ON THE SAME BOAT

Often, we fail to see around us and notice that everyone has problems and often, we fail to look behind us and notice, that for so many, the situation is worse.
For me, failures have always knocked my door and I have learnt to welcome it with my open arms. After appearing the second time for my graduation examination I had failed again. I was heart broken because I had worked hard for it. My friends with whom I once shared the same class were way ahead of me.
My parents, who have always supported me in my every failure, advised me to get employed somewhere. I decided to go for a call centre interview. I was selected in one of the best call center around. I took my work seriously and worked hard. I, then started enjoy my work. I was earning good. My parents were happy for me. In the meanwhile I had started investing my money in shares. At one point of time I had invested heavily in shares, when there was a boom. Suddenly, the market crashed. I lost all my money. There were so many things at stake. After loosing all my money, there was no hope in sight, everything had come to a halt. I was really nervous about my career. For me things had come to an end. My parents supported me a lot even then I was very, very nervous. Being confident enough about the share market I had even borrowed money from my parents and friends. I had to return them their money. I was feeling helpless. Negative ideas had surrounded me and I was fighting to get out of it.
One day, alone in my house, I was indulging in my fearful thoughts. My future kept on troubling me. Just then, my mother’s best friend arrived. She was looking tensed. My mother curiously asked her the matter. She began to narrate the hardships they were going through to my mother. Her husband had raised about two lakh of rupees, at high interest rate, in order to buy a flat. Now, the builder, deep in his own trouble, was dillydallying. Every day her husband had to answer calls from the moneylenders and there was no way her husband could arrange for such a huge amount. She described how tensed her husband had become. She was in tears when she was telling her story. My mother, all the time was consoling and telling her that thing will be soon fine. Even before she had finished her story, our door bell rang, there came our maid. She had just returned from her native place. My mother was annoyed with her, because without informing she left for her native place. Even before my mother could ask anything she began to tell my mother why she had been to her village: her daughter, who had recently married, had to undergo a surgery. She described to mother her problems. She told that they had already borrowed enough money for her daughter’s marriage and now they had to spend about five thousand rupees, and narrate how they went about arranging it. All this time I was there, listening everything. Then I realized that each one of us had our own problems. Mine was a ‘big one’, for me. So were theirs, for them. After listening to their stories, my problem did not leave me. I was still very nervous. But, I did realize that, I was not alone, there were many who are surrounded with problems. I got up from my seat and went in the balcony. A fresh breeze played over my shoulders. Standing there and looking at the sky, I smiled, gently. There was lot of sunshine, outside.

KUNAL .S. PRASAD.