We often say “As you sow, so shall you reap.” Most of us believe in the inevitable law of karma which tells us that good begets good, and bad begets bad. All of us strive to do only good karma. This story about two sons of different parents goes against this philosophy and presents before us a unique dimension about the universal laws. THE BAD PARENTS: Vivek was born to poor parents, but it was not their fault that they were impoverished. His father worked as a hammal (one who engages in lifting heavy goods) in Pune and never had enough money to sustain his family. Vivek was his only son, but it made no difference to the family. As a child, Vivek would often find himself alone in the house. His father spent most of his time on the streets of Pune while his mother foraged for whatever she could gather for the day’s meal. Vivek often went hungry and had long stopped crying for attention, with no one around to listen to his cries. His father squandered his meagre earnings on alcohol and women of ill repute; his mother preferred to beg rather than work. Vivek was regularly subjected to beating by his frustrated parents, and love and affection were alien to the child. As he grew, his father took Vivek along and made him do menial tasks where he worked. Vivek would wait out on the streets while his father spent long hours in the bar getting drunk. It was during these long waits that he got to visit the evening school near the bar. Children and some young men gathered in the school for education. They were being tutored by a group of young girls whose hobby it was to teach poor children. It drew Vivek to education like a moth to the flame and began attending the classes. When his father found him one day sitting in the school instead of waiting for him outside the bar, he got enraged and thrashed the boy mercilessly. Vivek was warned not to stray away from the bar. Despite this, Vivek continued to attend classes, ensuring that he did not get caught again. A fire was burning inside him to learn and get educated. A few years later, Vivek realized that the evening school was no more adequate for his learning. He now desired to attend a proper school, and one day he asked his father to let him go to a proper school. His enraged father beat him till he was bruised all over and almost half-dead. That night Vivek ran away from his home and parents, for they had nothing but hatred and violence to offer him. In the morning, the parents discovered that their only son had disappeared, never to return. After a few weak attempts to locate him, they gave up. Seventeen long years rolled by and now Vivek’s parents were old and weak to work and sustain themselves. Vivek’s father suffered from multiple ailments and his mother could not care for him any longer. After Vivek’s disappearance, his father had blamed his mother for neglecting their son and began beating her regularly. There was no one who could take care of them and as each day passed they waited for their inevitable death and release from their misery. One day the parents had a stranger visiting them. A tall and handsome man knocked and was staring curiously at them. Who was he and what did he want? The man looked around the room with sadness in his eyes. He looked at the couple and it was hard for him to acknowledge that they were his parents. His father, once virile and violent, was not even a pale shadow of himself. His mother too had transformed into a haggard old woman. When Vivek told him he was their long-lost son, they could not believe it. They had all but forgotten that they had a child. But what surprised them most was why did he come to see them after seventeen years? After all that they had done to him? Vivek asked them to pack up and come to stay with him in Mumbai. He was now a rich man and a practising Chartered Accountant. When his parents stepped into the large apartment in Bandra and witnessed the opulence, they could not contain their feelings and broke down in guilt and shame. “Why?” his father asked finally. “Why are you doing this for us? All we gave you was humiliation and hatred.” Vivek smiled and put his hands lovingly around his parents. “No father. You are wrong. Had it not been for you, I would have never left the house. Had I remained there, I would not be here today.” Vivek’s parents lived the rest of their lives with their son and his family. They were loved and respected, and when they eventually died, they died in peace. GOOD PARENTS: The Chitle household is one of those families where positive energies radiated from wall to wall. Mr Chitle was a government employee, owned a small but well-equipped house in Pune, and was a God-fearing man. Mrs Chitle was religious, and she spent the best part of her day in the small temple inside her house, in front of pictures and idols of her Gods and Goddesses. She thanked them every day for making their lives so pleasant and bountiful. She thanked them for giving them a son, Vikas, and making it possible for them to nurture their son with kindness and love. The Chitle couple was proud that their son was brilliant in studies and sports in equal measure. They felt elated when their relatives and neighbours admired them for giving Vikas excellent values. The Chitle’s felt the Gods blessed them to have a son like Vikas. Vikas never felt wanting for anything. If he wanted something, he had only to tell his parents and they would provide without hesitation. His friends were jealous of him, for unlike their parents, Vikas’ parents gave him everything. Vikas grew up into a handsome and strong-willed young man. He had his own dreams, aspirations and ambitions and was confident of fulfilling them all. His parents encouraged him to study whatever he wanted, wherever he wanted. So engrossed were they with their son that they hardly noticed that he thought only about himself? HIS dreams, HIS ambitions; that was all Vikas could think. That was his universe, and he was the sole master. There was no space for anyone there, not even his loving parents. Vikas loved his parents as much as they loved him. They were giving him everything and asked for nothing from him. They wanted nothing from him. So it was that Vivek grew up taking all he wanted from his parents and giving nothing to them. They seemed perfectly happy with this. Their son was progressing and doing well. What else could they ask for? The Chitles never realized that their loving son was drifting away from them into a space of his own, where he would not need his parents anymore. He was now less and less dependent on them, having gained the skills and means to gain all he wanted and more without them. When Vikas went to London to work there, it thrilled his parents. Everyone around told them that their dreams would now come true. Their son would soon ask them to come to London and stay with them. Mr Chitle was anyway retired, and the couple had little to do now at home. The house felt empty and lifeless without Vikas. His absence haunted them, and they now longed for his return. London was thousands of miles away from Pune and they realized that their son had gone very far away from them, out of their reach. They would eagerly wait for him to call. He did every week without fail in the beginning. Then Vikas called once in a month and then once in three months. Now, he barely called or spoke to his parents. He was a busy man with no time for his loving parents. Their friends would ask them every single day: “Did Vikas call?”. They would lie to their friends and tell them that their son had spoken to them. The Chitles were puzzled about their son’s sudden transformation. Why had he stopped calling them? When will he come home? What is happening to him there? Their entire life revolved around their son and now their son was gone. Their life had stopped. Years passed by. One day their son’s school friend, Prashant, visited the old and now ailing couple. He had stopped by to enquire about the Chitle’s and was shocked to see them looking quite ill. “Uncle, Aunty. What happened? Are you not well?” “ It's nothing. Old age and illness can’t help, can you?” “Uncle, I was in London a few months ago and guess what? I ran into Vikas at a restaurant! I could not recognize him, but somehow he remembered and could identify me. He is a very rich man now. He took me to his palace-like house, and we had dinner together. His English wife is beautiful and so is his daughter, Nisha. We talked for hours about our school life, and I remembered how you would buy him the latest toys and books. We used to be jealous of you, and I would sometimes wish that I was also born in this house. He was talking fondly about the two of you.” When Prashant left the old couple and stepped out of their house, his heart was heavy with sadness. He knew the truth about the Chitle’s and why they were so ill and depressed. He had indeed met Vikas in London and had dinner with him at his house. They spoke about the good old days and remembered friends. When Prashant asked Vikas about his parents, Vikas seemed reluctant to say anything. All he said was: “ My parents? Oh, they are fine. They are living their own life, and I am living mine here.” The Chitle’s never told Prashant that their son did not talk to them anymore. Nor did they react to the news that Vikas had married in London and had a daughter. They said nothing, but Prashant could hear their loving hearts break into a thousand pieces. Where did they go wrong, he thought to himself? #sociogram_creator #story
Raj loved Rekha, there could be no doubt about it. So was it with Rekha, who loved Raj more than herself or any other precious possession. They knew and believed that they were made for each other from the moment their eyes met one day, two years ago, in the crowded Mumbai Mall. They were total strangers then, and it was their first sighting. The relationship was confirmed when they met again, weeks later in the same Mall. Meeting once without prior notice could be a coincidence, but meeting again cannot be put away to chance. This time they could feel the pull and thus they came together, each following his/her inner urging. It had been two years of unrelenting passion for Raj and Rekha, but they still could not commit to marriage. The break up happened without a warning. Raj blamed Rekha for it, and Rekha blamed Raj. The cause of the break-up was silly, as it always is with those in love. Rekha suspected that Raj was fooling with her because he would evade any kind of question on cementing their relationship permanently. Maybe, felt Rekha, Raj had never thought of a permanent relationship with her. Maybe Raj was only interested in a physical and temporary relationship with her, while her love sought marriage. Raj believed that he was more practical in life management and knew that while love and passion were driving their relationship now, it would not last forever. He believed that passion was fickle and would desert them as soon as they married to face the harsh realities of life. He was still struggling to make a career and doubted if he could sustain a long relationship with anyone. As time flew, Rekha could feel it in her bones that their relationship was struggling and stagnant. She worried about what would happen to her if Raj left her for someone else. She was fragile, at least emotionally, and this was her first serious relationship with a man. With each passing day, she was feeling the helplessness and frustration grow inside her. She had to regain control of herself and the relationship, or else she was doomed. It was under such a situation that Rekha decided to die. The day of her death seemed most appropriate for Raj was with her and this was Raj’s room. They had been arguing again over their future, and both of them seemed to have reached the point of no return. They were shouting at each other and were beside themselves. Reason had long deserted them. They were now animals, striking at each other intending to hurt-both verbally and physically. “I will kill myself”, Rekha was shouting at Raj wildly. “This will set you free. As long as I am alive, I will not allow you to ditch me.” “You’re mad,”, Raj shouted. “I love you, but not yet ready for marriage. There is none except you in my life.” “Mr Raj, you can lie for all you want, but a woman surely knows when her partner is lying to her. I know what is going on in that wretched gutter of your mind. You tricked me into submitting to you, stole the only thing a girl values most; her virginity. Now you are just making excuses to get away from me. Die I will, and you will forever carry the guilt of my death. You will never be happy.” Raj was trembling with a rage that seemed to have enveloped his whole being. “If that is what you want, let me do it for you.” He picked up the can of kerosene from the kitchen and began pouring it on her. Rekha was all the while shouting at him, daring him to do the unthinkable. The fact was, Rekha never wanted to die, and Raj never wanted to kill her. They loved each other madly. That was the problem. Unbridled emotions, however fine they are, lead to disastrous consequences. Most of us cannot understand love when we are beset with problems that seem too big to resolve. We transform our fine emotions into monstrous and negative energies and do what we had never intended to do. Even as Raj was pouring kerosene over Rekha, she was searching around for the matchbox. When she found it, she hurriedly struck a match and dropped it on her soaked body. The flames erupted fiercely, just like their anger and hatred for each other. Raj, still under the spell of anger, turned to leave the house. Rekha was completely covered with flames now, but still alive. She saw her beloved trying to leave her to die and flung herself at him. She threw her arms around him in one last hug. Raj tried hard to free himself, but he was being held tight in his lover’s arms. The two lovers were still in each other's arms when the neighbours broke into the room. I wonder if the last emotion Rekha and Raj felt was pure love? #sociogram_creator #story
As we now understand, the lockdown forced on us by Corona Virus is teaching us many new things. Some good and some bad. The good part is that we are now spending time with our families, quality time. All of us have been so involved with our daily routine that we hardly realized what we are missing on the family front. While the lockdown did make Mr. Shukla realize how much he loved his wife, it had a rather negative impact on him. Mr. Shukla and Mrs. Shukla have been married for five years now, but do not have any child. This was a very sore issue with the couple and they had many fights over it. It was during one such fight that Mrs. Shukla walked out of the house and went crying to her parents who lived in a nearby city. She would teach her husband a lesson, she thought. While walking out of her husband’s house, Mrs. Shukla told her husband that she would come back only when he came to her parents’ house and apologized before them. Both of them were in an emotional rage and Mr. Shukla said that she was lying and that she could not stay away from him for even one day. He told her that she would come back in 24 hours. It was March 22, 2020, when Mrs. Shukla took the drastic step of going to her parents’ house. Had she known what would happen in the next two days, perhaps she would have not left. Had Mr. Shukla known that a virus would shut down the country very soon, he would have not allowed Mrs. Shukla to leave the house. But as fate would have it, the Prime Minister announced on 23rd March that the country would be under lockdown from 24th March, for 21 days. No transport, public or private will be allowed, except for emergencies. All trains and bus services were suspended. Mrs. Shukla found herself stranded at her parents’ house. She had planned to go back, thinking that a day or two of separation would have brought her husband to his senses. Mr. Shukla too was upset with the lockdown and the fact that his wife had chosen the wrong time to leave the house. He would be all alone, without his wife to feed him and take care of him. For the last two days, he had been eating out, but now even shops and restaurants were shut. Like most husbands, he did not know how to cook. His wife had told him many times that he should learn at least the basics of cooking so that in any emergency he could manage. But his male ego had rebelled against this suggestion and they even fought over this. His office shut, shops shut, nothing to eat at home; Mr. Shukla was seething with rage at his insensitive wife. He called her parents and asked them to send his wife immediately. His father-in-law asked him how it was possible to take her home to him when the entire city was locked down. The police authorities would allow only medical emergencies, nothing more. The city borders had been sealed and it was impossible, without any means of transport to go out in the streets. He told Mr. Shukla that if possible, he should come and take her back. Mr. and Mrs. Shukla fought bitterly over the phone, accusing each other of the predicament. During this bitter battle of words, Shuklaji threatened his wife that he would have to marry a girl who really loved him, and told her that his ex-girlfriend was still willing to marry him. His girlfriend stayed near his house and she would rush to him at his call. Mrs. Shukla dared him to do so, threatening that she would ruin his life and take him to the courts. All of us get angry with something or the other, anger is a natural emotion. But most of us deal with our anger in a mature way. We know when to calm down and give up. We know when to stop and not to cross the line of reason. But not Shuklaji. He has stepped beyond reason and was now in the realm of the absurd. He had gone insane with anger. A few days later he called his wife to tell her that she was no longer required at his house and she can stay back with her parents forever. He had married his ex-girlfriend. #sociogram_creator #story