påthivé ratnasampürëä hiraëyaà paçavaù striyaùnälamekasya tatsarvam iti matvä çamaà vrajet
The entire world full of jewels, gold, cattle (wealth) and women... are all not yet suuficient for one person('s desire) ..understanding this, practice restraint
from the mahabharatampRRithivI - The Earth:
ratnasampUrNa - full of jewels
hiraNyaM - gold
pashavaH - cattle (wealth in our context)
striyaH - women
naalamekasya - not sufficient for one
tatsarvam - all of that
iti matvaa - understanding so
shamam - restraint
vrajet - practise
Sitting in the swirl chair in his ornate office, Dr Jitendranath studied the gleaming name board in the frontage proclaiming his name in prominent letters. He tapped back the few strands of hair sticking in his receding bald head, adjusted the golden frame of his spectacles and tried to concentrate on the written words in the files spread in front of him His office was in the best address of that modern city - well appointed and suiting his post. A fully airconditoned office where a sweat could not break out, plush with wall to wall carpet. From the glass doors he could see his efficient staff bend on work , knowing well that their boss may be watching.
It was indeed a long road from his dusty native village to these most prestigious portals of power. He looked down at himself and wondered if the run was worth it? He was rated as the most successful businessman and was often featured on covers of popular tabloids as a man worthy to emulate. His answers to the question posed asking to the route to success were always correct . `Be diligent, be industrious, be hardworking , he told the youngsters. He was honest in that for he had done the same, worked hard and focusedly towards the goal of success. But he often, of late, wondered if the goal itself was a correct one. If success can be ruled by the trappings he possessed, `yes he was succssesful. But he well knew the answer didn’t lie there The answer lay in opening his soul and looking in. But he did not dare to. His mind was not ready to accept any failures in the carefully laid out scheme of his life.
Dr. Jeederanath known as Jitu in his younger days was the seventh child of Master Deenanath of Munirka village in a remote hill locked area - a small dot among the towering hills around . Deenanath was a school master and a farmer. Having sired ten children in a row , he required all the resources to feed the hungry mouths . Jitu had met hunger when he was young. Every meal used to be awaited and was an enjoyable affair. Just the hot aroma of the rice boiling used to be enticing. The brothers with their bare minimum attire used to roll in the mud picking mock fights to vent their young growing energies and like little leapords their muscles grew strong and healthy with very little food but lot of fresh air and sun shine. They learnt to climb trees before they could read the first alphabet. Looking back, every act of living was a pleasure. There was a stream of fresh water which made a pool just across their house. They used to like plunging into it head long from the jagged rock jutting out in front of the pool. That was taking a bath! No soap , no shampoo, just the smooth stone from below the waters to rub and polish the skin. The water dripping, they used to run back home, the wind and sun drying them by the time they reach their home. It was pure innocent living without a care in the world.
The balming contentment got a rude shock when Jitu was eight years old and was taken by his father to the town near by. He saw for the first time that the world is not just food and sunshine but there are lot many goods filling this colourful world. His father had taken him for the marriage of the rich Zamindar’s son. He was wearing his best shirt and had been feeling very well dressed till he reached the pandal. Seeing the men and women richly dressed in their fineries and majestically carrying themselves made him feel like an insignificant worm. The outing made a lasting impression on him changing his life forever. With the wide-eyed absorption of the young, he had taken into him every detail of the opulent society. The picture etched in his mind deeply. Back home, the life and simple living lost its charm. Like a stone thrown on still waters his mind made waves and patterns of restlessness. The world out there beckoned him forcefully with all the glitter. It was like paradise lost. The till now pristine setting within the hills now looked like a caged prison. Very soon he realized the only passport for him out of this place is studies. Till now the education, which was given a cursory glance, became an all-consuming interest. His father was happy that one of his progeny is taking to studies.
Soon Jitu was topping in his class. His father took pains to send him to town where the higher secondary school was situated, while his elder brothers had stopped studies at the elementary level. The school at Obra town was fifteen kms away. The journey to school stared early in the morning even before the cock called out. Crossing the narrow pathways of the mountains with couple of streams in between, Jitu was still always in time for school. The hard work paid. Lady luck was waiting for his arrival. His exemplary performance in school final examination fetched him a special full scholarship for higher studies. After which there was no stopping him. All the doors opened one after another. The scholarships at other places too were leading him along the way. Very soon he got his doctorate from a German university. With that came prosperity He was getting enough money from his scholarships to buy things he chose from the unlimited supply of goodies in the gigantic malls and markets he found in foreign countries
However that only wetted his appetite. He now wanted fame and power - not just a few goodies found in the markets. When he came back home, lady luck continued to follow him. The famous steel magnate, Pitamber offered his only daughter to him. The marriage was a mega event. His wife Nilima who was literally bedecked in diamonds came to him along with the steel empire Pitamber had built over many years Along with the empire the sweet looking Nilima also bought a sharp mind and an acumen for generating wealth that she had inherited from he father. Eight yeas after their marriage, tragedy struck.. Pitamber lost his life in a plane crash. The empire fell on Dr. Jitendranath and Nilima and their two daughters Priyanka and Shilpi. He had known Nilima was ambitious right from the beginning. Now in the age of globalization her ambition grew to new heights. The blue prints to the new frontiers were made by her continuesly and it was Dr Jitendranath’s onus to execute them. Life went as a whirlwind with plans executed and problems solved. There was no time to sit and stare. People applauded the sucess of Jitedranath little knowing it was the handiwork of Nilima where Dr. Jitendranth was a peg in the wheel whose master driver was the one behind the curtains.
Now Dr. Jitedranath was a 55-year-old globe trotting business magnate. It has been 40 long years since he left his native land. The number of times he went back to his place of origin could be numbered in fingers. At those times he no longer felt part of the scenery - only a distant outsider.
It is now two years since they have declared him as heart patient and advised him to be cautious in his food and action. It has been of late he has been getting these pangs. The question he never dared to face has been cropping up uneasily in his mind. Should not the success which he yearned for have made his heart happy? But what is that? Instead there was a pain in the heart which doctors declared as life threatening? Is it possible to back track the steps and lead a different life, a life not weighed down by commitments and achievements, a life, which is not care worn.
Is it possible to get the swelling joy in eating just the hot rice served on thatched leaf? Is it possible to run in abandon with the sun and wind beating down on the back?
It is not he had not tried. The holiday resorts, which were laid out in opulent luxury, had failed to evict from him that response from the core of his heart. It was like a part of him was dead. But Dr. Jitendranath dare not tell his innermost thoughts to any one lest they think him a lunatic. He had learned his lessons hard - `you become rich by your spirit and not by wealth.
I am Mrs Rama Venkataraman. I dig on writing. My writings are varied and different suiting to my mood and need.
