534. The Two Brothers

"You spend half of your salary in buying unwanted products and doing wasteful things" said Bhargavi.

"Is keeping the mosquito repellent switched on a wasteful expenditure?" countered Manohar.

"It would be fine if you used just the mosquito repellent to drive out mosquitoes. But you have also covered all the windows with net and blocked the entry of fresh air into the room. And, you sleep inside a mosquito net. In addition to all these measures, you apply mosquito repellent cream on your body, before going to bed. Should you be scared of the mosquitoes so much?" asked Bhargavi. 'Of course, you are scared of every thing!' she whispered in a tone Manohar couldn't hear.

"What can I do? Even after my taking all these precautionary measures, the mosquitoes still bite me. I think a couple of mosquitoes somehow sneak into my net and bite me, undeterred by the cream that should repel them. Perhaps, I should light a couple of mosquito coils also every night."

"I have heard that in ancient times, sages will sit in a place, surrounded by fire on all the sides and do penance. You can also try that approach. The house may get burnt but you can be free from mosquito bite!" said Bhargavi, in a mocking tone.

"Now that you had mentioned about fire, I was reminded of something I wanted to tell you. I have ordered a fire extinguisher. We will be getting it tomorrow."

"Is it an appliance like the one they keep in offices, movie theatres etc?"

"Yes. But it will be small. They also manufacture the appliances suitable for homes."

"Why wouldn't they? When there are people like you, being scared of everything, manufacturers of such products will have a roaring business. You have been spending a considerable part of your salary for buying these kinds of safety equipment. Look at your elder brother! How he has come up in life! He has built a second house already and invited us for the house-warming ceremony being performed next week" aid Bhagavi, with a sigh. 

Soon after returning home, after attending the house-warming ceremony of Manohar's elder brother Dayanidhi, Bhargavi told Manohar, "I thought that your brother being financially well off, he and his wife would be happy. But it appears that they are not."

"Possible. I also noticed that Daya was a little down in spirits. He told me that he was disappointed by the poor turnout for the function and regretted that the surplus food was going to be wasted. 

"After having, for a long time, ignored people who had helped him, if your brother invited them for the function to showcase his wealth, would the people have interest to attend the function?" commented Bhargavi.

"How do you say this? You don't know about my brother's affairs."

"I don't. I am telling you what your brother's wife told me. She said that many people had helped your brother to rise up to this stage in his life. But your brother didn't bother to be in touch with them, even for the sake of courtesy. If she mentioned to your brother about any of his benefactors, he would say, 'Oh, he? Yes, he helped me a bit at some point of time. But, should I be thinking about it for the rest of my life? I remember him only after you mentioned him.' She said that because of this attitude of your brother, no one was close to them and expressed her anguish at not having intimate friends made her life hollow."

"It is five o' clock. It's time to close the windows. If I don't do this, mosquitoes would enter the house" said Manohar, rushing towards one of the windows.

Thirukkural

Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 54

Avoiding Forgetfulness and Complacency

Verse 534 (in Tamil):

achcham udaiyArkku araN illai Angillai
pochchAppu udaiyArkku nangu.

Meaning:

No fortress is good enough for those who have fear;

no good can occur to those who are smug, slack or derisive.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story aNNanum thambiyum' by the same author.)

Verse 535 (Soon)
Verse 533