PART 2: THE RENAISSANCE -----> Chapter 6

At night, I saw Padma strolling in the garden and decided it was time for my word of advice to her. I approached her and enquired, “Have you made up your mind?”

Padma looked at me, her eyes gleaming from the tube light nearby, and said decisively, “I understand what you say. I love Amma the most. I won’t do anything that’ll hurt her.”

I was expecting this answer from her.

“If your parents want you to have an arranged marriage, go for an arranged marriage,” I advised. “But before your marriage, if you develop a crush on somebody then use this…rule of…er…reversal which I’m going to tell you.” She looked on, baffled. I continued, “The Reversal Rule is this: Before your marriage, focus on the negatives. And after your marriage, focus on the positives.

“Suppose you have a crush on somebody, look at his negatives. Don’t look at his positives. After you are married, look at your husband’s positives. Don’t look at his negatives. This rule is the key to a happy married life.”

Padma’s jaw dropped after listening to this. And I felt proud of having thought up something like that. And then, it was my turn to face something unexpected from her.

“How on earth do you know all this?” she groused.

I was yorked. I quickly recovered from the embarrassment. I myself had no clue where this idea came from. Smiling sheepishly, I replied, “Well you can always count on me to say things like that.”

She looked at me suspiciously…as if I was secretly married to someone and received my wisdom from my experience as a husband. I quickly changed the subject by giving her some instructions: “Now, I want you to do a few things.”

“Like what?”

“Quit your job at Chennai and come down to Kerala. You can get a job in your IT field at Kochi or Thiruvananthapuram. I’ve got a gut feeling that that man you’ve talked about is out to dupe you. Listen to me. Change your mobile number and don’t attend his calls. Don’t meet him and come back as soon as possible.”

“What if he keeps on calling me?”

“Then you know your priorities, don’t you Padma?”

“Yes I do. I’ve decided to leave tomorrow itself.”

“Fine, Padma. Let the best thing happen. And Padmakutty, remember this: Sometimes we are better off not having everything we want. And don’t forget the Reversal Rule I taught you.” She looked at me in an untrusting way again and nodded.

***

We decided to track the production costs and the productivity of our workers. We wanted to see the direct effect of our programme on the speed of production.

We needed to reduce our selling price to become competitive. But, to increase our profit margin, we had to reduce costs further. I believed we could do it.

Radha hadn’t come to the factory. She had to go to her relatives’ place. Besides, she had more or less completed what she had set out to do for me. I was looking forward to speaking to her about Capt. Ironman Shahnawaz. I contacted her and fixed the rendezvous.

In the evening, we met along the banks of a canal in Alappuzha. This time she had come alone.

“Mahesh Annan didn’t accompany me this time. He feels that you’re not that troublemaker type of guy,” Radha said, chuckling.

I talked to her briefly about Capt. Ironman Shahnawaz and about our conversation at his office.

“Honesty, hard work, self-sacrifice and discipline…these are the qualities of the Indian Army,” she said, with a twinkle in her eyes.

“Radha, I was thinking about the concept of active patriotism which you had told me the other day.”

“Tell me…what about it?”

“Well, this requires some explanation before I get to the point.”

“Go on.”

“Okay. Take the case of Japan. It was a country devastated by war. Its people had faced great humiliation at its defeat. It is a country prone to earthquakes and doesn’t have many natural resources. But it is the second largest economy in the world right now. How did Japan make this incredible transition? The answer is the active patriotism present in its people. That hard work was a part of the country’s ethos and values also helped. The Japanese directed their thoughts and efforts towards the revival of their economy. I’ve even heard that women went to the extent of cutting their hair and exporting it for the sake of the country. Within a few decades, Japan transformed itself into an economic superpower. Some of the world’s best brands like Toyota, Honda, Sony and Panasonic are all Japanese.

“Now consider our case. We’ve got a host of natural resources. But people are not concerned about utilizing them or adding value to them. People don’t know what to do or which direction to move towards. It seems that most of our people are content that India achieved freedom.

“I think our people have got an attitude problem. The fact is that there is so much to be done. We are still an underdeveloped economy. There is still a long way to go before we can call ourselves a developed country. I think it is time for a revolution—a revolution in the minds of the people, for India’s development.”

“Abhinav, I totally agree with you on this. It is time for a movement to take place,” Radha responded.

I continued, “Japan grew from exports and growth in the manufacturing sector. India has got a one billion plus population. So our country is growing by providing services to this vast consumer market. But this growth has to be inclusive. The poor must shake off the shackles of poverty. There must be all-round development of the masses instead of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. This requires a mass movement to occur.”

We remained silent for a few moments deliberating what I had just said. Then I broke the silence. “Radha, you know what? Capt. Shahnawaz taught me a huge lesson today!”

“Lesson?” she asked with excitement.

“Yes. I had been so impressed by his achievements in the face of adverse circumstances. I called him up today and asked him the secret of his success. And here’s what he told me, ‘Set a goal higher than your individualistic goal or your family’s goal and go all out to achieve it. It will always motivate you to give your very best, no matter what setbacks you may have to face. And when you do your best, you will achieve prosperity in life.’ He said that he’s happy to be alive today. His best friend, another Army Officer, was killed during the same fateful military operation, where the Captain lost both legs.”

“He is really an Ironman,” Radha saluted him.

***

I decided to spend the weekend with my parents at Cochin. When I reached our home, I found Sudha aunty there. She was Nandi aunty’s cousin who lived in the immediate neighborhood.

Sudha aunty was the Queen of Chinese Whispers and was a real prig. She would receive and send unimportant news to several relatives and made her speculations on them. She was known among relatives as the ‘Local Cable TV Network’. And she was here to express her suspicions on Padma’s arrival at ‘Vishnu Nivas’.

“Abhinav, why did Padma come home?” she asked me.

“As usual. She finished one of her projects and came home to meet her parents,” I answered.

“No, no,” she objected. “It is because she’s got an affair with a boy in Chennai. She has come to seek her parents’ approval. Don’t you know of it?”

“Well, I haven’t heard of such a thing. From whom did you get such valuable information?” I asked with a hint of sarcasm. I wondered whether she had indeed got such news from Padma or was she just speculating.

“I am sure of it. Only four months have passed since her last visit. Her project has only four months’ duration or what?” she questioned. On hearing this question, I realized that Sudha aunty had succeeded in keeping her reputation intact. She was merely theorizing.

“Aunty, different projects have different durations. Her last project was of a shorter duration,” I countered.

Sudha aunty gave up arguing. Of course, her speculation about Padma was true. But how did she guess it so correctly? Maybe practice does make things perfect.

Then I came to know the real purpose behind her visit. She wanted to know whether Lok uncle had plans to sell his business. I didn’t comment on that and went to my room. I didn’t want to listen to any further speculations.

After she had left, I told Achan and Amma that the business was on the road to recovery. “We have to focus on efficient purchasing and aggressive marketing. We’ll do this after analyzing the cost figures,” I told Achan.

I spent the next day sleeping, cooking and watching a movie. A holiday would pass by so quickly. You just had to close your eyes on a nice Sunday morning. And on opening them again, you would find that it was Monday morning, and time to get back to work.

***