628. When the House Was Taken away

When Paranthaman was studying in the college, his friends used to call him a monk.

"You don't smoke or drink. That is fine. But won't you even come for a movie?" his friend Annamalai asked him.

"Only last week we saw a movie" replied Paranthaman.

"We have been thinking that it has been a week since we watched a movie. But you say only a week has passed since we went to a movie! Will you get married or will you remain a celebate?" taunted another friend.

Paranthaman did get married.

In the early days of marriage, Paranthaman's wife Sarasu was a little concerned that her husband was acting like a monk. 

But, as time passed, Sarasu realized that her husband was not a monk but a person who observed restraint in enjoying life's pleasures and that he was a man who didn't harbour desires for luxuries.

However, Paranthaman fulfilled her wants and desires. Sarasu was happy.

"This house is your ancestral property. But, they are taking it away from you. Are you not agitated about this atrocious decision?" Sarasu asked Paranthaman.

"My father got this property as an ancestral property. But my father's uncle had filed a suit in the court claiming that the title to the property should have legally been passed on to him, since my father's father was adopted by another person. After many years of litigation, the judgement has come in favour of my father's uncle. There is nothing we can do about it" said Paranthaman. 

"Where can we go now? Can we afford to take a house of this size for rent? How are we going to find the money for our children's education, after spending a substantial portion of your salary towards the house rent?" asked Sarasu, feeling depressed.

"We enjoyed the ownership of this house all these years. Now that it has gone out of our hands, we need to leave this house. Paying rent and meeting other expenses from my salary is going to be a challenge. But we have to accept the reality and live our life, doing what we can" said Paranthaman, in an unperturbed tone.

'You will be able to accept this setback calmly, but I won't' thought Sarasu. 

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 63
Unfazed in the Face of Trouble

Verse 628 (in Tamil):
inbam vizhaiyAn idumbai iyalbenbAn
thunbam uRudhal ilan.

Meaning:

He who doesn't yearn for pleasures and accepts adversities as normal happenings will never be distressed.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'kai vittup pOna vIdu' by the same author.) 

Verse 629 (Soon)
Verse 627