on.
During one such meeting with the Principal, Kamakshi argued how her class spent healthy time in playing, preparing for examinations, in the library and did not find time to fight with other classes. She argued how the chair was thrown through thewindow by some one from the next class, probably out of fear for the punishment for breaking chairs and not to take revenge on this class. The opposite class girls could not hold enmity for this mature girl any more as she instead of pointing her finger has indirectly supported them. The Principal warned the girl who by mistake broke the chair while she climbed on it, and fearing punishment threw it into the next class. Any way the incident was fined and forgotten. The opposite teams became friends.
Gone were the days the class looked at Kamakshi with negative expressions. Now it was all fun. They felt lucky to have such a smart girl in their class.
Language differences were forgotten and the class got ready for the Board Exams quietly planning to compete with Kamakshi.
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9. Chocolates
The shop was very attractive with a colourful display of chocolates, nuts, fruits, toys, stationary, and other food items. It was a departmental store that had rich customers and was very busy. Ram came with his parents here every other in their car. His father was the Director of a private firm that gave him complete free marketing facility. They can buy anything and the company will pay for it. Ram’s mother bought provisions for her sisters also. Ram knew all that. Let the company pay for everything, his mother would say.
What is wrong in such things? Every body cheated in this world. His mother argued with his father who objected to his mother’s greed. Ram began thinking his mother was right. The company was so rich; it will not suffer if my mother buys extra provisions for my aunt who is in difficulties. Her husband is no more and her two children are in school. He himself picked up extra things for his aunt’s children out of concern.
One day Ram saw another boy eating a new variety of chocolate in his class. When he went with his mother to the departmental store, he asked his mother if he could buy that. Because of his dental problems, his mother had banned chocolates for him. Even now she said, “Ram, you know you should not eat chocolates. You know I won’t get you. Then, why ask?”
Ram was very upset. He saw his mother hoarding all kinds of eatables – for two families. The company is going to pay for all that. Why does she complain? It is none of her business, he thought. He took a few chocolates and pushed them inside his pocket without her knowledge. No one noticed what he did, as it was a very busy shop where the richest of the rich shopped. The men and women who worked there were visibly in awe of their customers.
Ram slowly got used to the practice of stealing. Each time he went, he would lift a different variety of chocolates. One or two employees noticed this and went and reported to the floor supervisor. Quietly, the other employees were alerted and they found out that the boy stole only the chocolates. He was the son of a powerful family. After a point they informed the father, when he came alone one day.
It was a highly critical moment for the father. He felt so embarrassed that he felt like sinking. He apologised profusely and paid for the entire thing. The shop refused it saying that it is only a child’s innocent theft and can be forgiven.
Ram’s father was crestfallen. Where did he go wrong in bringing up his son? Hadn’t he given him values? Didn’t the boy know shoplifting was a crime?
He came home and called his son. “Let’s go for a drive, Ram. I feel very tired. I need some fresh air”, he said. Ram felt very happy. At times his father used to take him like this for long drives. They have gone up to Mahapalipuram. They would stop here and there on the way and his father would get him tender cocoanuts or ice creams on the way.
On the way they discussed Ram’s class, his friends, the neighbourhood boys and his cousins. They discussed the latest music albums, cinema and the approaching annual exams. Suddenly Ram’s father asked him, “Why did you pick those chocolates from the supermarket, Ram?”
The boy was taken aback. His face became pale. But he collected himself. He said, “What is wrong pa?”
“How can we take things without paying for it?”, asked the father.
“We never pay for any thing. Amma takes a whole lot of things for aunt for which we don’t pay. Why should you make the chocolates issue a big thing? ”
Ram’s father understood the mistake on the parents’ part. In his company every employee was given a limit of three thousand rupees to buy things in the supermarket. As he was the director, there was no limit for him. Still, morally he should not have exceeded five thousand or even six thousand rupees. How much can a family eat? But his wife bought things for fifteen thousand rupees eating the company’s resources. It may not be legally wrong, but according to Dharma it was wrong. Because every month the company would have to shell out extra money to a family whose members did not work for it. Gradually it would eat away its profit.
This also accounted to a kind of stealing. May be we can call it “Indirect stealing”. Ram has learnt wrong lessons from his wife’s purchases.
So he said, “You are right, Ram. Amma should not do that. I will stop that. You also should stop your wrong practices. Okay?”
”Okay, pa”, said Ram and continued to talk about other things. His father knew he will never again steal.
Ram’s father got back the card that gave them the rights to buy unlimited from the supermarket from his wife. He told her, “From now onwards, every month you will buy only for five thousand rupees. If you want to help your sister, you can save some money or use provisions economically and help her. The company has given me a ceiling for expenditure”.
Ram knew his father had kept his promise. So he also kept his word. He really lost interest in chocolates.
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10. The new car
The house always looked brand new as it was kept thoroughly clean always. Its walls looked expensively painted, its interiors were pleasantly done, lovely chandeliers decorated the ceilings, and nice draperies were hung on the windows. It looked a smart upper middle class home. It had a nice entrance, a little garden and a beautiful path way. The only thing it obviously lacked was a car.
The children of the house were very upset about this fact. It was a rich neighbourhood and every house had car or cars. The children in the neighbourhood were dropped in school by cars. The women did not use public transport systems. Only this house did not have a car. The children felt the others smirked at them at the back.
They kept on talking about this at home. It made them more and more unhappy. They felt the inconvenience very sharply. The little one even said “I wish we were rich”. The car became the symbol of power for them. They felt lower, poorer without the car.
Very rarely they went out. On such occasions, they took a bus. Sometimes there were no seats available to sit in crowded buses and they had to stand. Their minds would visualise how their neighbourhood friends would travel comfortably in air conditioned cars, and would quietly sigh in longing.
They had a huge library which none of the neighbours had, but the children were not proud of the five thousand books on various subjects. The father would be seated in the library quietly reading books. It was a boring subject to them.
The father understood the children’ desires. The children wanted material pleasures and the father did not provide all the pleasures. He limited the number of dresses, shoes, and even their number of movies on Television. But he played with them every Sunday. They played carom board, badminton and tennis at home. Also they visited the localplayground and were part of the local cricket team. The father enjoyed playing with the children. They forgot how strict he was on Sundays.
They did not have servants in their house and the three of them did all the work. There was no point in complaining to the father, as it was a matter he could not be convinced.
On Sundays all the neighbouring families went out well dressed and happy. They all looked so posh and nice – well dressed and smart. These children watched them going out with envy. “We can also go out in comfort, if we have a car”, they thought. All the families that had cars joined together and went out for trips. We are missing all the fun, the children thought.
Time moved fast. The children had grownup. The library was indeed very useful. They had studied well, their knowledge was deep and wide, different from their neighbouring friends. It opened doors for them very easily. They were able to command the respect of their peers and other important people. Both children had at some point fell in line with the father and had become voracious readers.
Both had come to a high position in their career and were about to be married. The father being thrifty had enough money for them to settle down well. Each child, really a grown up now, to his surprise came to know that he had a house as the wedding gift! Suddenly they felt secure materially with their own houses in a city that was very costly. Their friends were struggling to start life in a decent manner. Life had become very expensive in a few years. And, their father had had the foresight to plan for tomorrow.
After the boys settled down well independently, the boys visited the father every Sunday with their families. During one such visit, in a lighter moment the boys sat with the father and conversed. “Why can’t you buy a car at least now? Do you know how people laugh at your back for your stinginess?”, said the younger one half jokingly, now a top accountant in a prestigious bank.
“Why should I live to please my neighbours? I live as I want to. I wanted to educate my children, invest in lands and houses for them, and not become a slave to luxury. I felt we felt we needed a car, not because we couldn’t manage without it, but we wanted our neighbours to respect us. We wanted society to treat us the same. Most of the time, we decide our happiness from the perspective of others. We do not know what we really want”, said the father.
“Exactly! Now when I think back we actually had nothing to complain. We just wanted to show off to others. But today, Appa has made all of us self-sufficient economically and physically that we will be able to achieve more”, said the eldest son who was a leading scientist. “Today when I am completely involved in my research, my friends can’t understand how I have got so much of concentration. My mind is not much worried about gossip or social opinion. When I know I am on the right path, I just work – a quality I learnt from Appa. Appa always used to tell me I should do some original research and contribute to society. I used to feel funny about it then, now it all looks very natural and correct”, he added.
The happy family continued to talk about each one’s experiences in life with enthusiasm. They knew it was all done because of the father’s hard work and sacrifice who brought them up without a mother. She died after delivering her son. The boys now understood how their success and happiness were built on the father’s patience and strength of mind. They decided to teach his principle of simple living to their children.
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