It was 8:00 PM when Shiva was heading towards the Central Railway Station. He was informed by Akshaya that it would be CC1 coach and the train would reach the station around 8:00 PM. Shiva had called up the railway inquiry and was informed that the train was delayed by 15 minutes. Till that time he never knew that he was going to meet a relation of his life time.
Shiva's colleagues and Akshaya were flying to United Kingdom for a period of 6 months. The train arrived and so did the people he was waiting for. It was Akshaya's parents who had come to send her off to UK the following day. Akshaya had informed them that there would be a person by name Shiva who would come to receive them. Later in the evening Shiva and Akshaya's family had dinner together.
Akshaya was busy packing her stuffs for the journey and her parents were helping her in getting things arranged. They had informed her that they would be extending the stay for an additional day as they had some important work. (Well it was regarding her Wedding which they didn't want to share at that moment as they thought she was not yet prepared for that)
The next day Shiva accompanied them to send her and his colleagues off to UK. It was mixed emotions as everyone out there was flying together and that was the first time that everyone was leaving abroad. Once the flight took off Shiva accompanied Akshaya's family and got dropped at his residence.
The next day Akshaya's parents were constantly in touch with Shiva to know if their daughter had reached safely. It was a journey of more than 14 hours and Shiva was in constant touch so that they don't feel lost. Later that evening he had been to the guest house to meet them. He inquired about the work for which they had stayed back and they said that they were not able to make it as they were tired and got stuck at the guesthouse. Shiva got a message from his office that Akshaya had reached safely and the same was communicated to her parents. Later that evening Akshaya's parents had to leave and Shiva assisted them back to the Central Railway Station.
Couple of hours later Akshaya called her people and they felt very happy for her reaching safely. Later one day when Akshaya had called her parents they informed her about the reason for their extended stay. Initially Akshaya was angry for they had not informed her in advance, but as they explained everything she was speechless. They said, they were very happy to see Ramakrishnan and wanted to know if she was interested in the alliance. Akshaya pretty confused called Shiva to give him the surprise of the day that. Akshaya informed Shiva that her parents had come to look for an alliance for her and that was the reason for the stay. Shiva felt very happy and congratulated her, but at the same time remembered that they had told him that they were tired and were stuck up at the guest house. Shiva informed Akshaya about the same and tried to convince her saying, they might have probably thought of revealing it to you first before they inform anybody else. But the next was something unexpected as the guy whom they had intended to meet was also working in the same firm and it was none other than L. Ramakrishnan alias Shiva. Shiva was taken back for a moment but at the same time felt confused, disturbed and finally shy for congratulating her and went speechless. Akshaya explained him everything that had happened till then and it goes this way.
Shiva's parents had approached Akshaya's uncle regarding the alliance for Ramakrishnan as they were from the same native. Though Akshaya's parents were willing initially they turned it down as Akshaya was flying abroad. They had informed Akshaya's uncle that they would look for alliance once Akshaya returns and the same was communicated to Shiva's parents. But on the contrary Shiva's parents had assumed that they were giving excuse for rejecting the proposal and were extremely upset. In the meantime Akshaya's parents had thought of visiting Ramakrishnan as he was working in the same organization as Akshaya's without Akshaya's knowledge. So when Akshaya had sent Shiva they thought of consulting him about Ramakrishnan. But the moment they saw him, they recognized him as the person whom they had wanted to meet the next day. Questions arose like
- Why they wanted to meet Ramakrishnan? (In allaiancial terms, meeting a person means, enquiring about him/her using a spy like Shiva)
- Why they didn’t inform him when they met him? (It’s never communicated to the person rather it’s taken through their parents. Also here it was impossible as the person whom they wanted to spy on was the same person whom they had thought of using as a spy) well this was just the first twist.
Now Shiva communicated the same to his parents that Akshaya's parents had come to meet him and explained them everything. He also informed them that he was ok with the alliance. But being rejected once they did not want to continue with the same alliance and said they had looked for a new alliance which is his aunt's daughter Nithya. Now Shiva was shocked as to why they had done this without his consultation because Shiva just hated Nithya’s family from the bottom of his heart. But Shiva's parents was adamant that the wedding would happen with Nithya at any cost and was in no mood to listen to what was Shiva's opinion.
Nithya -- Shiva -- Akshaya
Nithya was a not bad, but her parents were so egoistic about their wealth and her studies. They used to insult Shiva in front of everyone that he was merely a Graduate whereas their daughter was an Engineer. Shiva never liked them from his childhood and neither liked the proposal. Shiva tried to explain the same to his mom and dad that he was not interested in the proposal but his parents were just not in sync with him.
When Akshaya's parents had called him and asked him his interest for her daughter he got convinced and accepted the proposal with pleasure but that was not the same reaction from his parents. It was just a mere ego that was stopping his parents from agreeing to this proposal. This continued for months and Akshaya returned from UK almost after 9 months. Now Akshaya’s parents were kept in darkness as Shiva didn’t want them to feel hurt about what was happening at his home. When Akshaya returned from UK, they thought it would be the appropriate time to initiate the talks and had approached Akshaya’s uncle who had communicated about the alliance.
Akshaya’s uncle had called up Ramakrishnan’s residence to proceed with the wedding plans. This time Shiva's parents said the same dialogue, "We are postponing for another 6 months" in spite of knowing the fact that their children knew about the proposals. With the kind of talks it was evident that they were no longer interested in the proposal and also got to know that it was their assumption that was the reason behind their distress. Now Akshaya’s parents didn’t want to look for a new alliance for it would not be fair from their end. On the other end, it was Shiva who was fighting for his sole rights as he was constantly being pressurized from his parents and Nithya’s relatives. It anger, bitterness, sorrows, frustration grew day by day and at one point his parents realized that it was their mistake to force him into a proposal that he was not interested into. But that was too late as Shiva started to stay off from them and Shiva got isolated from his family for not listening to them.
Everyone knew its mere ego that was not allowing this proposal to move further but something which everyone failed to understand was that the people who were impacted were their kids. Shiva was being isolated from his family because of false accusations from him own family and slowly Akshaya also got into the same circle. After the family feud it was decided to call off the wedding once and for all.
Shiva unable to concentrate on work lost focus on work and lost himself. Akshaya trying to meet both the ends ended up in a fateful situation. They tried all the opportunities they had to convince both the families but everything went in vain. In this process of convincing and consoling another 14 months passed away. They heard what they had never heard in their lives and saw what they had never seen in their lives. May be GOD was teaching them both a lesson about the people around them. With no one else to help them they decided to take a decision of their lives. They got married at a nearby temple, registered themselves and fled away to a different location which is not known by either of the family’s, not even to their friends.
Shiva and Akshaya learnt the lesson of their lives and decided to start their new life. They knew it’s going to be a tough path ahead and made their minds firm and at the same time determined. They found an accommodation for themselves and started to look for jobs. Shiva got a job in a software company and Akshaya got a job in a nearby school. Now both of them are happy living a life for each other and they have been blessed with two kids.
It may be called Assumption, Trustful, Thankful, Impatience, Tolerance, Understanding, Determination and Egoistic but when put together its ATTITUDE that plays the vital role in establishing a healthy relationship. Be it work or life it’s this 8 lettered word that either brings grace or disgrace depending on how we use it. This might be an incident in your neighbourhood but something which we need to understand is there is no life without problem and its all how we handle them. A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will never let you leave the battlefield till the last and make it worth the effort. "ATTITUDE is a little thing that makes a big difference".
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
A Home Sweet Home!!! (NOT a story ... It Happened!!!)
A Home Sweet Home!!! (NOT a story ... It Happened!!!)
This was the first time that Arvind had traveled abroad. He found it tough to get accustomed to the new environment and the people around. Once he reached abroad he met his cousin who assisted him in finding accommodation. Things were fine for a month after which he had to find another place for accommodation. To his misfortune his cousin had left out of town on a business trip for a month. He searched and found an accommodation but since it was a Pak nationality he had multiple thoughts as to how they would be and how they would treat him. The owner came down to meet Arvind and both of them had a chat for sometime, to understand each other. Its similar to the talks the bride and the groom have at the time of engagement, how much can you understand each other in that time period??? There were some requests from Arvind to the owner, and the best part was for anything Arvind requested the owner had a nod, a big nod. Finally the first day started like this,
OWN: Why do you wear SLIPPERS inside the house?
ARV: So that when you head towards the bed, you will have the palms clean.
OWN: But in this country no one wears it.
ARV: May be, but I've been wearing for quite some time. I started wearing it as I had fungal infection.
OWN: Ohh!!! but no one wears in this whole nation.
ARV: So what??? I don't use this SLIPPER when I go outside.
OWN: Even we don't wear!!!
ARV: You don't want me to wear SLIPPERS inside the house. You could have told me directly.
Other than this he thought the place should be OK ... He thought since it was a new place he is taking time to get adjusted to that kind of environment.
But every other day seemed to be having something new. It was a 3BR apartment shared by 5 people, the couples stayed in a bedroom, a guy in another bedroom, a guy in the servants room and the last bedroom occupied by him. So it was more like a guesthouse where you spend your time away from your family but just that all the things would be shared among the people staying in the house. He liked the house for two reasons,
1. He thought had some company with whom he could spend time after work.
2. The owner had a cute kid and he thought he could play with it when he finds some time.
Now with these expectations he moved into the new apartment. The trouble continued the immediate next day when the owner questioned him for cooking.
OWN: Hi Arvind
ARV: Hi
OWN: You are cooking too much. We cannot permit you to cook at home.
ARV: But you agreed saying that I can cook.
OWN: I thought you would cook "Maggi" but you are cooking rice items. Also the curry you make is SPICY which will be harmful for my KID, so please don't cook at home.
ARV: But you charge me RENT including cooking.
OWN: Cook 'Maggi' or something light. Cook Bread!!!
Arvind thought it was too early to react and these things shouldn't bother anyone to that extent. He continued his normal cooking as he got another company. When he other room-mate tasted his food was interested and so they started having food together. They had a TV in the hall which suddenly got disappeared as these two used to watch it after their work for an hour. When inquired with the Owner, he has informed them that the other room-mates sister was in the same apartment and needed the TV.
Later the days went by when Arvind once heard music during late night. When he tracked he found that the TV was in the neighboring room and the owner had handed it to him as Arvind and his friend were watching TV regularly. Both grew angry and wanted to thrash the owner but again being a new country left him. Now they had nothing to watch while having food, so they got their mobile phones and listened to music while having food. Next day the owner called Arvind and said, "You should not have food in the Hall"
ARV: Ok, can we having it on the dining table here?
OWN: No, no, this is not meant to have food.
ARV: #$%#@ Then???
OWN: My KID needs to play in the hall and dining room, so please don't have it here. Have food in your bedroom.
ARV: What??? In Bedroom??? (He was about to slap the owner, thank God his friend came to the rescue and took his aside.)
With no other go, he had to have food from the Bedroom.
Some days later he found his vessels kept in the Kitchen, in the trash can along with other trash items. He felt so wild that he banged the owners door and called for him. The owner knowing the scenario before hand said, "My KID might have dropped them in the trash. Please keep the utensils in the Bedroom, else she might throw them away". With no other option, he had to have utensils in the Bedroom.The same repeated for the food stuffs, spice boxes and all his food items. So the owner was successful in getting all his things into his bedroom. There were few utensils in the Kitchen as the Bedroom was stuffed with all these food items that there was no space left for other vessels. The owner used his KID as the bait to get everything done, to the extent of asking Arvind to take his majestic MUSH.
He then decided, let there be one more complaint he would call it a day. Not long within another hour he received a SMS "Arvind you have kept the knife in the Kitchen, my KID took it, so please dont keep it here"
He just analysed for a while
My little KID needs to play, so please don't sit in the hall (around 9:00 PM)
My little KID is scared to see you people, please take off the mustache (if possible)
My little KID needs to play in Kitchen so please keep all your vessels in the Bedroom
My little KID throws whatever she finds into the dustbin ... she has so far thrown (rice measure cup, one dress)
My little KID is taking the utensils (knife, Gas Weight, Oil, Masala box, Chutney Powder) so please keep them out of her reach, better keep them in Bedroom
Thats the day he decided and informed the owner ... He is leaving the place for good ... He said, I leave because I was not comfortable here ... Thanks and Good Bye
He got the independence from the Pak on 30th Dec ... Another thing stuck his was, probably this might have been the reason for the split between IND and PAK ... Give a little, take a lot!!! One BIG reason for the OWN to behave this way was his wife who hated Arvind just for the reason that she was asked to cook at home by her husband seeing Arvind cooking. So she cooked up good stories which was the cause of split. Now Arvind is happy as ever away, far away from those TERRORISTS!!!
This was the first time that Arvind had traveled abroad. He found it tough to get accustomed to the new environment and the people around. Once he reached abroad he met his cousin who assisted him in finding accommodation. Things were fine for a month after which he had to find another place for accommodation. To his misfortune his cousin had left out of town on a business trip for a month. He searched and found an accommodation but since it was a Pak nationality he had multiple thoughts as to how they would be and how they would treat him. The owner came down to meet Arvind and both of them had a chat for sometime, to understand each other. Its similar to the talks the bride and the groom have at the time of engagement, how much can you understand each other in that time period??? There were some requests from Arvind to the owner, and the best part was for anything Arvind requested the owner had a nod, a big nod. Finally the first day started like this,
OWN: Why do you wear SLIPPERS inside the house?
ARV: So that when you head towards the bed, you will have the palms clean.
OWN: But in this country no one wears it.
ARV: May be, but I've been wearing for quite some time. I started wearing it as I had fungal infection.
OWN: Ohh!!! but no one wears in this whole nation.
ARV: So what??? I don't use this SLIPPER when I go outside.
OWN: Even we don't wear!!!
ARV: You don't want me to wear SLIPPERS inside the house. You could have told me directly.
Other than this he thought the place should be OK ... He thought since it was a new place he is taking time to get adjusted to that kind of environment.
But every other day seemed to be having something new. It was a 3BR apartment shared by 5 people, the couples stayed in a bedroom, a guy in another bedroom, a guy in the servants room and the last bedroom occupied by him. So it was more like a guesthouse where you spend your time away from your family but just that all the things would be shared among the people staying in the house. He liked the house for two reasons,
1. He thought had some company with whom he could spend time after work.
2. The owner had a cute kid and he thought he could play with it when he finds some time.
Now with these expectations he moved into the new apartment. The trouble continued the immediate next day when the owner questioned him for cooking.
OWN: Hi Arvind
ARV: Hi
OWN: You are cooking too much. We cannot permit you to cook at home.
ARV: But you agreed saying that I can cook.
OWN: I thought you would cook "Maggi" but you are cooking rice items. Also the curry you make is SPICY which will be harmful for my KID, so please don't cook at home.
ARV: But you charge me RENT including cooking.
OWN: Cook 'Maggi' or something light. Cook Bread!!!
Arvind thought it was too early to react and these things shouldn't bother anyone to that extent. He continued his normal cooking as he got another company. When he other room-mate tasted his food was interested and so they started having food together. They had a TV in the hall which suddenly got disappeared as these two used to watch it after their work for an hour. When inquired with the Owner, he has informed them that the other room-mates sister was in the same apartment and needed the TV.
Later the days went by when Arvind once heard music during late night. When he tracked he found that the TV was in the neighboring room and the owner had handed it to him as Arvind and his friend were watching TV regularly. Both grew angry and wanted to thrash the owner but again being a new country left him. Now they had nothing to watch while having food, so they got their mobile phones and listened to music while having food. Next day the owner called Arvind and said, "You should not have food in the Hall"
ARV: Ok, can we having it on the dining table here?
OWN: No, no, this is not meant to have food.
ARV: #$%#@ Then???
OWN: My KID needs to play in the hall and dining room, so please don't have it here. Have food in your bedroom.
ARV: What??? In Bedroom??? (He was about to slap the owner, thank God his friend came to the rescue and took his aside.)
With no other go, he had to have food from the Bedroom.
Some days later he found his vessels kept in the Kitchen, in the trash can along with other trash items. He felt so wild that he banged the owners door and called for him. The owner knowing the scenario before hand said, "My KID might have dropped them in the trash. Please keep the utensils in the Bedroom, else she might throw them away". With no other option, he had to have utensils in the Bedroom.The same repeated for the food stuffs, spice boxes and all his food items. So the owner was successful in getting all his things into his bedroom. There were few utensils in the Kitchen as the Bedroom was stuffed with all these food items that there was no space left for other vessels. The owner used his KID as the bait to get everything done, to the extent of asking Arvind to take his majestic MUSH.
He then decided, let there be one more complaint he would call it a day. Not long within another hour he received a SMS "Arvind you have kept the knife in the Kitchen, my KID took it, so please dont keep it here"
He just analysed for a while
My little KID needs to play, so please don't sit in the hall (around 9:00 PM)
My little KID is scared to see you people, please take off the mustache (if possible)
My little KID needs to play in Kitchen so please keep all your vessels in the Bedroom
My little KID throws whatever she finds into the dustbin ... she has so far thrown (rice measure cup, one dress)
My little KID is taking the utensils (knife, Gas Weight, Oil, Masala box, Chutney Powder) so please keep them out of her reach, better keep them in Bedroom
Thats the day he decided and informed the owner ... He is leaving the place for good ... He said, I leave because I was not comfortable here ... Thanks and Good Bye
He got the independence from the Pak on 30th Dec ... Another thing stuck his was, probably this might have been the reason for the split between IND and PAK ... Give a little, take a lot!!! One BIG reason for the OWN to behave this way was his wife who hated Arvind just for the reason that she was asked to cook at home by her husband seeing Arvind cooking. So she cooked up good stories which was the cause of split. Now Arvind is happy as ever away, far away from those TERRORISTS!!!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Delivery Trouble!!!
It so happened that my cousin had placed an order for new sofa sets for the new year. These are not the ready made one's, rather they start the build after we place the order. The cost of 1 3 seater and 2 one seater costs $4500 and an additional 2 seater costs $1500 seater, so the total price comes to $6000. He gave discount of $1000 and the final price was $5000.
Now the delivery time was 2 weeks, but even after 2 weeks there was no updates. So couple of days later we went there to check what had happened. The dealer said except the 2 seater rest are ready. We told him, "We don't need the sofa" and canceled the order and took the one's which were ready and asked him to deduct the amount of the 2 seater ... finally we closed the deal for $5000 - $1500 = $3500 ... A good deal I say!!!
I told this to one of my colleague, he said its the same problem with the tailor, he does not deliver the dress on time. He said he wanted to teach the tailor a lesson, thought for a while and left to a tailoring shop where he had given the order for stitching the suit. The delivery didn't happen on time and he approached the tailor and said, "I don't need the suit anymore ... I cancel the order" and canceled the order. He informed me that he had canceled the stitching order as it was going beyond the delivery date. It actually took him a day for him to understand that there is no loss for the tailor rather it would be him a loser.
Most often we try to correlate several things that happen the same way, but we forget the most important thing ... Time & Place ... Where to use it and when to use it!!! It might be a funny incident but a lot can be learned from the incident. LIFE is just a 4 lettered word, but it makes real sense only when you arrange them in an order L...I...F...E and it should be lived to the fullest when you get a chance.
You've got it now, Live It!!!
Now the delivery time was 2 weeks, but even after 2 weeks there was no updates. So couple of days later we went there to check what had happened. The dealer said except the 2 seater rest are ready. We told him, "We don't need the sofa" and canceled the order and took the one's which were ready and asked him to deduct the amount of the 2 seater ... finally we closed the deal for $5000 - $1500 = $3500 ... A good deal I say!!!
I told this to one of my colleague, he said its the same problem with the tailor, he does not deliver the dress on time. He said he wanted to teach the tailor a lesson, thought for a while and left to a tailoring shop where he had given the order for stitching the suit. The delivery didn't happen on time and he approached the tailor and said, "I don't need the suit anymore ... I cancel the order" and canceled the order. He informed me that he had canceled the stitching order as it was going beyond the delivery date. It actually took him a day for him to understand that there is no loss for the tailor rather it would be him a loser.
Most often we try to correlate several things that happen the same way, but we forget the most important thing ... Time & Place ... Where to use it and when to use it!!! It might be a funny incident but a lot can be learned from the incident. LIFE is just a 4 lettered word, but it makes real sense only when you arrange them in an order L...I...F...E and it should be lived to the fullest when you get a chance.
You've got it now, Live It!!!
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