Today was one of my several visits to Walmart. From the time I stepped on the soil of this country if there is one thing that fascinated me ever then that was Walmart. Even Costco does not amaze me just as much as Walmart.
My bitter sweet relationship began with Walmart in the year 2006. I had just got my driver's license and I decided to drive to Walmart since it was much closer to my apartment in Austin, TX than any other super mart. And ofcourse I was also eager to swipe my brand new credit card in a manner that Chethan, my spouse would not notice. I do not remember what I exactly bought but whatever it was I used it well for sure. My first experience was sweet and triumphant because I had visited other stores before and observed their prices and found them to be a few cents cheaper in Walmart. At the time my mind was still in INR mode and I never factored fuel charges into my calculation. Eventually I switched to the $$ mode and factored time and fuel charges into my calcualtion.
All through my stay in different apartments in different areas over the years have made me understand that Walmart is not exactly all about quality. Quality is expensive and Walmart works on cost and volume. Something Prof. Fern stressed althrough my business program. I shop at Walmart for petty things such as, basic cosmetics, lotions, toileteries, sanitary items, and never for clothes. Clothes never fascinated me and then there was this heart wrenching story about how Walmart exploited women who knit clothes in Bangladesh. This ofcourse is a subject of discussion because Walmart claims that thanks to its manufactring plant in third world countries people are getting work which in turn is infact improving their standard of living. But the question is whether those women are able to spend their money the right way? If whatever money they earn helps them just sustain then what's the point of working at Walmart? Any MNC should be able to create a win win situation for itself and the people of the country where it starts its opearation.
Walmart argues that if it went into the act of performing charity then it would not be able to provide that competitive edge that it is currently able to provide over other super marts. Ethics is tricky and it shall ever be. Even Gods in their human form have been known for tweaking truth for a noble cause. So is Walmart a noble organization? Who knows? Its employees are probably disgruntled and so are other suppliers. But ask customers and I for one feel that I am able to buy some of the products at competitive prices and that suits me. It also suits so many unemployed people who cash in their food bank coupons and social security checks at Walmart.
Recently a Target opened right opposite to my apartment complex. Earlier I had to drive over two miles to either Safeway or Walmart. Safeway is not and will never be my first choice when it comes to day to day products. Paying $1 or up over its comparables for a dish washing liquid in other supermarkets is crimminal. We talk about thugs I can show some a few miles away from where I live. Target on the other hand prices its products pretty reasonable. For instance now I do not drive to Walmart for day to day products. Instead I walk to Target and shop there and whatever the petty difference I find between products at Target and same products at Walmart I consider it as fuel charges and time saving benefits.
So the entire picture now has changed for me. My biggest issue with Walmart is that I visit Walmart to buy one thing and then I see the prices on the items and I end up over buying things. Talk about being thrifty. Finally when I look at the reciept I feel like I spent 10 times more than I should have. In fact none of the items would exceed $3/- Walmart tricks people into buying more stuff at cheaper price. Human psyche is such that it believes what it wants to beleive. Its like the odd number game. $9.99 seems cheaper than $10.
Its like this addiction that never ends. Whether Walmart is responsible for this addiction or an individual him or herself is again an ongoing argument.
Arguments apart I for one am happy that Target's here. At least now I won't visit Walmart just as much to buy basic day to day items and buy more than I should. But at the same time I also fear that my addiction instead of ending might just shift from Walmart to Target.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Blogging my heart out!
After a long time of wrting things that the artistic side of my brain made me write, I wondered, Was I loosing my edge on writing things that I felt strongly about but chose not to write because I thought it would be just not so very appropriate to the kind of audience that I open up to? Just last month when in India one of my dear cousins went,"I hope xxx has not read about her.It might become an issue, you know" I was pretty upset after hearing her comment. It was not like I had hurt my cousins feeling. It was just my perspective on her life. I still remember the time when blogging had not picked up much with people. My friend and I started blogging our minds oblivious of the fact that it was actually open out there to god knows who and where on earth.
My naive friend and I apparently discussed about our puppy loves on our profiles that so very much showed who we were and as a result our post was read by many people which also included our classmates. As so it happens with all teenage girls soon we were talk of the town. Not that my batch mates cared hoots about our love lives. They infact had enough dirt on themselves and obviously were busy covering it. I guess what got them to indulge in our lives was the element of surprise. They were probably just surprised that two nerdy looking women could manage to have feelings and get looks from some more than average good looking men.
Well after a few tense days things came to normal and the fear that word would reach home eventually passed. Having faced the worst my friend and I changed our identities and blogged anonymously. That was my experience as a stupid teenager who had no idea as to how the world worked. That was then and this is now.
For a long time I blogged my feelings anonymously and then one day I had an awakening and decided I had to blog publicly. One of my blogs was mis read by a bunch of readers. Or let's say two things happened, either their inferiority complex kicked in or they read two much between the lines. One of them went to the extent of saying,"Hey you are out there so you will be read and you cannot just write anything."
That sent me a message that who ever said that had forgotten that America is a free country and my right is protected under the First ammendment. Well so much for that statement. Of course it also proved a point that people read what they want. If someone is opinionated there is not much one can do about it. Its like having cataract. You see what you want to see and go blind on so many other things.
In fact I once encountered a woman who said being gay was related to mental sickness. I was deeply offended by her statement. But then I could not stop her from speaking her mind since thats what democracy is all about. I have opinions too. There are things and people I do not like and I do not mind talking about it. No matter who says what. The point is to learn to disagree respectfully.
When blogging I have seen people over react to issues they feel is wrong and when counter attacked they feel over whelmed. That is one attitude I never understood. Its like a stand up comedian who knows to laugh at others but himself. Then there are these set of people who end up using others as agony aunts. To begin with I highly doubt if they themselves know what the whole agony is about.
My cousin in Europe blogged about how clean the trains in Europe were and how he would have to return to his hometown in Mumbai and travel in dirty local trains. This caused a furoar in his blog. He was almost titled as a traitor. His good friends took offense. The point is he compared apples to apples. He just put forth his concern that India was developing but not in every way. Honestly after he visited US and Europe twelve years ago he became a revolutionary. He keeps his building and whatever area he visits spick and span. He is on a mission and infact he did blog about that but apparently people suffer with short term memory loss and they missed it.
Criticsing one's own country does not make one less patriot. Infact the people who attacked him where his colleagues and friends settled abroad. Other than running marathons and 5ks for charity purpose (I am one of them ;-)) they did not actually visit their motherland and take things into their hands. It is one thing to donate money and time to raise money and another to make it your personal cause and mission and work on it. Of course apples cannot be compared to oranges. Both are charity work and stand good in their own way.
The point I am trying to make by giving this example is that before commenting it is very important to understand a person, premise and where he/she is coming from. For this very reason reading comprehension carries so much emphasis in GMAT and other entrance exams. Because half the problem in this world happens when people are opinionated and refuse to understand matter the neutral way. It is important to master the art of reading in between the lines just the right way. Not to over or under read it.
One example was working with groups when in school. Most of my team mates were used to working in silos. Some of them were disgruntled because of divorce, job, money,unhappy marriage. Gosh the list was endless. Half of them including I had our moods affected by the economy. Anyways I noticed that when face to face in a group even worst of discussions were sorted out easily. It was the email part that killed our unity and progress. Someone would send his/her work and someone would comment something and the former person would read it in a bad mood and comprehend it to be an insult not even an attack and boom the walls would crack and little boys fingers would crush trying to save the dam.
That was a big lesson for me. From then on I try my best to not discuss critical issues through mail. Its always better to say things face to face. Unfortunately blogging does not give that opportunity and that is the sole cause of problem. It gets worse when someone just comments for the heck of commenting. It is like what Galileo faced in Italy. I am sure there were many who thought he was right about earth but attacked him anyways because they thought union of a lot of like minded opinions made untrue things true. And for poor Galileo this proved fatal.
Well I guess that's human nature! Locking horns or difference in opinion has been a major problem for centuries. It is there in every sphere of life. Between parents, children, friends. Disagreements are like accidents they are deemed to occur and so is the problem with blogging.
Schools offer courses in the area of communication and active reading. Unfortunately I do not see much of its application in real life. In fact even I sometimes get swayed with emotion when reading emails or books.
Anyways after a lot of pondering about these things, countless hours of arguing with sister and cousins, and reading Ayn Rand to soothe my mind (not that I follow what she says either, of course I try) and not to mention soul searching I decided to blog what I feel irrespective of others opinion which I know and you know is hard to change and have been blogging about my feelings now for quite some time.
And to go to the basics were not blogs supposed to be like diaries. Of course no one reads diaries but the point is that if I want to blog and can't blog what I want then I would have to also maintain a diary. That's high maintanence for me! So where do I draw the line? If I do not write my heartfelt feelings when blogging then would I not be cheating myself and my conscience?
Too many questions and too few answers. Expending any more energy on these thoughts I decide would be a futile effort.
Hence, I conclude my blog by deciding to blog what I want to blog with the hope that who ever reads it, reads it not more, not less, but the right way with a pinch of salt and a whole big bottle of tequila.
Amen!
My naive friend and I apparently discussed about our puppy loves on our profiles that so very much showed who we were and as a result our post was read by many people which also included our classmates. As so it happens with all teenage girls soon we were talk of the town. Not that my batch mates cared hoots about our love lives. They infact had enough dirt on themselves and obviously were busy covering it. I guess what got them to indulge in our lives was the element of surprise. They were probably just surprised that two nerdy looking women could manage to have feelings and get looks from some more than average good looking men.
Well after a few tense days things came to normal and the fear that word would reach home eventually passed. Having faced the worst my friend and I changed our identities and blogged anonymously. That was my experience as a stupid teenager who had no idea as to how the world worked. That was then and this is now.
For a long time I blogged my feelings anonymously and then one day I had an awakening and decided I had to blog publicly. One of my blogs was mis read by a bunch of readers. Or let's say two things happened, either their inferiority complex kicked in or they read two much between the lines. One of them went to the extent of saying,"Hey you are out there so you will be read and you cannot just write anything."
That sent me a message that who ever said that had forgotten that America is a free country and my right is protected under the First ammendment. Well so much for that statement. Of course it also proved a point that people read what they want. If someone is opinionated there is not much one can do about it. Its like having cataract. You see what you want to see and go blind on so many other things.
In fact I once encountered a woman who said being gay was related to mental sickness. I was deeply offended by her statement. But then I could not stop her from speaking her mind since thats what democracy is all about. I have opinions too. There are things and people I do not like and I do not mind talking about it. No matter who says what. The point is to learn to disagree respectfully.
When blogging I have seen people over react to issues they feel is wrong and when counter attacked they feel over whelmed. That is one attitude I never understood. Its like a stand up comedian who knows to laugh at others but himself. Then there are these set of people who end up using others as agony aunts. To begin with I highly doubt if they themselves know what the whole agony is about.
My cousin in Europe blogged about how clean the trains in Europe were and how he would have to return to his hometown in Mumbai and travel in dirty local trains. This caused a furoar in his blog. He was almost titled as a traitor. His good friends took offense. The point is he compared apples to apples. He just put forth his concern that India was developing but not in every way. Honestly after he visited US and Europe twelve years ago he became a revolutionary. He keeps his building and whatever area he visits spick and span. He is on a mission and infact he did blog about that but apparently people suffer with short term memory loss and they missed it.
Criticsing one's own country does not make one less patriot. Infact the people who attacked him where his colleagues and friends settled abroad. Other than running marathons and 5ks for charity purpose (I am one of them ;-)) they did not actually visit their motherland and take things into their hands. It is one thing to donate money and time to raise money and another to make it your personal cause and mission and work on it. Of course apples cannot be compared to oranges. Both are charity work and stand good in their own way.
The point I am trying to make by giving this example is that before commenting it is very important to understand a person, premise and where he/she is coming from. For this very reason reading comprehension carries so much emphasis in GMAT and other entrance exams. Because half the problem in this world happens when people are opinionated and refuse to understand matter the neutral way. It is important to master the art of reading in between the lines just the right way. Not to over or under read it.
One example was working with groups when in school. Most of my team mates were used to working in silos. Some of them were disgruntled because of divorce, job, money,unhappy marriage. Gosh the list was endless. Half of them including I had our moods affected by the economy. Anyways I noticed that when face to face in a group even worst of discussions were sorted out easily. It was the email part that killed our unity and progress. Someone would send his/her work and someone would comment something and the former person would read it in a bad mood and comprehend it to be an insult not even an attack and boom the walls would crack and little boys fingers would crush trying to save the dam.
That was a big lesson for me. From then on I try my best to not discuss critical issues through mail. Its always better to say things face to face. Unfortunately blogging does not give that opportunity and that is the sole cause of problem. It gets worse when someone just comments for the heck of commenting. It is like what Galileo faced in Italy. I am sure there were many who thought he was right about earth but attacked him anyways because they thought union of a lot of like minded opinions made untrue things true. And for poor Galileo this proved fatal.
Well I guess that's human nature! Locking horns or difference in opinion has been a major problem for centuries. It is there in every sphere of life. Between parents, children, friends. Disagreements are like accidents they are deemed to occur and so is the problem with blogging.
Schools offer courses in the area of communication and active reading. Unfortunately I do not see much of its application in real life. In fact even I sometimes get swayed with emotion when reading emails or books.
Anyways after a lot of pondering about these things, countless hours of arguing with sister and cousins, and reading Ayn Rand to soothe my mind (not that I follow what she says either, of course I try) and not to mention soul searching I decided to blog what I feel irrespective of others opinion which I know and you know is hard to change and have been blogging about my feelings now for quite some time.
And to go to the basics were not blogs supposed to be like diaries. Of course no one reads diaries but the point is that if I want to blog and can't blog what I want then I would have to also maintain a diary. That's high maintanence for me! So where do I draw the line? If I do not write my heartfelt feelings when blogging then would I not be cheating myself and my conscience?
Too many questions and too few answers. Expending any more energy on these thoughts I decide would be a futile effort.
Hence, I conclude my blog by deciding to blog what I want to blog with the hope that who ever reads it, reads it not more, not less, but the right way with a pinch of salt and a whole big bottle of tequila.
Amen!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Satyavati, a true friend
"What do you know about my friends?" asked Viku with a grunt! "I live in the city with classy people unlike you who is a country brute! I will do what I want with my friends!" Satya had no answer for that question. She was a little hurt that Viku had insulted her in front of all these people who were phony and pretentious. All she wanted to do was protect him. Make him understand that the women falling upon him, the men making him foot the bill were opportunists. But Viku was blind with ego and pride. Currently he was the only one in his entire village to have had made it to Mumbai, the city of dreams. He was proud of his brains. His ability to be an officer in India's most prestigious bank at such a young age.
His status was such that mingling with people such as Satya, his neighbour in his village was now below his dignity. Infact he hated her sight and her big mouth.
This was not how Viku and Satya were when they were young. Satya had always been a good neighbour and infact Viku's best friend. Satya's mother passed during child birth then on and even after her step mother arrived to their home Satya managed to take care of the entire house and the numerous children her step mom had. She was the kind of big sister everyone desired for. Satya's father was a greedy man who lived frugally. He used words to warn his family from spending more and used stick when they crossed the line.
Satya knew how her father functioned. She used tricks and techniques to save money without her father's knowledge and spent it on all of the kids needs. Satya's step mother and her children adored Satya for all that she did for them.
Satya's love and affection did not stop with her family. She went so far to provide for her friends needs. Viku's father could not afford to provide his ten children more than basic education. But in the late 50-60's typing was the secret weapon to get governement jobs. Viku had finished his matriculate exams and was desperate to learn typing. When he told his worries to Satya she managed to sneak in some money into his hands. As a result Viku mastered the art of typing and ended up with a job in a bank.
All through the begining of his career he somehow never lost his true himself. He was the same Viku who loved his family and friends. And one fine day it happened. Somewhere between moving to Mumbai to take his position as a newly promoted officer and making new friends he lost his old himself. Suddenly simple things that made him happy seemed boring. People he knew all his life seemed cheap and unable to jell with. The disgust reached such heights that he eventually stopped visiting people in his village.
As years passed things changed for Satya too. She was married and she moved to a small city near Mumbai with her husband. Her husband was a hotelier and earned enought to support her and her four children. Then one fine day she got a letter from her mother mentioning Viku's mother's death. Having lived most of her life next door she took her husband's permission and left to attend Viku's mother's funeral.
It was a very sad day for Satya as she entered the house. She saw everyone's but Viku's face. She thought it would be indecent to enquire about Viku and kept quiet. The next day she heard from Viku's sister that Viku had just arrived from Mumbai. Satya was shocked to hear that Viku had not come the very day his mother passed away. She decided she would find out the reason when she met Viku.
On the last day of mourning Satya saw Viku standing among bunch of people. Seemed like they had accompanied Viku from Mumbai. Satya went towards Viku and greeted him but Viku continued talking to his friends. Satya touched him and he shoved her away. Satya felt bad and confused at the same time. She did not understand the reason for Viku's behavior. Later in the day Satya went to the river to wash her clothes and there she saw Viku with his friends. They were smoking and drinking non stop. Satya was shocked and with anger she approached Viku and asked him why he was behaving awkward and weird. Did he not understand that friends who drank when they should rather mourn along with their friend at this hour for his loss were not friends but worse than enemies?
It is at this time that Viku slapped Satya and said the words,"What do you know about my friends? I live in the city with classy people unlike you who is a country brute! I will do what I want with my friends!"
That was the end of it. From that minute on Satya vowed to never visit or talk to Viku.
Twenty five years later Viku was married with wife and two children, one son and another a daughter. His daughter who had reached marriageable age was his cause of worry. Seems like she had started associating with a lot of boys. And in one incident she had fallen in love with some guy who was not of their community. The news had spread and many prospective grooms had rejected his daughter Suni. Viku was desperate to get his fast growing daughter married.
Viku's wife insisted that if they did some pooja in their village then their daughter would get married. Since things had not gone his way he decided to try his wife's way. He arrived to his ancestral house in the village and made preparations for the Pooja.
Somehow on the day of Pooja he heard from one of his realtives, Venkat that there was a boy who was an engineer in Europe and coincedentally visited Viku's village at the same time. Venkat mentioned that the boy was looking forward to meet some good girl and get married. venkat asked Viku to approach the boy's parents and try his luck.
Excited Viku asked the someone for name of boy's parents, and his residential address. As he heard the detail it struck to him that the boy was none other than Satya's son. Viku was shattered and decided to let go of the proposal.
The day passed by and in the evening when Viku returned to his home with his family he was surprised to see Satya with her son and husband. At that moment he wanted to run and hide somewhere but he did the opposite. He faced Satya with courage. They greeted each other and got down to the matter. Seems like Satya had heard about Viku's daughter's story and felt sorry for them. She did not feel it was right for any father to go through what Viku was going through. Somehow she convinced her son, Raja to atleast meet the girl and then decide.
Hearing this Viku burst into tears and fell on Satya's feet. He told her he was sorry for how he had treated her. He told her that soon after the bitter experience he had seen his friends fall off and leave him when he was in a financial crisis due to some loan problem at the bank. He told her that he wanted to meet her and apologise but he did not have the courage to do so.
Satya stopped him right there and let the boy and girl talk to each other. Fortunately both Raja and Viku's daughter Suni liked each other. Raja preferred to not dig into past and so did Suni. Soon after their marriage was scheduled and the event happened with great pomp.
This one story is very dear to my heart because it involves characters that I know. I have heard from my mother about Satya's insult and Viku's misdoings. I have seen them both avoid each other for years. I was there when Satya came with Raja and her husband to our ancestral house. We were used to seeing her but what we were not used to seeing was her in presence of Viku.
When she explained why she was there I for all could not believe any of my sensory organs. To be honest if I were her I would think about venegance. I would have had mocked Viku for acting so proud and snobbish. Her gentle character, her ability to forgive, her patience, her compassion absolutely stunned me. To this day when I am really angry at someone I think of her and the way she forgave Viku.
If not much I smile and talk to the person I have hard feelings for and try not to keep anything in mind. She for me and this story is a constant reminder of many things such as, do not forget but atleast try to forgive, know that life is like a cycle what goes up has to come down, and that love and good deeds can change everything.
Today Satya is no more. But her one good deed gave life to her friend Viku, future to his daughter, Suni who is happily married to Raja for the past ten years and has two kids.
As for Viku, every day of his life, at least that's what I have heard, I believe he first garlands Satya's photo, bows to her and then to God. He keeps her alive in his memories and mentions her to everyone as his true friend, his good samaritan.
His status was such that mingling with people such as Satya, his neighbour in his village was now below his dignity. Infact he hated her sight and her big mouth.
This was not how Viku and Satya were when they were young. Satya had always been a good neighbour and infact Viku's best friend. Satya's mother passed during child birth then on and even after her step mother arrived to their home Satya managed to take care of the entire house and the numerous children her step mom had. She was the kind of big sister everyone desired for. Satya's father was a greedy man who lived frugally. He used words to warn his family from spending more and used stick when they crossed the line.
Satya knew how her father functioned. She used tricks and techniques to save money without her father's knowledge and spent it on all of the kids needs. Satya's step mother and her children adored Satya for all that she did for them.
Satya's love and affection did not stop with her family. She went so far to provide for her friends needs. Viku's father could not afford to provide his ten children more than basic education. But in the late 50-60's typing was the secret weapon to get governement jobs. Viku had finished his matriculate exams and was desperate to learn typing. When he told his worries to Satya she managed to sneak in some money into his hands. As a result Viku mastered the art of typing and ended up with a job in a bank.
All through the begining of his career he somehow never lost his true himself. He was the same Viku who loved his family and friends. And one fine day it happened. Somewhere between moving to Mumbai to take his position as a newly promoted officer and making new friends he lost his old himself. Suddenly simple things that made him happy seemed boring. People he knew all his life seemed cheap and unable to jell with. The disgust reached such heights that he eventually stopped visiting people in his village.
As years passed things changed for Satya too. She was married and she moved to a small city near Mumbai with her husband. Her husband was a hotelier and earned enought to support her and her four children. Then one fine day she got a letter from her mother mentioning Viku's mother's death. Having lived most of her life next door she took her husband's permission and left to attend Viku's mother's funeral.
It was a very sad day for Satya as she entered the house. She saw everyone's but Viku's face. She thought it would be indecent to enquire about Viku and kept quiet. The next day she heard from Viku's sister that Viku had just arrived from Mumbai. Satya was shocked to hear that Viku had not come the very day his mother passed away. She decided she would find out the reason when she met Viku.
On the last day of mourning Satya saw Viku standing among bunch of people. Seemed like they had accompanied Viku from Mumbai. Satya went towards Viku and greeted him but Viku continued talking to his friends. Satya touched him and he shoved her away. Satya felt bad and confused at the same time. She did not understand the reason for Viku's behavior. Later in the day Satya went to the river to wash her clothes and there she saw Viku with his friends. They were smoking and drinking non stop. Satya was shocked and with anger she approached Viku and asked him why he was behaving awkward and weird. Did he not understand that friends who drank when they should rather mourn along with their friend at this hour for his loss were not friends but worse than enemies?
It is at this time that Viku slapped Satya and said the words,"What do you know about my friends? I live in the city with classy people unlike you who is a country brute! I will do what I want with my friends!"
That was the end of it. From that minute on Satya vowed to never visit or talk to Viku.
Twenty five years later Viku was married with wife and two children, one son and another a daughter. His daughter who had reached marriageable age was his cause of worry. Seems like she had started associating with a lot of boys. And in one incident she had fallen in love with some guy who was not of their community. The news had spread and many prospective grooms had rejected his daughter Suni. Viku was desperate to get his fast growing daughter married.
Viku's wife insisted that if they did some pooja in their village then their daughter would get married. Since things had not gone his way he decided to try his wife's way. He arrived to his ancestral house in the village and made preparations for the Pooja.
Somehow on the day of Pooja he heard from one of his realtives, Venkat that there was a boy who was an engineer in Europe and coincedentally visited Viku's village at the same time. Venkat mentioned that the boy was looking forward to meet some good girl and get married. venkat asked Viku to approach the boy's parents and try his luck.
Excited Viku asked the someone for name of boy's parents, and his residential address. As he heard the detail it struck to him that the boy was none other than Satya's son. Viku was shattered and decided to let go of the proposal.
The day passed by and in the evening when Viku returned to his home with his family he was surprised to see Satya with her son and husband. At that moment he wanted to run and hide somewhere but he did the opposite. He faced Satya with courage. They greeted each other and got down to the matter. Seems like Satya had heard about Viku's daughter's story and felt sorry for them. She did not feel it was right for any father to go through what Viku was going through. Somehow she convinced her son, Raja to atleast meet the girl and then decide.
Hearing this Viku burst into tears and fell on Satya's feet. He told her he was sorry for how he had treated her. He told her that soon after the bitter experience he had seen his friends fall off and leave him when he was in a financial crisis due to some loan problem at the bank. He told her that he wanted to meet her and apologise but he did not have the courage to do so.
Satya stopped him right there and let the boy and girl talk to each other. Fortunately both Raja and Viku's daughter Suni liked each other. Raja preferred to not dig into past and so did Suni. Soon after their marriage was scheduled and the event happened with great pomp.
This one story is very dear to my heart because it involves characters that I know. I have heard from my mother about Satya's insult and Viku's misdoings. I have seen them both avoid each other for years. I was there when Satya came with Raja and her husband to our ancestral house. We were used to seeing her but what we were not used to seeing was her in presence of Viku.
When she explained why she was there I for all could not believe any of my sensory organs. To be honest if I were her I would think about venegance. I would have had mocked Viku for acting so proud and snobbish. Her gentle character, her ability to forgive, her patience, her compassion absolutely stunned me. To this day when I am really angry at someone I think of her and the way she forgave Viku.
If not much I smile and talk to the person I have hard feelings for and try not to keep anything in mind. She for me and this story is a constant reminder of many things such as, do not forget but atleast try to forgive, know that life is like a cycle what goes up has to come down, and that love and good deeds can change everything.
Today Satya is no more. But her one good deed gave life to her friend Viku, future to his daughter, Suni who is happily married to Raja for the past ten years and has two kids.
As for Viku, every day of his life, at least that's what I have heard, I believe he first garlands Satya's photo, bows to her and then to God. He keeps her alive in his memories and mentions her to everyone as his true friend, his good samaritan.
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