37. Palanquin Bearers

"Driver! Where are you? Is the car ready?" yelled Ramya, in her authoritarian voice.

"Ready, madam! Where should we go?" responded Bhaskar with alacrity.

"To the beauty parlour."

"The car is ready, madam. I just completed cleaning it."

During the two hours Ramya was inside the beauty parlour, Bhaskar spent his time variously, sitting in the car and reading Dina Thanthi,* taking a slumber, taking a stroll, sipping a cup of tea at the roadside tea stall and puffing two cigarettes.

At long last, Ramya emerged out of the beauty parlour. Looking at her face, Bhaskar thought that she would have spent a few thousand rupees for the make-up on her face. But the effect was that the resemblance of her face to that of a monkey was even more striking now than it was before, thought Bhaskar, with amusement.

As Ramya got into the car, Bhaskar asked, "To home, madam?"

"No. Go to my friend Kavya's house!" ordered Ramya.

'So, you want to show your made-up face to your friend!' thought Bhaskar and started the car.

Bhaskar was originally engaged by Ramya's husband Pradeep as his driver. About a month back, Pradeep was given the facility of a chauffer driven car by his company. So, Pradeep's own car came to be used by Ramya and Bhaskar became the driver for Ramya.

Bhaskar resented Ramya's superciliousness, exhibitionism and arrogance. Above all, he was humiliated by her treating him with contempt, in sharp contrast to Pradeep who treated him with dignity. 

Many times, Ramya took her dog Bommi along. Bhaskar was often made to feel that he was a driver for het pet dog also.

When Bhaskar was about to leave home after the day's work, Ramya told him, "Bhaskar! Come one hour earlier tomorrow. I have an appointment for Bommi with the veterinary doctor tomorrow!"

Bhaskar's wife Mallika had been asking him to take her to a gynecologist for a check-up but he couldn't find the time for it. But he had to take Bommi to the veterinary doctor for a routine check-up every month. And he had to come one hour earlier for this!

When Bhaskar reached home, Mallika was in a buoyant mood.

"What happened? You feel so enthusiastic?" asked Bhaskar.

"I had been to the temple" said Mallika.

"You go there every day. What is special about today?"

"I listened to a discourse at the temple. It was highly enjoyable end enlightening."

"What did the speaker say that makes you so happy?"

"He spoke about karma, that is the effect of good deeds and sinful deeds. People who did good deeds in their previous birth would enjoy a good life in this birth and people who committed sins in their previous birth would suffer in this birth. It is the effect of a person's actions in one birth that makes that person lucky or unlucky in the next birth. So, I have realized that since we are doing only good things, we will lead a happy life in our next birth!" said Mallika with excitement.

Bhaskar pitied his wife for her naivete even as he admired her simple faith that made her feel happy in anticipation of a good life in her next birth. However, he couldn't but feel irritated by her blindly accepting the theory of karma.

"Does it mean that we have committed sins in our past lives?" he asked.

"Why do you say ask this question? Are we suffering so much?" asked Mallika, innocently.

Bhaskar looked at Mallika with admiration for her positive outlook. "I don't know for sure" he said. 'But I am sure that Bommi should have done a lot of good deeds in its past life!' he thought, with bitterness.

*Dina Thanthi is a popular Tamil daily.

ThirukkuRaL
Section 1
The Path of Virtue

Chapter 4
Stressing the Power of Virtue

Verse 37 (In Tamil)

aRaththARu idhuvena vENdA sivigai
poRuththAnOdu UrnthAnidai.

Meaning:

The fruit of virtue need not be described in books; it can be inferred from seeing the bearer of a palanquin and the rider therein.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'pallakkuth thUkkigaL' by the same author)

Verse 38

 Verse 36