Mid Life –Part 1, turbulence @ 30000 feet

Susan Dsouza and Pramod Kulkarni fall in love during engineering study days, get married against all odds and live happily ever after until….

Two decades later…

“I could not hold my tears back Susie” Pramod said to Susan and continued speaking to her on his mobile “ Raghav was the toper in all the eight semesters, neither smoked not touched alcohol but strange are the ways of fate that he died so early leaving behind his wife and the kid”.

Susan replied “I know Raghav well as he was my batch mate too”.

Pramod had rushed to Pune to attend the cremation of his friend Raghav who died of a massive heart attack.

They continued for few more minutes and after finishing the call Pramod leaned on the window shade of the plane and looked outside at the runway lost in thoughts.

“Excuse me, I think you are sitting in my place” said a female standing near his seat.

Pramod looked up at her, wiping his eyes got up and said “Is it so, I am sorry”

“its ok” the lady replied” you look quiet disturbed. I shall sit in the aisle seat”.

Within few minutes the plane took off and soon the announcement for loosening the seat belts was made. Pramod did not bother and continued to lean on the window looking at the shining clouds outside.

“You look like you are in pain” she said.

Pramod replied “I am coming back from the cremation of my dear friend”

“I am sorry to hear that. Sometimes dearest people part early” she added.

“True” Pramod replied.

They continued to talk to one another for next few minutes.

“Ipsita, I am Ipsita Chakraborthy” she said extending her right hand.

“My name is Pramod Kulkarni” he replied and shook her hand.

A jolt went through his body. She looked no less than a Bollywood heroin. Draped in a pink saree, long hair tied tightly at the back, few curly strands of hair left hanging deliberately on either side of her face, thin coat of makeup and in totality she looked stupendous.

“Maharastrian?” she questioned.

“I am from Karnataka and Hubli is my native place” he replied and continued “You are from Bengal?”

“Not from Bengal” she added “Am from Agartala”.

With a surprised look he said “You do not look like from North east”.

She laughed and said “It is not necessary that people from north east should have mongoloid features”.

Next fifteen minutes they spoke to one another.

“It is nice to see you talking with a smile. At the start of the flight you looked so depressed” she said.

“Thank you for changing my mood” Pramod replied thanking his stars for having come across such a good looking woman. He continued “You look very fit”.

She replied “I do yoga regularly and planning to attend some yoga classes to learn more”.

Soon the plane started descending to Bangalore airport.

Ipsita looked at Pramod, smiled and said “It was nice talking to you”

Pramod took out his business card and gave it to her. Ipsita smiled and opened her bag. She took one business card and with a pen wrote her mobile number and gave it to him.

He looked at it and said “Florist?”

“Yes I run a flower boutique in Bangalore and my husband works in a software company. I came to Pune to attend a floral exhibition” she replied.

“You stay in Bangalore?” was his next question.

“You can say that we are settled in Bangalore for good “she replied.

Pramod was ecstatic and he thanked his stars as he had ample opportunities to meet her in future.

The plane soon touched down and after exchanging pleasantries with Ipsita, Pramod hopped into a cab and went to his house.

“Pramod do some workout at least on a Sunday” Susan shouted from the kitchen. She rushed out to the living room and finding him lying down watching TV, continued “Early forties should be lived carefully. Since the time I heard of Raghav’s death I am worried. You have developed a big tummy and do not bother to exercise”.

Pramod smiled and said “What should I do now?”

Susan replied “Mini was telling me about yoga classes. Why don’t you join?”

The mention of yoga made him remember Ipsita. He ran to his bedroom and started searching for her business card in his bag. Disappointment was followed by frustration as he had lost her card. He cursed his stars and came back slowly to the living room.

“Mention of yoga made you feel depressed?” Susan laughed.

 “I am fed up of people telling me that you look much younger to me” he said.

He continued “I shall join the yoga classes immediately”.

To be continued in part 2…

The loser who won

1992, Barcelona summer Olympics:

Derek Redmond the favorite to win 400 meters race stopped after about 150 meters as his hamstring tore and fell to the ground in pain. He stood up and began to hobble along the track. His father joined him and helped him complete the race and the crowd of 65000 gave a standing ovation.

November 2015:

Daniel walked into the coffee shop and looked around. He saw Allice sitting on a chair in the corner. He wished her and took his seat. She ordered for coffee and soon the coffee was served.

He started “So Allice how are you? How come you remembered me after so many years”?

She replied “All these days it was not necessary to talk to you though we used to cross one another in business matters. Right now the situation calls for it”

Daniel with his trademark crooked smile said “I never expected that this day would  come. Allice the second topper in the engineering course and wife of Nitin Dixit the topper of the class wanting to talk to Daniel who took a year extra to complete the course”

Allice smiled and said “Nitin was the topper then and even now a topper in business and family matters.

You have been very successful in your business ventures and have diversified flourishing business units. We have only the effluent treatment plants supply business. I do not know why you are still upset with both of us. You are deliberately ensuring that we do not get orders at many places”

He interrupted “I am getting orders because I am able to control the input costs, design effective plants, supply the same to the customers at lesser prices and able to service them better after selling. I am not bothered about your company or the business you and your Nitin Dixit do”

She smiled “I know you very well. You are not undercutting in your other businesses and are doing so only in this line since we are there as competitors”

He looked at her and said “What did you find in him that was not there in me? Your father Mr. DSouza had met my father and discussed about our marriage. I was very thrilled at that time. You decided to get married to him. Today you are reaping the fruits of your decision”

She responded “I was in love with Nitin and am still in love with him. I am happy about my decision to marry him as he is gem of a person. He has a big heart and knows what keeps a woman happy”

Daniel said “OK if you are happy then there are no issues. Tell me why you wanted to meet me?”

Allice started “We have run out of orders and running the company in good shape is becoming difficult. The upcoming steel plant tender is the only one we are hoping to compete and we want to get the order badly. If we do not get it we will be in dire straits. You are the only person who can spoil our chances” saying so she started sobbing.

He looked at her and said “Do not cry. It is not fair on your part to ask me not to participate in the tender. We are in business and we should run our business with our acumen and not by telling others to step aside. Let me see how I can be of help to you” saying so he walked away.   

January 2016:

Daniel looked serious and grim as usual. It was the tender opening time at the public sector steel plant and comprehensive effluent treatment plant tender was being opened. It was a battle between Daniel’s company and Nitin Dixit’s company. It was a high stake game for Nitin and Allice and they knew that the result would either make or break them.

The official opened the price bids and to the surprise of everyone Nitin Dixit’s company bid was the least and they were awarded the contract. Nitin was ecstatic and he got up and hugged his wife. He looked at Daniel and with pride gestured that he had won.

Daniel smiled at Allice and walked out of the room. He went to the wash room and started walking towards the entrance. The long corridor was empty and he saw Allice standing in a corner.

He looked at her. She had tears in her eyes and with folded hands said “Thank you Daniel. You have helped us”

He replied “The moment I saw tears in your eyes in the coffee shop I felt I should withdraw from the race. I realized how important this order was for you and Dixit. I have many lines of businesses and one order lost will not matter much to me.

I did not withdraw. It was like a runner being hurt in the middle of the race. He will not with draw. Instead he will limp and complete the race. I also competed and completed the race but ensured that your company got the order. “

 She replied “I am sorry I was always rude to you during college days and during the past many years”

“It is OK for me. I meet many people who are rude to me. You have married a person who is very good at heart. He is intelligent, handsome and a good human. Be good to him”

She replied “Nitin is very good at heart but you are having a very good and kind mind”

Daniel replied “I knew your price and so quoted more than it. I have informers in your company. Please take care of your system. If they are able to tell me your prices, they will as well tell others too” saying so he told the name of the person who was leaking the information.

Allice nodded and said “We will plug the holes and I will tell Nitin that you helped us”

 “Do not tell him. Let him have the feeling that he could beat me.”

He took out his sun glasses and wearing them said “Allice this is the only order I lost to you because I wanted you to win. We shall keep meeting in customer’s places and fight it out. Daniel and Nitin are not friends”

Allice smiled and her heart was filled with respect for him.

Alex the great

5.30 AM January 1^st 2015, Vishakhapatnam…

Alex took his mobile phone, came out of the room and locked the door. He walked down the three floors of the hotel and on entering the lobby called his wife and said “Happy new year dear”.

It was midnight in London and Agatha was celebrating New Year with her kids.

“Happy new year” she wished back and continued “your yesterday’s meetings were fruitful?”

“Yes they were very fruitful. We have signed the deal with the local company and within months will be acquiring it. Our empire will now be present in four continents” he replied with pride.

After few more minutes he completed the talk with his wife and headed straight to the famous RK beach for a jog. The cool breeze, the crimson rays of the early morning sun and mild roar and crash of the surf from the sea was a far cry from the bustling city cacophony he was used to.

He started jogging on the track meant for walkers and joggers. He could not find many people on the beach or on the track as it was the New Year eve and people would have partied hard the previous night. Suddenly the track caved in and he fell down about six feet onto the beach. The fall was very painful and tears rolled from his eyes due to the acute pain. He tightly held his right leg with his hands and looked around. Not a soul was visible. He looked for his cell phone and was disappointed to see it in a broken state. He could not call anyone for help.

About ten minutes later he saw one elderly man walking on the beach. Alex waved his hand gesturing the elderly person to come closer to him. The person saw him and ran towards him. On reaching he said “what happened sir? Are you alright?”

Alex said “I fell down as the track caved in.”

“At many places roads are caving in and this is happening after the Hud Hud cyclonic storm landfall in this place on October 12^th” the elderly man replied.

Alex looked at the man and said “I am Alexander Kunnappillil and I am the MD of couple of companies with presence in four continents”.

The elderly man said “Nice to know you gentleman. I am Shiva Shankara Sharma and am a retired Sanskrit teacher”.

Alex continued “My mobile phone is broken. Please call the ambulance”

“I leave my mobile at home and go out for a walk” Sharma replied and continued “Please relax and I will go and call someone who can help you”.

Alex saw a strapped plastic water bottle around Sharma’s arm and said “Will you please give me half of the water in the bottle. I am very thirsty”

Sharma replied “I shall give you if you promise to give me half of your property”

Alex was not amused and he became angry. Recovering soon he replied “You are very greedy, my position right now is not good and I need to drink water badly. I shall part with my property. Please give me the water”.

Sharma did not give him water and instead engaged Alex in discussions about his transcontinental businesses. Another fifteen minutes passed and Alex was very thirsty and he lost his cool and shouted “Old man please hand over the water bottle to me. I want to drink all the water in the bottle”

Sharma was calm and he replied “Of course it is all yours provided you give me your entire property.”

Alex was almost mad and he replied “I shall give you but right now do not waste time and hand over the water bottle to me”.

Sharma smiled and said “You have wasted your life building an empire which is worth only one bottle of water”

Alex was stunned and did not have a word to reply. Sharma handed over the water bottle to him and said “Please drink the full bottle. I do not need anything in return from you. I only wanted to tell that you are not going to take all the properties with you once you die and you need just six feet of land. You remind me of Alexander the Great. Please read about him and your life will change”.

Saying so Sharma walked away only to return in couple of minutes with a policeman. Soon ambulance came and Alex was taken to a leading corporate hospital and got the best available medical treatment.

Couple of months later in London…

Alex looked at the heap of books he had bought about Alexander the great. The words of Sharma had great impact on him. He had already completed reading four of them. Alexander the king was ambitious and had expanded his kingdom across many places and his eyes fell on Bharat (India). Aristotle his teacher advised him to be careful as Bharat was the land of Karma and Dharma and had many learned scholars who were capable of changing one’s life by preaching. Alexander invaded Bharat, had discussions with many scholars in due course of time and unfortunately fell sick and realized that he came empty handed and would  leave the world empty handed and his empire would get transferred to someone else.

Alex realized after reading about Alexander the king that earning lot of money and building big business Empire was important but more important was to share it with the people who were in need of help. He and his wife started a foundation and pumped in lot of money to carry out social service activities in many African and Asian countries.

January 1^st 2016…

Alex called Sharma on his mobile and said “Happy new year Sharmaji. Do you remember me? Am Alex the guy you met on RK beach exactly one year ago?”

Sharma was delighted “What a surprise? Happy New Year Alex. I read lot about you in the internet. You are a very big business magnet”

Alex continued “Your words had big influence on me. I have started sharing my wealth with people who need it. I have started a foundation and we are investing money in developmental work for poor children and women in many third world countries. I thought that since your words triggered this change in me, I should share this news with you”.

Sharma could not hold his happiness back and said “My son I am just an ordinary retired Sanskrit teacher who leads an austere life spending the pension given by the government. People like me cannot do much. It is only influential people like you who can mold the society and bring about changes in it.

I am very proud of myself today. I could bring about a change in you. Let me take this opportunity to tell you that you are no longer Alex for me but you are now my hero and I will call you Alexander the great”.

THE MOTIVATOR

Abhay parked his car and walked into the park which was situated at the edge of a mountain range. It was early morning and the park was filled with morning walkers. He made his way to the desolate area commonly known as the suicide point. He walked to the edge of the rock and looked down. It was scary but he had come there to die. He could not jump and instead walked back and sat on the cement bench about fifty meters away.

“Difficult to die, is it not?” an elderly voice was heard.

Abhay looked to his right. An elderly man was sitting on the bench next to him.

“It is difficult but how could you make out?” Abhay asked him.

The man laughed and said “My son, it is out of experience. Thomas has spent more than double the number of years you have spent on this earth”.

“I am Abhay Desai and I stay near the cantonment area” Abhay said.

Thomas asked “Tell me why you thought of giving up your life?”

“I have a company of my own and I hire about a dozen employees. I am a design engineer and we design machines and sell the same to companies. I was involved in the designing of a mechanical loader and was ambitious about launching it in the market and sell the product. I have spent lot of money in the process. I have taken loan to support this. Yesterday we presented the same to the public sector company but the design was rejected. All my efforts for the past one year went into drain. Now I do not have the means to repay the loan and continue with the business. My hopes are dashed and will not be able to answer my family. I took huge risk by placing all the eggs in one basket and now am broke” Abhay explained.

Thomas looked at Abhay. He could see tears in his eyes. He smiled and said “My son please understand that life has been bestowed upon us not to end it on our own. We need to face the hardships. A winner is one who gets up every time he falls. Please understand that by taking your life you are putting few other lives in distress. Your wife, kids and parents will not be able to recover from this. If you lose your life in an accident then it is a different issue but taking one’s life by committing suicide is criminal.

I suggest you to re look at your life and start fresh with your work. Give a try for the next three months. Go to your wife and explain her everything. Talk to your employees and motivate them to give their best. If nothing works out, call me after three months. Please note my mobile number. I shall then give you a loan and you can reply it as and when you make profit. We shall meet again at this place after one year” saying so he gave his phone number.

A rejuvenated Abhay went home and explained everything to his wife. His wife was shocked but soon she became normal. She gave him her gold and told him to take a loan against it. He was reluctant but she insisted and they pledged her gold and took a loan.

Abhay went to his office couple of days later. Lucy came into his cabin and inquired about his health. He opened up and told her everything.

Lucy said “When my little son was not well you gave me money for his hospitalization and did not ask for it. Today you are in problem and Lord will not forgive me if I do not do my bit to help you. I shall take only half the salary for the next three months and put in double the efforts”. The other employees also joined Lucy and said that they would take half the salary for the next three months.

Abhay was moved by the gesture of his people. He said “I shall not take salary for the next three months and shall spend from what I have in my savings account”.

Ten days later an international industrial exhibition was being held in the city. Hundreds of national and international companies were participating.

Abhay went to the exhibition with Lucy. Both of them were impeccably dressed and visited many stalls and discussed with companies with interest.

A German company had put up a huge stall and was exhibiting their material handling products. Abhay went to the stall and met the Managing Director. The MD was impressed with Abhay and his innovative skills. He called his daughter who was at the stall and they had a meeting in the cafe. The Germans were convinced about Abhay and his capabilities.

They had a series of discussions with him and at the end a deal was stuck. Abhay was made the Managing Director of the Indian subsidiary of the German company and he got a minority stake in it. Lucy was made the Human Resources manager.

 He worked very hard and soon the number of employees was increased and things started moving in the right direction. Few months passed and he got the gold of his wife released by paying off the loan.

One year passed and Abhay remembered his meeting with Thomas and on the particular day drove to the park and was excited to explain his success story to him. He had a cup of tea in the stall, bought the news paper and walked up the cliff. He looked around but could not find him. He sat on the same cement bench and tried to call Thomas on his cell. He got a message which mentioned that the number did not exist.

He still had hope that Thomas would come to meet him. He opened the news paper and what he saw in the fifth page sent a jolt through his body. There was a big photo of Thomas and below it was mentioned “Fifth death Anniversary”. Abhay started sweating. He could not understand and his mind became blank for few seconds. He googled about Thomas on the cell phone and learnt that he was a big businessman but had committed suicide on the same day five years ago at the same suicide point. He wondered why such a rich person would do so. On reading further he understood that due to some huge business loss, Thomas had taken such a step.

Abhay started shivering. He closed his eyes and started thinking. He realized that Thomas’s spirit had met him one year ago and stopped him from committing suicide. He was motivated to give a honest try and succeed in his life. After few minutes he opened his eyes. Tears rolled down. He had a sense of gratitude towards Thomas. He got up and slowly walked to his car. He opened the door but felt that someone was at his back. He turned back and saw Thomas sitting on one of the benches. Abhay smiled and took a bow and saluted him. He sat in his car and glanced at the bench again but could not find Thomas on it.

Abhay realized that though money was very important it was not everything. Having the right attitude and a never give up approach to life would definitely give results.

He lowered the window glass, peeped outside and  shouted “Mr. Thomas I may not be able to see you now, but I know you are around here. You helped me and ensured that I did not end my life the way you did. You also motivated me to get along with my life. I promise you that I will also help many people who are in distress”.