165. Maheswaran's Concerns

"Sundar is leaving for London tomorrow. Shall we go to the airport to send him off?" Kavitha asked her husband Maheswaran.

"Why don't we accompany him to London, leave him at the hotel he is going to say and then return to India?" asked Maheswaran, sarcastically. 

"Is my younger brother going abroad not a significant event? Every one in our family is going to the airport to see him off."

"Till two years back, your brother was struggling to find a regular job. After he had got a job in this company, his status changed overnight. He has been showing off, like a pauper who stumbled on a treasure. Should I become a bearer of the palanquin he is traveling on? If you want, you can go to the airport. Don't drag me along."

'You can't stomach other people's success!' Kavitha murmured to herself. 

A few months back, Maheswaran avoided attending the sixtieth birthday celebration of his elder brother.

"Anyone who lives long enough will grow to the age of sixty. What is there to celebrate about it? Having worked in a government department, he earned well, augmented his income by taking bribes and accumulated a lot of money. He doesn't know what to do with all that money. So, he is squandering money to exhibit his wealth. I am not going to attend the function. You can attend along with our children" Maheswaran told Kavitha.

"What will I say, if your brother and other relatives ask me why you didn't come?"

"Tell them that I am laid up with fever, unable to get up from the bed."

Kavitha told every one, "He has high fever. He was unable to get up from the bed this morning. He is feeling chill and is lying on the bed, covering himself with a blanket."

Concerned about Maheswaran's health, his brother came to visit him the next day.

Maheswaran was sitting on the sofa, watching television.

"The fever subsided this morning. Just now, he got up from the bed and came to the hall" said Kavitha, by way of explaining Maheswaran not looking like a sick man.

When it came to becoming jealous, Maheswaran did not distinguish between his relatives and his wife's relatives. He hated every one who was successful in life. He was jealous of anyone who achieved something in life and who enjoyed or celebrated life. He had a similar attitude towards his office colleagues and friends.

After Mukundan, a close friend of Maheswaran, got a promotion, Maheswaran began to move away from him. Though Mukundan continued to move with Maheswaran in the same friendly way as he had always moved, Maheswaran did not reciprocate his affection. 

"He knows nothing about the work in our office. He would ask for my help and guidance, even for little tasks. Now, he has got a promotion and moved above me. How strange!" he told Kavitha, about Mukundan. 

Maheswaran looked dull and fatigued.

"Are you not well?" asked Kavitha.

"When I ponder over my life, I feel depressed. During the last ten years, many people in my circle have overtaken me and risen to higher levels. I don't understand why nothing good has been happening to me. I didn't get promotion in my office. I tried for a better job, but I didn't succeed. I find that several people like my brother, your brother and my friend Mukundan, who are much below me in intelligence, competence and capabilities have risen up to levels much higher than mine. I am unable to stomach this incongruity. Sometimes I wonder whether someone is conspiring against me" said Maheswaran, his voice showing his frustration and exasperation.

"Why do you think so? Many good things have happened to us also. Some of the things you had expected to happen might happen with some delay. Our children and I are happy about the life you have given us" said Kavitha, in an attempt to assuage his frustration.

After some hesitation, she added, "If you won't mistake me, shall I share my feelings with you?"

"Yes. I am eager to hear what you are going to say" said Maheswaran, with interest.  

"You said that you were unable to stomach the success of other people. Why should you think that way? If something good happens to another person, we don't have to feel happy about it. But, why should we feel sad or disappointed? You said that someone might be conspiring against us. Why should anyone do so? After all, we have no enemies. I have heard the principle that it is our thoughts that shape up our life. Perhaps your feeling jealous about other people's success is blocking your progress. I don't know whether I am right. But, please think about what I have said and come to your own conclusion" said Kavitha.

Thirukkural

Section 1
The Path of Virtue

Chapter 17
Bearing No Envy

Verse 165 (In Tamil)

azhukkARu udaiyArkku adhu sAlum onnAr
vazhukkAyum kEdInbadhu.

Meaning:

One who is afflicted by envy doesn't need enemies to cause him destruction. The envy itself will destroy him.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'nAn varavillai' by the same author)

Verse 166 (Soon)
Verse 164