Mithun's Midlife Crisis

Preamble: During Blogchatter's A2Z challenge during the month of April 2024, I am writing mini stories on various subjects and characters on each day of the month except on Sundays. The name of the protagonist shall begin with the alphabet assigned for the day.  

It was sometime after his 45th birthday that Mithun seemed to have unconsciously taken stock of his life. He had this feeling that his life was three fourths over with just 15 years more for retirement. Thus far, he had managed to reach the position of only a Deputy manager. Now it looked like he would never reach the great heights vis-à-vis the corporate ladder that he had dreamt of when he started career as a management trainee. 

Mithun felt that his two children, a daughter and son who were teenagers didn't think much of him. He was just someone to play the role of provider, to give them money when they needed it. Mithun had always felt that his wife Sarita was the main reason he did not get the respect as head of family. She was always laughing away most of what he said as if it was a joke. While Mithun had previously taken what was happening in his life in a matter of fact manner, he suddenly began to feel edgy and upset as if time is running out and that he would never get his due either professionally or socially or even  from family in his own home! 

Mithun travelled down the memory lane. The honeymoon  period in their marriage was so very short. Sarita had come into the relationship with preconceived notions. One of them, Mithun felt was her idea that given half the chance a husband would try to lord over the wife. Therefore, she appeared to be guarded in all interaction. She wanted to assert that she had a mind of her own. 

So much so, she would turn down his choice of a saree that he thought would look lovely on her. Over a period of time, her choices in most matters turned out to be diametrically opposite to his. In fact they hardly shopped together these days. If she wanted to go shopping, Sarita went with the children. Mithun had no say in the selection of the clothes of the children either. It is a small mercy that he has been choosing his own clothes over the years. 

Things had reached such a low ebb that Mithun did not know what present to buy his wife for her birthday or the wedding anniversary. Her tastes in clothes being totally different buying an attire was ruled out. On a couple of occasions, he bought her books thinking that it was a safe bet only to find her face registering scorn. At one time he bought her a gift from one of those cute, unique souvenir shops. Months later when they visited  in law's house he found his 'special birthday gift' casually lying around in mother in law's room. That was the importance his wife attached to his presents! 

It was around this time that Mithun decided to make a solo trip to his native place. He wanted to visit the old school and laze around in the calm environment of his village. More importantly, Mithun wanted to discuss his problems and apprehensions with his bosom pal Venky at a place "Far from the madding crowd". 

Mithun was at the railway station. The hibernation period was over. He was returning to the hustle and bustle of the city to resume both work and family life from where he had left off. But there was a calmness in his mind that came from the long chats he had  with Venky during the two weeks he spent in the serene environment. Venky advised him not to be overwhelmed. 

"Your worries can partly be attributed to a mid life crisis, when one feels that time is running out and all that one wanted to achieve in life seems to be slipping away." he said. It is not as if you alone have problems. Everyone has some kind of dissatisfaction with some aspect of life. Life is all about accepting both the hills and valleys and navigating between them skillfully and effortlessly . The station master waved the green flag . Mithun settled down in his seat with a calm confidence that had been eluding him for days. 

NB: This post is a part of  challenge #BlogchatterA2Z

The Woman You Love

 Write, on “the woman you love the most”

Exhorts organizors of a “poetry contest”

Seeds sown for avoidable conflicts

Is one to choose between mother & spouse?

Or worse still- face dire consequences

If choice is from a shortlist !

 

Easier to celebrate womanhood

The one side of coin without which

The other side is incomplete, of no value

They can come in many ways and forms

A kind teacher at school, an aunt, grandmom

A friend who engages you in stimulating discussions

A doting daughter for whom you are hero

Surely, very challenging for many

To choose one over the other!

 

To my mind, mother Earth, the ever giving

Never complaining, epitome of love

In the form of trees, water, natural resources

Is the “Woman” I love the most! 

NB: Written for Million Muse FB Group Monthly poetry contest - March 2024

Lakshmi's Story

 Preamble: During Blogchatter's A2Z challenge during the month of April 2024, I am writing mini stories on various subjects and characters on each day of the month except on Sundays. The name of the protagonist shall begin with the alphabet assigned for the day.  

Lakshmi was always in a hurry. As she did housework for 4 houses in the apartment complex, life was like always being on the run. The afternoons are a bit quiet though. It is in the morning when everyone has to go for work that they wanted her to come in early and complete house work such as washing the vessels. Lakshmi was lucky to get work in two houses where the 'Didi's are not working women, meaning she can go there a little later after completing the other two houses. 

Lakshmi's husband has been working in a public sector undertaking since many years as a contract labourer with the hope that one day he would be made permanent under the contract labour (Regulation & Abolition Act). But now all such hopes have vanished with the change in approach and policy of the Government to encourage more and more temporary workmen on the pretext of  the country's requirement to be competitive in a globalized environment.

 The expenses that are most visible to the management when they want to  cut corners are the labour cost which is kept to as minimum as possible. With the earnings of both of them put together they could only manage a small sized house in a basti (overcrowded colony) in the city . Lakshmi lives here with her husband and a fourteen year old son and eight year old daughter.  

Although she works for four of them. Lakshmi's favourite was "Sarla didi". She was very kind and understanding when she was delayed by the sickness of the children in their growing up years. Moreover, she allowed her to take the leftover food home. The others were very strict and would not allow food to be taken out. If food is available eat it yourself; not to be taken out was the rule.  The relationship of Lakshmi with didi was reciprocal. Whenever she had guests visiting from the native place, Laksmi would always pitch in unmindful of the time.

Looking back , Lakshmi feels her association with the the 'Apartment' people helped in having a bigger vision. She did not hesitate to buy second hand fridge and washing machine when the opportunity presented itself for making her life comfortable at home on returning from a tiring day's work. Looking at the better lives of the 'Apartment people', she urges her children to aim high and not end up as someone doing other's house work for life. 

Some children in the basti have enrolled for engineering and other promising courses. Laksmi  however, does not have much hope with respect to her son Deepak who seems to be whiling away his time roaming around with the other boys of the basti. All her hopes are pinned on daughter Neeti who invariably comes first in her class. 

Like a seesaw, the ups and downs continue in Lakshmi's life. Sometimes it is a raise that her husband got while at other time it is an unexpected hospitalization. Lakshmi accepts them all with equanimity. She has no time to stop and think. She has to keep running to be able to be in the same place. That about sums up the life and times of Lakshmi." Embracing 'Hope' for a better morrow, no matter whatever the present circumstances" is the motto she lives by. 

NB: This post is a part of  challenge #BlogchatterA2Z  

Kiran's Tryst with Ego

 Preamble: During Blogchatter's A2Z challenge during the month of April 2024, I am writing mini stories on various subjects and characters on each day of the month except on Sundays. The name of the protagonist shall begin with the alphabet assigned for the day.  

Kiran Kumar worked for over 35 years in the corporate. During his long innings he managed to climb the ladder and reach the position of manager two years prior to his retirement. Kiran always felt that his work life could have been a lot better if  there were fewer people with large egos in the form of bosses , peers, suppliers or customers. 

Kiran particularly talks about a colleague Kalyan. They had  both joined the company together. Although Kalyan got faster promotions, he did not let that get in the way of his friendships or relationships across departments. Therefore everyone had a good word about Kalyan, the ever smiling yet persuasive officer who got work done without being autocratic or egoistic. 

Kiran says this nature continued till Kalyan was senior manager. Then one fine day, he got promoted as Assistant General Manager. No one knows why? Perhaps some jinx in the designation. Kalyan began to get egoistic, argumentative, find faults easily- A far cry from the genial personality that they had all loved so much. In fact many refused to believe such drastic change in personality, particularly those who did not have much interaction with Kalyan  after his donning the new role and designation. However, Kiran could vouch for the change in Kalyan. 

As destiny would have it, Kiran's tryst with ego came much later after his retirement. As a person who was very interested in writing and in literary matters, Kiran joined a what's app group for those with similar interests. Admin would give them two subjects or topics to write on in a week. Members would then share their unique and interesting perspectives to which others could comment. 

The number of members increased during the Covid 19 period when people were tied down to their houses and were looking for ways to occupy and keep themselves busy. Being an active participant, members voted for Kiran to be the chief admin in place of the earlier incumbent who quit due to reasons of health. The procedure followed for notifying the topics was to seek suggestions from members with the final decision being that of the chief admin for selecting the two topics for the week. 

After a couple of weeks in the role of chief Admin, Kiran began to ignore the suggestions given by members and notified his own topics. Although most of the members were silent, a couple of them were annoyed and expressed themselves. Some hard words were exchanged including on competency level of people to even choose the topics. Things then began to happen very fast. Not only did the two who first raised the protest, but also 3 more members left the group. Immediately the 'silent' members swung into action and began praising Kiran Kumar. Some said he was the epitome of quality literature and that they would abide by his decisions. 

It was at this stage that Kiran introspected on the entire episode and revisited his understanding of the term "Ego". He came to the conclusion that he had behaved in the same egotistic manner during the recent weeks of which he had been complaining whole through his work life. A quick decision was taken to correct and make amends. Now, Kiran thinks twice, many times before passing judgements on anyone.

 "We know how prone we are to something only when we are exposed to it ourselves or in close proximity to it." tells Kiran these days to anyone and everyone who cares to listen to his story. 

NB: This post is a part of  challenge #BlogchatterA2Z    

Jyothika's Search

Preamble: During Blogchatter's A2Z challenge during the month of April 2024, I am writing mini stories on various subjects and characters on each day of the month except on Sundays. The name of the protagonist shall begin with the alphabet assigned for the day.  

Jyothika was very excited at the prospect of her brother's wedding. It was an occasion for her to project herself too, wear beautiful clothes, fun and frolic with relatives and friends. It was a surprise when her brother Varun opted for an arranged marriage. Somehow she had thought that he would find his own bride and that, that would open the door to acceptance of a love marriage for her and their little sister as well when her time came. 

Their family could boast to being a very close knit one. The members shared freely whatever was happening in their lives be it father of his woes at work or Jyothika herself about her challenges at college. She particularly had a bond with big brother Varun. He would take her with him to most places and make it a point to bring back something special for her when he went on tour.

Finally, the big day arrived and passed off with a lot of colour, celebration and happiness. But it was the days succeeding the big event that was bothering Jyothika. She felt that her sister in law Aditi was slowly and surely shutting out others and keeping her husband Varun only for herself. Jyothika began to feel that she was not welcome in many situations where her brother would have previously happily associated her. Granted that he was now married and some space would be lost to the wife. But '"all space?" is what was bothering Jyothika. She noticed this happening in respect of other members of the family too. In fact Varun was seeing less and less of them with each passing day. It was almost like they were building this exclusive castle in which only both of them could be residents! 

Jyothika raised her apprehensions with her mom but she dismissed it with the words "The poor girl lost both her parents when young and was brought up by an uncle. Naturally, she would be a little possessive of her husband. Stop being super sensitive Jyothika!" 

Jyothika was not however convinced. She felt that she had to know more about this person who seemed to have made 'a prisoner' out of her brother. She began to cultivate friendship with anyone and everyone who knew Aditi or her family well. Then casually she came across a girl who had studied with Aditi for her graduation and had shared the same hostel facilities of the college in Indore. Jyothika was very happy to meet Meera who knew Aditi at close quarters. How was she at college and in social situations?  she asked her.

'Well, I will tell you just one incident at the college hostel" said Meera. 

"We were all discussing boys and what qualities each one of us would want in a future husband. The girls were giving various criteria like looks, sound financial background, well employed, of good character, one caring by nature and so on. Aditi was sitting a little distance away detached and cool. Then one of the girls noticing her said "Hey aditi, what are your preferences?" 

Aditi answered in a matter of fact manner "I also will get my man. Then I will love him, love him, love him so much as to suffocate him..."

Jyothika got her answer and the reason for the total surrender of her brother. She also sort of knew it was a losing battle. It was futile to attempt getting anywhere near to the bond that she had shared with her brother for the last 20 years... 

NB: This post is a part of  challenge #BlogchatterA2Z   

Inbanathan's Better Half

Preamble: During Blogchatter's A2Z challenge during the month of April 2024, I am writing mini stories on various subjects and characters on each day of the month except on Sundays. The name of the protagonist shall begin with the alphabet assigned for the day.  

" Why do you want to go to Kodaikanal for a school reunion after 15 years?" asked Inbanathan to his wife Latha. 

"We never had such a reunion in so many years. This would be the first one ever! There would be so many things to catch up with friends!" said  Latha who was speaking about the reunion of the 2005 batch of the St Peters Matriculation school, where she had studied till her 12th class.

Inbanathan, a software engineer basically from Coimbatore lived in Bangalore with his wife and two girls aged 5 and 3 years.  As his wife was very keen to go, he decided to go to his native place with the girls during the weekend so that his parents would have the opportunity to meet their grandchildren. They would also be able to pitch in for tending to the kids in Lata's absence. It was agreed that Latha would take a bus to Kodaikanal and come to Coimbatore after the event so that they could all return together to Bangalore. 

The grandparents were very happy to see the girls. They made the weekend memorable for them taking them to Black Thunder, the biggest water theme park in Asia and also to the VOC park & zoo. The girls had exciting things to relate to their mother when she joined them on the night of Sunday. The plan was to relax during the day time on Monday in Coimbatore and return in the night to Bangalore. 

After the family was back in Bangalore, Inba began to notice some distance in the behaviour of his wife. Contrary to expectations, she was not speaking much about the reunion. When asked , she merely kept mumbling that "it went well"  When the' mood off' continued for over a week, Inba was concerned. He found Latha to be absent minded and not paying attention to what the children were saying. Sometimes, she ran to the balcony along with her mobile phone and seemed to be in a conversation. 

One day, three months later when Inba returned from office, he found the house empty. Looking around, he finally found a chit on the dressing table saying " I am leaving. I met Senthil at the reunion. Our love for each other was rekindled and we cannot live without each other. I am taking the girls. Don't worry. They will be safe and well looked after .. Senthil has promised me that." 

Inba was shocked and did not know how to respond. He did not have an address to which he could go and at least bring back his girls. The next few days were panic ridden. He frantically called everyone whom he thought would be able to guide him. Some advised against filing a police complaint in view of the stigma attached, while others opined that it was the only sensible thing to do. Finally, a police complaint was filed without much fan fare. Not much progress was reported by the department even after months. 

In the meanwhile, Inba came to know that Latha and Senthil had moved to some remote area in the city limits of Hyderabad. By then he was totally exhausted. He had no energy to take action in the matter. After the initial show of solidarity the family and friends had returned to their routine life.  As it is , Inba was slipping in achieving the monthly targets at work. There were condoning it for the moment out of sheer kindness. This cannot be expected to continue as a business is about profits and not charity.

He also received information that there was a storm on the side of Senthil 's family as well. His wife filed for divorce and took their only child to live with her parents. According to the 'source', everything is not well with the run away couple either. After the initial excitement of rekindling an old flame, the practical difficulties of day to day living was beginning to hit them. They had given up steady sound jobs to grab those below their worth and competence. Senthil who had been initially treating the girls like princesses was now getting irritated with them frequently. He was also missing his son. 

Then it happened. Inba received a feeler from a distant relative saying Latha was willing to return if she could be forgiven for the lapse that occurred due to the 'force of circumstances'. Two days later he received a call. It was his elder girl Divya. "Daddy we want to see you!" she wept. Inba did not know what to do. His parents had already been putting pressure on him for a second marriage. He had stalled it saying it was not possible as first formal divorce had to be obtained.

 In India, a decision is not just about two people making it. Whole of society have and want a say in it. Loneliness, deteriorating health and performance at work was killing Inba as well. He had to take a decision sooner than later.  

NB: This post is a part of challenge #BlogchatterA2Z  

Harita's Maiden Reportage

Preamble: During Blogchatter's A2Z challenge during the month of April 2024, I am writing mini stories on various subjects and characters on each day of the month except on Sundays. The name of the protagonist shall begin with the alphabet assigned for the day.  

This story goes back to a time when there was no social media and people depended mainly on the print media for story and headlines. Comedy actor Sidharth Kulkarni of Marathi cinema was in the news for the wrong reasons. It was reported that fans had gone to his residence to invite him for a cultural function as chief guest. Sidharth, 'according to sources' was not only unfriendly but threw them out of the house saying "Get out!". 

The chief editor of Cinema News, Ram Gopal felt that something was amiss. He had been following Kulkarni for quite a few years and he was known to be very sober and mild mannered personality. It seemed almost unbelievable that Kulkarni abused his fans and threw them out! Yet, all the competitor magazines were selling the story with relish and increasing the sales of their magazine.

Ram Gopal sent word for the new recruit Harita. As soon as she came, he got her to relax, offered her tea and made some small talk including queries as to  how she was finding the work atmosphere. The editor explained the situation and told Harita to dig deeper into the matter as the story so far does not corelate with the basic nature and temperament of the actor.

" As I know Sidharth well, I will talk to him and ask him to give you an interview. Let us get the story from the Horse's mouth! As your first major assignment, this will open doors for better things. So put your best foot forward Harita." he said  

Harita thanked the boss and returned to her table with mixed emotions like excitement on the one hand and anxiety, apprehensions on the other. As she was new to the job, she wondered how she would be treated when she went to meet the actor. Will she also be spoken to harshly and face the ire of the actor like his fans did? Anyway, she felt comforted by the fact that she was going on an invitation and also had the backing of her editor. 

When Harita  rang the door bell, she was greeted by by a woman who said "Please sit down. Saheb is expecting you."  As she was waiting for the actor, Harita looked around the living room. The show cases were filled with number of trophies Sidharth Kulkarni had won for best comedian including a couple of film fare awards. From behind, she heard the voice of the actor " Ah, I have been waiting for you. what would you like to have? Tea or something cool? 

From then on they had a long conversation tracing Kulkarni's career thus far and his future projects. Harita wanted to bring up the 'incident' in a natural, matter of fact manner without offending the actor. But, before she could raise the issue Kulkarni said " I know you want to hear about the 'fans' episode. 

"Yes sir... If you don't mind" said Harita falteringly. 

" Well, these guys barged in unannounced last Wednesday. They said that they had a function of their cultural association on 24th of next month and they wanted me to be the chief guest. "Did you check with me whether I am free before fixing the date of 24th?" I asked them. 

"No but we knew that you will surely come! Please make it convenient sir. We have committed to our members and even published pamphlets"  

I told them " Look I am not in the proper frame of mind to accept any invitation in the near future. Please understand and fix someone else. But do so after checking with the person first." 

This annoyed them and they started arguing with me. One guy said" Cinema loafers like you should understand that it is we who make you. Without us you are nothing! Understand you comic punk!" 

This was the last straw. I got up and asked them to "get out!" 

" But sir, why did you get so upset ? After all, you are a public figure and used to invasion of privacy" asked Harita. 

" Harita, you should know that we are also human beings. Three days prior to the incident, my wife Sarla had a miscarriage. We had been eagerly looking forward to the arrival of the baby after many years. At one time, we had given up hope of ever becoming parents. We were so happy when she conceived after a series of treatments and prayers. And then this..." 

" Very sorry to hear this sir" said Harita feeling so inadequate as a young woman to express appropriate words of  solace. 

" These guys came with the mindset that they were doing a favour, inviting me, a comedian as chief guest. Therefore they did not feel the need to check with me or even seek an appointment before barging into my house. At that time I was in an emotional turmoil; blaming myself for not taking adequate care of my wife during pregnancy. I cursed my profession for taking me away for days  for outdoor shooting when my family needed me the most. " 

"Sir, I now understand very well why you behaved with the 'fans' the way you did. We tend to forget that public figures also have normal emotions of disappointment, grief and anger like anyone of us." 

As Harita took leave and proceeded to her office, she felt that her very fist assignment was a very enlightening experience. She thought of the headline for her reportage. Would "Truth of the Matter" be good enough? Well, she would leave that to the chief editor. 

NB: This post is a part of  challenge #BlogchatterA2Z