My Two Friends

My Two Friends

“Emerging leader award? Ha! You were much younger then isn’t it? Gone are those days my old one, gone are those days!” giggled Sumitra as we looked at some old photo albums that afternoon.

Abhi, my husband was off for his business trip as usual. Both my daughters don’t live with us anymore – they are independent, and don’t need looking after! So I was pretty much by myself in our large house. As a matter of fact, over the past several years I have been pretty much by myself here – everyone around me has been busy. When the children were younger, they needed me. So I gave up my career at a young age. I used to be a young engineer. But after my second child, there was no way I could do it all, so I took over the role of the homemaker, mother and wife. For the next few years I was busy looking after the family, but then the girls grew up, and now they don’t need looking after. They find it easier to live by themselves, closer to their workplace, where they can enjoy independently. Today all I get from them is a phone call over the weekends and an occasional post card from wherever they are. My husband is a busy man. He spends his days at his office and travels the world for his work. He is more often at airports than at home. Not that I can complain – he has to do it for all of us! So in a nutshell, here I am - a free, old woman – you could say pretty much useless. 

So in order to entertain myself, I have made a few friends – Sumitra happens to be one of them. Today is my forty ninth birthday. Nobody remembers really. I don’t mind, to be honest. But Sumitra does remember. She has come to wish me and to spend some time with me.

With her grey hair, slightly wrinkled face and large black circles around her eyes Sumitra joins me as I look through old photographs. We are looking at the pictures from my young days – I was 27 years old and my company had recognized me with the “Emerging Leaders award”. I used to be good, how did I end up being so… useless? I am quietly looking at this picture with me and the award, and unknowingly I begin to weep.

“Yes, yes. You got that award. It was nice, but why do you think of it and cry? Forget about all that now. Why are you trying to recollect those memories? Isn’t it better to face your reality – you are never going to be able to get back there and change things. Forget about that award, it means nothing. You are who you are. And let’s face it – you will always be what you are today.”

Sumitra is right, why am I looking back? So what if I received that award, it does not mean anything today. I can do nothing with it. It is totally worthless. I shut the album and push it aside. Let me look at some other pictures.

Here are some from my badminton championship. I used to be a state level winner. Here I have pics from my game when I was still at university. As I begin to smile, with a tear in my eye, Sumitra comes to my rescue.

“What is the point in this? Do you think you’ll ever be able to play that sport now? You are going through menopause! In fact I say you should stop all your outdoor activities. I see that you go for those jogs in the park and then later, you complain of back aches. It is not your age to jog and run my dear! Forget about all this now. You know what? You have to listen to your body – and you have to behave your age, you have to live your age.”

I immediately brush the album aside. I pick up another one – the one with my friends in it. The moments captured with friends – all happy ones. It would make me feel good I think. Here are the pictures of the road trip we took – just the girls. Here’s Pushpa – Pussy, Sarla – Sally, Krishna – Kitty. We were such besties. Look at this one here – after watching that movie at the mall we were treating ourselves to ice cream. Oh and here, we are at Sally’s bachelorette party!
The memories are bringing tears to my eyes, and Sumitra jumps in.

“Look, these are all old days. Who knows where these friends are now, what their stories are and whether they’d even recognize you. You live in your reality, they live in theirs; they have forgotten you. When was the last time any of these so-called besties called you? Do you even remember? No, you don’t. So there you go. Forget about them, as they have forgotten about you!”

Sumitra is right. The girls don’t remember me. I moved abroad years ago and lost touch with them. Then, when I returned back they were all at different places. I do have their phone numbers on a recently created whatsapp group, but none of them is active on that group. I am sure they are all busy. Nobody has the time to connect really. Why am I looking at these pictures and bringing myself pain.

I get up with a sigh to make us some tea. We sip our tea in silence, and then Sumitra has to leave.

“I hope you will be alright my dear” she says as she leaves me with myself.

I am sitting on my favorite, comfortable swinging chair with my eyes shut when young Samy gives me a shout from the open window on my side.

“Hey! What’s up? I know it’s your birthday today. Happy Birthday to you! Can I jump in?” she asks swinging her racket in the air.

Samy is my young friend – a very active girl, full of life. I give her the permission to jump in from the window, and in the next second Samy is sitting right next to me giggling and saying something to herself as she always does.

“So, I just saw depressingly old Sumitra leave you a few minutes ago. Hope she did not pass on her depression to you on your birthday?”

“No, we just saw a few old albums and had tea, that’s all”

“Albums! That is exciting! Show me!”

“No no, forget about it. I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Remembering old times can never be a bad idea. I want to see them. Show me”

Samy is leaving me no choice, but to open the albums again.

Here’s the one with the award again.

“Oh! You were recognized as an Emerging Leader! That is brilliant. You are awesome. You know, now I see where your girls get their high potential from. You have made them the leaders they are.” Samy says.

“You are too kind Samy. This is all the past. It does not mean anything for anyone today”

“You are wrong. It means a lot to me! It tells me you are smart and you are a leader. You told me a few weeks back that you had been contacted by an old class mate of yours to see if you’d be willing to be an administrator at that newly founded school in our area. I know you were tempted to say yes, but you said no with the excuse that you had not done something like this for years. Why don’t you go back and say yes? I promise you that you will be just fine. Just do it! You will be doing yourself a favor.”

It is an idea I like – spending time with younger people is something I like to do. May be I should do this after-all.

“Oh and what is this? You were a badminton champ? Why oh why! Why have you been hiding? Your neighbors play at the club every morning! Why don’t you join them?”

“Oh I am too old now. I might break my back”

“Oh Come on! Backs don’t break that easily! All your neighbors are old. Some are older than you are. Yes, they are all men. But there is no reason why a woman cannot join them. There is no such rule at the club. All you need is a bit of warm up, and a bit of practice. Take it slowly, but you’ll be able to do it.”

No harm in trying – I am able to jog, and I do practice yoga from time to time. And I used to play badminton with my girls as they were growing up, so it’s not like I am completely out of touch!  Perhaps if I gave it a shot, I might be able to get back in form. This is encouraging.

“Tell me, who are these lovely ladies with you? These are your buddies from Uni?”

Now Samy is on the album with friends.

“Yes indeed. They used to be my best friends. This is Pushpa, we called her Pussy. She used to be the singer of our group. What a beautiful voice Pussy had. And this is Sarla. We called her Sally – a very intelligent girl. And that is Krishna – Kitty, small in size, but quick as a cat. She’d run like the wind. I spent some of the best days of my life with these girls. But now we are not in touch. I don’t think they’ll remember me.” Again, this is bringing tears to my eyes.

“You remember them, don’t you? So what makes you think they don’t remember you?” says Samy.

“Well we haven’t spoken for ages!”

“Have you tried to call them? You haven’t. And you keep saying you haven’t spoken for ages! I bet you, they too are thinking the same. They probably think, that you have forgotten them because you haven’t spoken for ages! But none thinks of changing this, picking up the phone and making that call.

Don’t you think it will be fun to go on that road trip again? Or go watch a movie and eat an ice cream after?”

Well, I do like the idea of meeting them all, and going on a trip. But is that really possible?

“How could I do that Samy, even if I wanted to?” Am I asking for Samy to help me here?

“Look, give me your phone. You have their numbers. Let me do this for you right now.”

Samy has grabbed my phone. What is she doing now? Oh my goodness, she has dialed Kitty’s number. The phone is ringing and my heart is beating faster!

“Hello, this is Krishna.”

“Hello, um hello Kitty. How are you? Recognize me?”

“Is that Sumitra? Oh Samy! My friend! It has been ages. You cannot imagine how happy I am to speak with you.”

I am unable to control myself. Kitty remembers me. We have a long conversation, but catching up on so many years will not happen in one phone call.

“Let’s meet up Kitty.” I suggest.

“Yes Samy! Let me reach out to Pussy, and you reach out to Sally. Let’s meet up. And hey – let’s do that road trip again.”

A very happy birthday to me – it has been a wonderful day. Conversations with Sumitra and Samy have taken me on an emotional roller coaster ride. So, do I want to be Sumitra, or should I remain Samy forever? The choice is easy – I choose to be Samy. But I know that there will be days when Sumitra will come back to me. Should I shut the door to her face when she knocks the next time?

I think not; I count on her for her wisdom. But I count on the playful, active and young Samy for my happiness. I do need them both.

Colors of Love

I was born about six years ago in the workshop of one of the most well-known steel artists in the world. He made me with his own hands. My tip, my bowl, my neck, my back and my hand were all very carefully cut out and crafted – with utmost skill and delicacy. I was then embroidered with a beautiful image of a climber. The climber was then painted with bright colors. I looked handsome. My master looked at me with pride and said – “You are my very best spoon. I have never made a better looking spoon before.”

I felt like a king! All other spoons around me were simple, and they were all jealous of my unique appearance. But I enjoyed their envy – I was full of pride.

My happiness and pride reached another level when I was boxed together with the most beautiful lady in the workshop – a shiny, steel fork embroidered with a similar climber on her hand. To me, it was love at first sight! The moment I saw her, I knew I wanted to be with her.  Love can be such a fantasy! It made me a dreamer.

At night when the master and his family went to sleep, I decided I’d strike a conversation with her. I‘d tell her how much I loved her. But I was too shy to express my feelings. The moment I looked at her, I forgot everything! I forgot who I was; I forgot where I was and what I had to say! I felt like a fool! So I stayed quiet. I just tried to secretly look at her from the corner of my eye, afraid that she’d somehow learn about my feelings and think – what a fool he is. But inside me, my heart was jumping with excitement! Love can be such a frenzy! It made me crazy.

The next morning a man visited the workshop. He was looking to buy a present for his daughter’s birthday. He looked around at the different articles there and picked up the box with me and my sweetheart.

“What a beautiful pair of cutlery this is Mr.Alloy” he exclaimed. “My daughter will be delighted to see this, and I am certain she will take this cutlery to school, in her lunch box every day.”

And he was right – the young girl of six loved her present. She opened up the box, gave me and my sweetheart a nice wash and after drying us, placed us gently in the kitchen drawer with the other spoons and forks.

The next day I and my darling had the opportunity to go to school in the girl’s lunch box. I secretly enjoyed the bumpy ride to school as it gave me the chance to brush against my dearest. She would blush away when I touched her, but I’d make every effort to discreetly move closer to her. I got the feeling that she was falling in love with me too. That smile on her face, that truth in her eyes let me know that she was falling for me. Oh what a feeling that was! Love can be so magical! It made me enchanted.

We did this every day, and I started seeing that we were enjoying each other’s company a lot! In the evenings though, she would sleep together with the other forks and I was left with the other spoons. The little girl’s mum was very particular about her cutlery – she did not mix forks and spoons together. I would dream about her at night, twisting and twirling in my own spoon compartment. I’d look forward to the next morning for our bumpy ride to the school again. Oh love can be so impatient! It made me so restless.

One day the girl took us to a park for a picnic. It was a beautiful day and both of us were shining more than ever in the sunlight. The children were all excited. The little girl quickly ate her lunch and packed the lunch box back into her bag, so she could enjoy playing with her friends in the park. In doing so, she did not notice that she had dropped my sweetheart down and had forgotten to pack her back. I was stuck inside the lunch box in the little girl’s bag, and my darling remained in the grass! I was helpless! What could I do? How could I get out there to bring her back to me? Oh love can be ferocious! It made me fearful!

Hours passed, and soon I could feel the bumpy ride back home – only this time it was not fun, it was utterly disturbing. What would have become of my love? What if she gets crushed under some feet? Horrible thoughts came to my mind. I had never felt more desperate in my life before. Love can be such distress! It made me so anxious!

As we reached home, the little girl opened her lunch box to find that she had lost her fork. She started crying. Her dad said he’d go to the park to find the lost fork for her. But she insisted that she’d go with him to do so. This made me feel a bit relieved. I could only pray that they’d find her there. I waited for more news. Love can be foolishly optimistic. It made me stupidly hopeful!

A few hours later the girl and her dad returned from their search, but empty handed. The girl was weeping, as she now had no matching fork for her lunch spoon. I was put into the drawer with the other spoons. I was in deep agony. My heart was completely broken and was weeping out loudly. I wanted to die. Why hadn’t the little girl left me in the park too? I had come to realize that I’d probably never ever see my sweetheart again! My fellow spoons noticed that I was sad. Some of them tried to console me. But all I wanted to do was sink into my sorrow and perish. Oh love can be such a pain. It made me hurt, hurt so much!

The next day the little girl received another special gift from her dad – another lovely pair of fork & spoon – shinier and prettier than me of course. Plus as it was a pair, so she preferred to use that one instead of me – I was now alone, lonely and really useless. The family would not use me as I did not have my matching partner! They’d prefer their forks and spoons to appear in pairs. So there I was, left all alone, sad and heart broken. Love had become solitude. It made me lonely!

One day the little girl’s mum was doing some house-keeping – getting rid of all objects that had been unused for over a few months. I was clearly one of them! I was put into a box of discarded metal items. With me was an old lamp, a rusty metal plate, some wires and a few iron rods. The box was placed out on the street for scavengers to pick up.

The scavenger who picked the box up sold it away to a mill. The items were then separated out and were kept ready for meltdown. I was placed in a huge pile of steel cutlery – all of which would soon be put into a huge machine that would melt down the steel so it could be used to make other articles.

So, my end was now nearing. If I could only ask for one last wish, I’d ask to have one look at my sweetheart, to tell her that I love her and always will. What a fool I had been to not have expressed my love to her, before I lost her. I shut my eyes tightly, trying hard not to weep. I was pressed against many other cutlery items in the pile, but I could hardly feel any physical pain. I was only thinking of her, and weeping within. Oh love can be such anguish! It made me feel tormented!

My eyes tightly shut, as I was thinking these thoughts, I could feel some vibrations. Yes, this was it. The pile was just being pushed into the machine. Just before we landed into the machine, I opened my eyes full of tears. Ah! What was that before my eyes? Was I dreaming? Was this true? I noticed in those last few seconds, her climber stuck right over my face. She was with me, we were dying together. My joy at that moment knew no bounds. Oh love can be such ecstasy! It made me feel blissed!

ASHA

Asha

It was a big day for Asha Singh. It was 26^th January, the Republic Day of India, and the twenty six year old police officer was to receive the prestigious “President’s Police medal for gallantry” at the ceremony that morning.

Asha woke up early as usual, at 4:45 AM. She started her day with her Yoga and breathing exercises. But she was unable to concentrate today – memories from her past kept coming back to her. Quietly she peeped into the closed bed room where her mother and her old grandmother slept peacefully. She owed everything she had to these two women. Asha had never had a man in her life – she had not seen her father, her uncles or her grandfather.

She made herself a cup of tea, and as she sat down at the dining table, she started thinking of her past. Her family was from a little village called Bibipur in the state of Haryana. Her father and his family were rich landowners in the village. The village of Bibipur suffered from a strange imbalance. The sex ratio there was 871 females for every 1000 males, against the national average of about 940. Probably this is why her father had to look out for a bride outside the village when he was a young man. Her mother was “imported” for him from a rather impoverished region from the state of Bihar.

Irrespective of these alarming numbers, female feticide was still rampant in the area.  The brides imported from outside were forced to abort their baby girls, making this challenge of an imbalanced sex ratio further accentuated.

The fact is that there is a cultural preference for boys over girls in India. Girls are often perceived as burdens for the family, while boys are perceived as the carriers of the family name (and fame if there is any!). It is said that about 12 Million female fetuses have been aborted over the last thirty years. One may think that it is the poorer sections of the society that witness this problem. But in reality, well-to-do and well-educated families also prefer boys over girls. Gender determination tests are illegal in India. However, they happen all the time. Families determine the sex of the unborn child, and if it is a girl, she is murdered insensitively. If a doctor refuses to abort the baby, there is no need to worry. There is a list of doctors and clinics in Rajasthan and Haryana where these procedures are conducted without a hassle. The sad reality is that some of the doctors are themselves women.

Female feticide in India has been linked to the arrival of affordable ultrasound technology and its widespread adoption. This happened in the early 1990’s when Asha herself was conceived.  Her mother went through the procedure to determine the sex of the fetus. It was detected that the unborn child was a girl. Her father, grandfather and rest of the family had very casually decided that the pregnancy had to be aborted. They had planned to take her mother to a hospital in Rajasthan where she’d go through the procedure.

Her mother was helpless. She wept and wept, but there was nobody on her side in the entire village of Bibipur. She had given up hope of saving her unborn girl. She was weeping silently as she stood next to the window in her grand bed room. The next morning she’d be taken to the hospital where she’d bid farewell to her daughter before she was born.

At that moment, the grandmother – Asha’s father’s mother came there, with her helper. She had packed two suitcases, with clothes, gold, food and money. 

“Bahu (Daughter-in-law). Wipe your tears, get ready and immediately sit in the car that waits outside. The men are all out, we are going to run away. I will not let anything happen to that unborn girl of yours until I live.”

She ordered Asha’s mother to get into the car and with the aid of her trusted helper she fled away with the mother-to-be.

The following few months were hard for the two women and the unborn child. Hiding from the family, they went all the way to Chandigarh. The women were not very well educated, but with the money and gold that the older woman had managed to bring with her, they were able to rent a small room to live.

In the next few months Asha was born. “Asha” which means “Hope” was a name chosen by her grandmother. They then went back to Bibipur, with the hope that the family would accept them and the newborn child. But they found that Asha’s father had remarried. Asha and her mother had been completely disinherited from the family.

Asha’s grandfather gave his wife a terrifying look. He was very angry and unhappy about the past events.

“You shameless, foolish woman – you now have to choose – Either continue to live here with us – I, your husband and our son in this grand house, forgetting all that has happened, Or, give up your own family and your property and go live with that wretched, unwanted little bitch and her mother.”

The brave woman decided to choose Asha over everything else. She left her husband, her sons and their large bungalow and property and joined Asha and her mother. Her daughter-in-law asked her why she was making such a big sacrifice, to which she said – “Bringing someone into the world is not the same as giving them life. I want to give Asha a real, happy life. I want her to be strong and capable. I want her to be able to stand up for herself and fight against monsters such as her grandfather and father. I will go where she goes. I am not abandoning Asha“

The two women moved back to Chandigarh with whatever leftover fortune they had. They worked hard, day and night to bring up little Asha. The grandmother worked as a cook and nanny for children of working parents. The mother took up a small course in nursing and became an assistant nurse at a small public hospital. Asha was sent to a public school in the town. As she grew up she saw how hard her mother and her grandmother worked to ensure she gets a good upbringing.

One day when she became old enough, her mother told her about their past. It was heart-breaking for Asha to know that her own father did not want her alive. But instead of weeping about the past, she decided that she’d do everything to build a great future for herself and for the two women who had brought her up. She promised herself that she’d work hard and become a strong, respectable, woman who will fight for the rights of other women.

Twenty six years had since passed and here was Officer Asha, well known in her department for her intelligence and bravery. She had worked hard all her life, and had been able to complete the prestigious IPS (Indian Police Service) examinations to become a police officer. After the first few months, she had been posted in one of the areas in Delhi where crime was rampant. There were not enough officers to handle the high volume of criminal activity.

She made a very clever plan and started recruiting civilian volunteers. Each village in the district was night patrolled by six civilians led by an armed policeman. She enabled anonymous reporting of any knowledge about crimes. Criminal complaints were all very quickly acted upon, and arrests were made with utmost speed and efficiency. She also brought in prohibitions on illicit liquor business to reduce crimes in the area. Within 3 months, there was a reduction in crimes. There was a drop in cases related to "eve teasing" (sexual harassment of women) and wife beating. This gained her the goodwill of local women, who also volunteered their services to help fight crime in the area. Her smartness and bravery were very soon noticed by senior officers, who began trusting her with important cases, and complex operations.

 “Your tea is getting cold dear, let me make some fresh tea for you. And look at the watch it is 6:15 already, don’t you have to leave for the ceremony soon?” asked grandmother who stood next to her as Asha was engrossed in her own thoughts.

She had completely lost track of time, and indeed the tea in front of her was cold now. She hurriedly got up, took a quick shower and dressed up in her uniform. With her long black hair tied up high, the police hat on her head, well-polished shoes, and a stick in her hand, she looked beautiful and strong - like the Goddess of Strength herself.

Grandmother came out with a fresh cup of tea and a hot paratha with yogurt.

“Here, eat this before you start your day.” she said.

“Daadi (Grandmother), I want you to go with me.” Asha requested.

“Me? Oh dear, oh dear. No my child. I am going to watch you on TV. I cannot go there with you.” Grandmother exclaimed.

Mother was awake by then, and was smiling admiringly at her strong, beautiful, confident daughter.

“Maa, Daadi, I want both of you to be there in person when I am given this medal. Is that too much to ask for? I am what I am because of you. Please do come with me.”

Her mother had tears rolling down her cheeks. She ran towards the older woman who sat on her armed chair. Mother sat on the floor, and put her head on grandmother’s lap and wept profusely. She was unable to speak for several seconds.

“Maaji (mother-in-law), you are the one who has made this happen. I will forever be obliged to you for your sacrifice. You gave up your son, your husband, your family and all your wealth, to bring my daughter into the world. I don’t think I can ever repay you, Maaji.”

Grandmother was more composed. She was a surprisingly strong woman, who never wept. She bit her lip and said strongly.

“Okay my children, today is a happy day, let us not weep. Our daughter Asha will be honored today for her bravery. Asha, my child, I will go with you if it makes you happy.”

The mother and the grandmother watched with pride as their dear Asha was awarded the medal. The strong and confident Asha proudly saluted the Indian flag as she received the honor. She was congratulated by many important men who also attended the ceremony.

Later that evening, after a walk in the park, grandmother sat in the balcony looking at the moon. She did this every evening. In the moon she saw Asha – her Asha. She went into the past for a moment. She went back fifty years.

She was only eighteen years old when she was married into the rich family of landlords in Bibipur. A month after the marriage she conceived her first child. She was excited to tell her husband. He was as happy as he could be to hear the news. The entire family celebrated the news and prayed that they’d have a son – a son who would carry forward the family name and business. She was scared – what if it was not a boy? She told her husband about her fear, and told him that she did not want to give up the child if it were a girl. Her husband remained silent – he brushed the thought away, and asked her not to worry. He held her close in his arms and consoled her silently. His touch made her stronger, and made her believe that he was on her side. He’d never do any harm to their child – their first one.

She decided, if she had a son she would call him Prakash (light) and if she had a daughter, she would call her Asha (hope). Although the family hoped and prayed for a son, she secretly desired to have a beautiful girl – her little Asha.

She imagined that she would have a lovely little daughter. She would comb her long, black hair, she would get the little one dressed in the prettiest little saree, with a beautiful bindi on the little forehead and she would watch her as she played with her dolls.

At night she dreamt that she was calling out to her little girl who was running around her. “Asha, naughty Asha, come to Maa. Come here. Let me look at you, let my eyes be full of you, Asha, My child, come here and let me hold you. Let me smell your long, black hair.”

She smiled in her sleep as the little girl kissed her and ran again. She said “Maa, I am inside you. I am yours. I am part of you. My heart has all the flowers in the world, just for you.”

“Come here Asha, I want to hold you. I want to smell your hair. Why do you run away?” she said as the little girl laughed out loud while she ran around her mother in circles.

After the nine beautiful months, Asha arrived – how lovely and divine she looked! But then she was taken away. “Don’t take her away from me.” She cried and cried, but nobody listened. Asha was wrapped in a cold wet cloth for two full days, and was then brought back to her mother as she breathed her last breath. Asha died of severe pneumonia.

The voices of her lost child kept coming back to her. “Why did you not save me, mother? I was helpless, but were you? How could you let them kill me?”

And for the following twenty eight years, her dead Asha kept asking her these questions to which she had no answers. She only begged for Asha’s forgiveness. Her silent heartache was in some ways her punishment. But then, Asha gave her an opportunity of atonement. She came back, as the unborn daughter of her son. The moment she learnt that her son’s wife had conceived a girl, she knew it was Asha, and she had to protect her. She would not lose her again.

“Daadi, my brave daadi, what are you thinking out there?” Asha called out from inside.

Asha walked there with her uniform and her new medal. She sat down and put the hat on her grandmother’s head with a naughty smile on her face. She then took out the medal and put it on grandmother’s lap. “This should be yours” she said, and walked up to go back into the house.

“Asha, my child, come here to me. I want to hold you” cried the old woman softly, looking at the moon.

This time Asha came and grandmother held her tight, close to her chest, smelling her long black hair, and wept.

 

The greener side

Grass is always greener on the other side, they say. Almost all of us go through that moment when we think – “oh, how lucky the other is to have such a life; I wish I had that too.” This is a story of one of us who went through the exact same feeling. Her name was Maria.

Maria had a busy life – full of stress. She had a family – her husband, and two young children: 6 and 10 years of age. She had a brilliant professional career - she was Vice President of Marketing at a packaged juice company. She drew a high salary, wore the most expensive clothes, used only branded products, drove a luxury car and overall, had a life that many would envy. Her husband Steven was a high achiever too – he was CEO of a large technology company, and had a pretty busy life.

Maria’s day would be – as you can imagine – a hectic one. It started early –getting her children ready for school, dropping them off in her car and heading straight to work. The nanny would then pick the children up from school in the early evening and look after them until Maria returned from work.

Maria’s work day would be full of meetings, presentations, international conference calls, and a number of high-impact decisions. She would almost never have the time for a lunch break. She had the global responsibility of building the company’s brand and developing the core product line across the world. Very often, that would mean travelling across the globe, working with people from different countries & backgrounds, staying on top of thousands of issues and always facing every music from the executive team with a broad smile – be it a compliment or a complaint.

With everything that Maria had – a lovely family, plenty of financial resources and a superb career, there was one thing she lacked – peaceful happiness. You wouldn’t say that Maria was an unhappy woman, but behind her charming, smiling face, there was stress and lack of peace. She always complained to herself about how hectic her life was, and how she wished it had been simpler.

Every Saturday morning, Maria would take her younger kid to the bakery next door – this bakery was well-known for its freshly made soft brown bread. Maria loved the very smell of it. So every Saturday she would visit the bakery and spend a few minutes there. She would purchase the bread, and a few cookies for the kids and return home.

The bakery was run by Miss Ani - a sweet, middle-aged woman.  Miss Ani did not know Maria personally, but both women exchanged broad smiles whenever they passed each other. Maria was Ani’s weekend customer, who came to the bakery every Saturday – without exception. And to Maria, Ani was the baker who made the best bread in town, and probably the happiest person in town too – Ani always smiled and appeared so full of life.

Often times, in the morning when Maria would be stuffing her children in the car, she would see Ani ride away on her bicycle waving her hand with a broad smile on her face and a “Good Morning” that would only make you wonder – how do you manage to be so happy every day!

September 19^th 2016

It was a typical work day, and Maria completed her regular morning duties at school and drove to the office. As soon as she reached there, she was summoned for and was given the news that the company’s competitor had announced the launch of a new juice recipe – an organic one, at the same price. The company had to take a few fast decisions, and launch their own organic variant as soon as possible to protect themselves from the competitive pressure. Since Maria was heading the global marketing team, it became her responsibility.

The rest of the day was a roller coaster ride – meetings after meetings, brainstorming sessions, talks with agencies, market trend analysis and so on. Maria’s brain was running a marathon at full speed. At the end of the day, she had it all under control. However the stress she had gone through the day made her look a year older.

She drove back home, and out of exhaustion she decided to take a short walk in the park next door, before getting ready for the kids at home. She walked for a few minutes and then sat down on a bench. She tried to think clearly – she was not happy – why was life so stressful, why was there no peace.

Just at that moment, she could see Ani – the baker at a distance shutting down her little bakery and picking her bicycle up to head back to her little apartment in the village nearby. Ani was still smiling, and looked so happy. As she started approaching Maria on her bicycle, Maria thought “Oh how I envy her – I wish I had her life. She is always smiling – I wish I could do that – I wish I was her”. Just then Ani passed her on her bike and waved a “Good Evening” wave with a broad smile. The two women exchanged a smile and a glance and Ani rode away.

That evening – the evening of 19^th September 2016, an amazing event occurred in Maria’s life. As she was sitting by the window sipping a glass of wine, an angel appeared.

He said “I grant you your wish Maria. You want Ani’s life – and you will have it. You will have it for the next week. If you like it, you can have it forever.”

“Oh, really? But what about Ani? What would happen to her?”

“She will have your life dear Maria”.

“But will she agree to do this?”

“I shall convince her – you don’t worry about that. Tomorrow morning when you wake up, you shall not be Maria, you shall be Ani – I grant you your wish”.

September 20^th 2016

Maria woke up in a tiny apartment. It smelled of bread: yes the same smell she loved. As she looked into the mirror, she smiled to herself – she was Ani. She would now have to run the lovely little bakery. She would have the pleasure of riding that bicycle around. As she was absorbing the happy thoughts, the phone rang – she answered it.

“This is Ani” she said.

“Ani, this is Merkel, calling from the kitchen right now” a high pitched voice said.

Merkel was the young girl that worked with Ani at the bakery. She was calling her partner from the bakery, to give her some bad news.

“We have the same issue again. Our old oven has broken down again Ani! We have 10 orders for birthday cakes today. What will we do now? If we don’t deliver this we will have another week low on cash. I am afraid, Ani. I need some cash this week. I can’t go on like this Ani. Remember what happened yesterday? Our long time customer Mr. Knox was mad at us for not meeting his order well. Soon we will be out of business Ani!” Merkel was almost weeping.

“Listen, don’t worry. I will be right there, okay? We will fix this”. Maria, uh, I mean Ani replied.

Well, now this was not expected, Ani’s life was supposed to be so simple, Maria had hoped to go biking that morning. Well, perhaps tomorrow. Let’s solve the broken oven issue today.

She hurriedly started getting ready – as she entered the shower she realized there was only soap – a very low grade one, no shampoo, and certainly no conditioner. She decided she would go shopping in the evening. Once out of the shower she realized there was no hair dryer either! That was rough.

Inside Ani’s closet she found only a few clothes – all of them were gaudy and none to Maria’s expensive taste. Well, she had always seen Ani inside an apron or an over-coat, so she had never realized what she wore underneath. “No worries” she thought – “I asked for simplicity, and this is probably what it looks like”.

She got herself into a blue ill-fitting outfit and red boots and then wore the overcoat on top. Inside the kitchen there was very little breakfast – only bread – leftover from the bakery the past evening. She found a bit of marmalade and some coffee after some searching. That was definitely not what her usual breakfast looked like – no fruit, no cereal, no yogurt. Ani certainly did not have a healthy, balanced diet.

She ate what she could and rode away to the bakery. Merkel was waiting for her.

“What on earth took you so long Ani? You are usually never so late, and especially when we are going through such a tough time.”

“I am sorry. Let us look at the oven.”

It was not running – they obviously did not know what to do! It was an old oven, and clearly needed to be replaced. And replacement would cost money, and there was none.

They had to think fast and take decisions. They made a few calls to all their friends in town asking for help – to use their home ovens. There were 10 cakes to be baked for that day and 20 more over the coming 2 days. They were able to find 8 homes – homes of their friends with good ovens. They divided the work between them and over time, fulfilled these urgent orders for the 10 cakes – they were working every minute all morning until late afternoon. They did not even take a lunch break!

It was very stressful to manage these orders while managing the day-to-day bakery customers. Given their situation, they were also unable to take orders for the following week, as there was no oven. This was obviously not sustainable.

So they approached a bank later that afternoon, to ask for loan – to invest in bakery equipment. The bank always asks for collateral. The only collateral available was the bakery itself. But there was no choice – they had to go for it.

This was indeed one of the most stressful days that Maria had experienced – this is certainly not what Ani’s life had looked like from the far, but so be it. Hopefully it will get better – Maria thought. At the end of the day as she rode back home, she was exhausted to the core. She ate some bread and simply fell asleep on the damp sofa.

The following morning had a decent start – she and Merkel visited the bank and their loan was sanctioned. In the next few hours they were also able to make their oven purchase. Without the oven, the bakery had to be kept shut down, and they had quite some lost business. Merkel was certainly not happy about this. Ani (Maria) was also disturbed – she wanted to shop for shampoo and conditioner however, they were rather low on cash and she did not feel she could make personal luxury purchases when the bakery and her partner were in so much stress. So she postponed the shopping plans.

The following day seemed a more regular day to as she woke up. She had an early start, and together with Merkel she got the new oven all set up. And then, the baking all started. She was so far enjoying being in the bakery with the smell of bread around her. However, by afternoon she started feeling exhausted. The job of a baker is not an easy one. The baker has to stand all day, and pay careful attention to details. If a recipe goes wrong, the whole item would have to be discarded – and that would mean losses.

The bakery is a hot place – there is not a lot of cool air around. And during peak hours of the morning, there is very little time to breathe!

She thought late mornings around 10:30 AM, or 11 AM would see the beginning of a calmer period – but she was totally wrong! At 10:30, Merkel informed her that they had to start getting the lunch combos ready – sandwiches had to be made, salads had to be mixed and put into boxes and desserts had to be organized. Lunch time, from noon until 2 PM were busy hours when people visited to buy take-away lunches.

After that tiring morning and afternoon, she finally had a breather around 3 PM to eat her lunch. But there was hardly any appetite. Being in the middle of food all the time made her not so hungry anymore. But she had to munch on something to get back the energy for a busy early evening! So she quickly ate a salad and a yogurt and got back to work. 4 PM until 7 PM was another busy time for the bakery – lots of customers coming over to buy cakes and pastries. There were also a few birthday and anniversary orders that they had to fulfill.

At the end of the day Maria was exhausted to her core – how did Ani manage to smile after a day like this she thought to herself.

The following two days followed a similar pattern – they were full of activity. Finally on Friday evening, she took a deep breath and thought “Aha the weekend is almost here.” Again she was wrong!

Friday evenings and nights were the busiest. Bakers had to actually work a lot of extra hours every Friday, to ensure they were ready for a busy Saturday morning. Being the start of the weekend, a lot of customers in happy moods would visit the bakery with their children and make a lot of purchases for their families. So not only did the bakers have to work extra-hard, but they had to make a lot of extra effort to look happy and smile! If they did not smile, their customers’ start of the weekend would be impacted negatively.

On the Saturday morning as the bakers were serving the happy customers, a customer with a little girl arrived – yes, you guessed it right – we are now talking of the new “Maria” – this was Ani who was living Maria’s week. She came there with Maria’s younger kid – it was part of the routine. She looked dreadful. Clearly Maria’s stressful executive life had not suited Ani.

The two women simply looked at each other and shook their heads as if saying – “please give me my life back”.

That evening as Maria (who was living Ani’s life) sat in her tiny apartment thinking about the past week, the angel appeared again.

“Hello Maria, what did you think of Ani’s life? Did you enjoy the week? Would you like to continue? Or do you want your life back?”

“Oh thank you for coming. Please do give me my life back. I cannot live Ani’s life. Please take me back to where I come from. I want my own life back.” Maria pleaded.

“Okay” responded the angel.

Maria said “But wait, what about Ani? You know, I saw her this morning – she looked tired and not happy. I feel terrible for her. What have I done to her! I think she did not enjoy my life. I feel very sorry for taking her week and giving her a hard time living mine”.

The angel laughed out loudly, and said “Oh poor Maria, did you think you did this to her? Well the reality is very different my dear. In fact Ani wanted to live your life as much as you wanted to live her! Let me tell you what happened…”

The angel took Maria into a flashback – September 19^th 2016

Maria was sitting on the bench in the park after her hectic day at work. Ani was still in the bakery, wrapping up for the day. Ani was not happy – it was Ani’s birthday, and she was all alone. She was a baker who baked delicious cakes for others. But on her own birthday she had no one to bake a cake for her. She was sad, and was missing her mother.

“What a life is this” she was thinking.

“It is only about hard work and giving. Why am I not happy.”

Just as she was picking up her bicycle, she saw the rich woman who visited her bakery every Saturday morning. She was sitting on bench and relaxing. “What a life this woman has” Ani thought.

“She has everything! She has so much money! She always wears such lovely clothes and shoes. And she has pretty hand bags. And she always smells of perfume – and look at me, smelling of bread all the time. Look at her now! She is relaxing in the park, while here I am all tired, just waiting to reach my tiny apartment so that I can collapse on my bed.

How I wish, I had her life – even for a little while.”

And then as she rode on her bicycle she gave Maria a broad smile and waved her a “Good Evening” while she imagined herself enjoying the riches that Maria had.

“If I could make a birthday wish, I’d want that woman’s life” she murmured to herself as she gave Maria the happy smile.

And then in the evening as she sat by her window looking at the stars, the angel appeared and gave her the gift she wanted – Maria’s life.

Little had Ani known that Maria’s life was not an easy one – it was demanding, very demanding. The stressful mornings at home and then at work, skipped meals, meetings after meetings, painful discussions and never ending workload. She would think of work all the time – she was restless. Yes there were lovely clothes and shoes, but what’s the use of all those riches if you cannot enjoy them even for a moment! Ani did not like this life – she truly missed her bicycle. She missed baking with Merkel. She missed her apartment and the peace that came with it. Yes she was poor, but she had her friends, she had her bakery, and the smile on the faces of her customers would make her very happy. She missed all that.

So after five days of this craziness, as she entered her bakery on Saturday morning she felt a deep happiness as she smelt the bread. She looked at Maria and without saying a word, simply pleaded that she wanted her baker’s life back.

“So you see Maria – Ani wants her simple life back. Just the way you want your own life back.”

Maria smiled and agreed.

September 25^th 2016

Maria woke up in her large bedroom. It felt peaceful. She walked towards her dressing table and smiled – yes, she was Maria again. She had her life back.

She stretched a bit out of relief and walked out into the balcony. Down on the little street in front of her house she spotted Ani, who was happily riding away on her bicycle, with a large basket of baguettes. She turned back, slowed down and smiled at Maria with her happy “Good Morning”. Maria smiled back too, and this time she knew there was no pain behind either of their smiles.

They were both very happy women. They had realized that grass is indeed greener on the other side.

Happiness and peace never come to you – no matter how hard you try. Happiness and peace are a matter of choice. You choose to be happy, you choose to be peaceful.

Feathers Fur or Fins

“Feathers fur or fins! Feathers fur or fins!

If it walks on legs or flies on wings,

If it climbs or crawls or slithers or swims,

It’s got its place in the scheme of things,

Feathers fur or fins!

Feathers fur or fins!”

Little Neev sang to himself as he played with his lego blocks. His dad Raj was working on his laptop, and could overhear his son’s song. Such a lovely tune Raj thought.

Soon it was time to eat dinner and go to bed. Raj read a story for Neev and kissed him good night. Raj himself had a long night ahead of him. He had been stressed – his business unit was on the verge of being marked as a failure, and was about to be shut down.

Raj was a brilliant software engineer, graduated from the world’s top engineering school. He had always been a “high flyer” – a topper during his university days. After his graduation he had worked for years as an Engineer for an international online retailer. At work too, he was a high performer – always outperformed his colleagues. He had built a large number of critical algorithms and programs and he was considered one of the most critical resources on the team. With his skill and caliber he had grown very quickly into the organization. He had started as an engineer, had soon become an Engineering Manager and continued his path towards more and more promotions and growth. Yes, truly a high flyer.

His company recently had made the strategic decision of expanding into the exciting world of consumer health care – an online pharmacy that sells every medicine that is available over the counter. This was a big step for a company that had started as an online book-seller. So they needed somebody smart to take leadership of this initiative. Raj was selected given his strong records and credentials.

Raj had to set this up entirely from scratch – all the way from setting up a team. It was a highly entrepreneurial project. He had started with great excitement – it was certainly a very interesting challenge & a great opportunity. He had started his research on the pharma world and had studied how people made their decisions to buy medicines, and how that could be integrated into his online pharmacy. He had recruited a team of high caliber engineers who could build a platform for online sales of medicines. All these engineers were hand-picked from a few of the best companies in the silicon-valley.

Together the team had embarked upon the project that was indeed a dream come true to most of them. If they made this online pharmacy a success, they would be considered pioneers in online consumer health care. For the following months they worked hard and built the perfect platform for selling medicines. Raj had to work with their legal and administrative teams closely to ensure all regulations were taken into account and followed as required. A large number of manufacturers and pharmacies had signed-up for selling their medicines on this online platform. The deal was that the prices of the medicines would have to be maintained as low as possible – so that they could benefit from large volume of sales. With the large volumes, they would in turn be able to attract more manufacturers and pharmacies on the platform. An important aspect of the online store was the delivery service. Unlike books or clothes, when medicines are ordered, they need to be delivered in time. So a “one-hour delivery” service was offered at marginal cost. Everything looked great so far!

The platform was launched and was widely talked about in the news –

“The world’s largest pharmacy: get healthy at the click of your mouse.”

“Will they put physical pharmacies out of business?”

“The pharma squeeze: Will the pharma companies start getting squeezed for margins?”

“Digitalization of the Over-the-Counter-Medication World is here!”

“What comes next? – online doctors!?”

And so on..

The team was applauded for the great work they had delivered on developing the platform.

Now the next challenge was – achieving the sales targets. Raj and his team were experts at the online books, retail, clothing etc. But online pharma was a different world. So Raj had decided to hire a few pharma-industry experts on the team - people who understood consumers, and who could help set up sales strategies for the online pharmacy. He had recruited two pharmacists and two experts from large fast moving consumer health care companies. Together they tried to develop great content to help sell this concept of the online pharmacy to consumers.

Unfortunately, even after months of trying, this had not hit the mark. The company was now wondering if they had made a mistake. What was going wrong? They were successful at selling books, clothes, toys, accessories, bicycles – everything online. Why was the pharmacy not working? Even after having the expertise of the pharma talent in their team, the programming skills of the engineers and the sound leadership of Raj himself the initiative had come close to becoming a failure. A few tough decisions were on their way. Raj knew that the business unit if shut down, could cost his teams their jobs - he was disappointed and stressed.

That evening after putting his son Neev to bed, he made himself a cup of tea and started re-thinking, but that did not help. He thought he needed a break, so he decided to take a day off work. A few weeks ago he had received an invitation for an alumni meet at his high school in the village nearby. At first he had disregarded the idea of attending such an event, but now, he thought he would take a break and use an opportunity to see his old high-school friends. He had been out of touch with most of them.

The next morning he dropped his son off to school, and came back home to get ready for the alumni meet. He took the train to get to his old school. Once he was there, he became nostalgic. He had been a high flyer at school. He was considered to be the mathematician! He remembered how he was always admired for his high performance at academics. He often taught other kids after school and had helped them get better at their numbers. It all made him smile.

As he reached the venue, he was joined by a tall, well-built, handsome gentleman. “Raj?” the man asked. “Yes, is that you Ravi?”

“Indeed!” Ravi said.

And the conversation began – with cups of juice around the cocktail table.

“Ravi, you make us all so proud! The last I read was that you are now preparing for the Olympics. You are indeed a true inspiration for us, and for our children. I am looking forward to hearing your story” Raj said

Ravi pushed his head back and gave a little laugh. “Do you remember Raj, the day I bought all those sleeping pills with the intention of taking them? If it had not been for you, my friend, I would probably have committed suicide!”

They both started remembering old times. Ravi was one of the academically weak kids in class. Mathematics, literature, sciences – these were his night-mares. His only passion was water! Yes, he was an excellent swimmer. His uncle had taught him how to swim and he had a natural ability to navigate under water. He was proudly called the “fish” of the family. He had won a number of medals in swimming races with limited training.

Unfortunately, the education system in India at that time did not recognize his unique talent. The gifted swimmer had to excel at calculus and reading. There was no way he could do it – he simply could not. His heart was in water – can you train a fish to fly?

Ravi was considered a “failure” by his teachers at school – he always under-performed at class. He was the oldest pupil in class, as he had failed his Mathematics and Reading tests, so had been mandated to take the same courses again with kids younger than himself. That is where he had met Raj – a skilled numbers guy, a high flyer at academics.

One day when the kids were all out playing in a park, Raj accidentally slipped into a pond. He did not know how to swim, so started drowning. Some children noticed him drowning and started shouting out loud for help. The teacher herself did not know how to swim. Ravi had promptly jumped into the pond and saved the drowning boy. Raj would have been dead if it had not been for Ravi. This had brought the two boys closer – they had become friends, although they were so different from each other.

Ravi’s frustration with Mathematics and literature continued – he continued to fail at every test. Finally, one day after school he stole a bottle of sleep medication from his uncle’s drawer. He had heard that taking a lot of those pills can put you to sleep forever. He took the bottle and was sitting at the edge of the pond, contemplating his next steps.

That is when Raj arrived and sat next to him. Ravi was startled. “Go away” he said. “I want to be alone” Ravi said concealing the bottle behind him.

“Ravi, what do you have in your hand? Show me.” Raj said.

After some argument, Ravi showed Raj the bottle of sleeping tablets and began to weep profusely. ”I cannot go on, Raj. I am a failure, and I continue failing”

“Don’t be crazy Ravi. I would have been a dead person today, if it were not for you! You are a great swimmer. Look at me, friend – I am the so-called good at numbers, good at literature pupil. Those numbers and the Math did not come to help me out when I was drowning! You did!”

“All you need Ravi is to get out of school – just pass those tests. You don’t need to excel, just pass. And then when you are out, become a swimmer – a famous one!” encouraged Raj.

“And then who knows, one day you will be a popular star and I shall ask you for an autograph” they both smiled together.

“How about this Ravi, I shall teach you some easy tricks to get you through the tests at school? Every evening we can spend an hour studying together”

The two friends studied together and Ravi was able to clear high school. After that they had parted ways – Raj to become an engineer, and Ravi had followed his dream and passion with his uncle’s support.

Ravi had excelled at swimming and had become a super star. He was representing India at the Olympics and was a favorite to win the gold medal for the nation.

As the two men were remembering old times they were joined by a smart looking, bespectacled woman who was wearing a “one-of-its-type” lovely hand-made woolen dress. “Hello gentlemen!” she said.

Neither of the men recognized the lady.

“You probably don’t recognize me. I am Rita. I went to school with both of you. I was rarely noticed, I am afraid. But I must say – I admired you both. Raj for his brilliance and Ravi, you – you were my hero. You saved Raj! I could never forget that!”

“It is so good to reconnect Rita. And thank you for your kind words. I am not going to lie to you – but, indeed, I don’t remember you and I feel ashamed of myself.” said Ravi.

“Oh please don’t be, Ravi. You see, I was a shy little thing – an average at everything type of a student: never asked questions, never participated in sports or anything else, just came to school, attended the courses, took the tests, passed them all and went away. Soon after high school I was married into a rather rich family. My husband is an industrialist. And he encouraged me to do whatever I wanted to. So I started knitting! I loved knitting since I was a little girl. I followed my interest and started developing new designs – sweaters, coats, dresses made of soft wool – for adults and children.

I started selling them to friends and friends’ friends. To begin with it was just me, knitting sweaters and selling them, but soon, the demand for these outfits started growing and I needed help. So, I started training poor unskilled women at knitting. I employed 5 of them full time and they learnt the skill from me, and started making their own living, working as my full-time employees.

Today, I have a team of one thousand people across the country – most of them are women who have learnt knitting at my organization, and others are operations and sales managers who help achieve sales. We have two arms within the organization today –

A not-for-profit arm that trains women to knit sweaters and dresses – this arm also distributes warm clothes to underprivileged parts of the country ahead of winter and a for-profit arm that sells designer sweaters, coats, dresses, children’s wear and other accessories to people across the country. We do this through our online retail shop and our brick-and-mortar stores – “Wool & Warmth”.

Here gentleman, this is my card”. Rita was proud of her achievements – she deserved to be.

“How about you Raj, what do you do today?” asked Ravi.

Raj was feeling a bit small now. He had been a high flier, alright. How could he tell his old friends that he was about to be labelled a failure! He took a deep breath, and started narrating his own story.

He told Ravi and Rita about his engineering school, his job at the online book retailer, his growth in the organization, and now his new project on the online pharmacy. He also told them how he had failed miserably and in the next few weeks would be out of a job. He was no longer that high flier they all knew.

“So Raj, why do you think the online pharmacy of yours is not picking up the way you want it to?” asked Ravi.

“Well, you see when we buy books, or toys, or clothes, we buy what we like – we don’t necessarily need recommendations. We may use recommendations, but this is not a necessity.

With medicines or health food, we rely on recommendations – we buy what our doctor tells us to, or we buy what pharmacists tell us to. It is hard to convince people to buy products at the online shop, where we do not have physical pharmacists or doctors to make recommendations.”

“I see what you mean. How about leveraging endorsements? Perhaps endorsements will not work with serious medications, but would very well work with health foods and beverages.

What if I endorsed you on my blog and on my youtube site and at my coaching classes? You see, I have thousands of followers on the internet – my blog is visited by thousands of sports fans and enthusiasts every day. I also have a youtube channel on which I post my videos on swimming best practices.

I will be happy to share your online platform and recommend it to people. The platform sells health foods and beverages, cereal bars for energy and vitamin supplements that sports people need. Since the platform provides these products at lower prices and added convenience of home delivery, I am sure you will be able to generate traction soon with such an endorsement.

And it’s not just me, Raj. I have other sports star friends – runners, basketball players, footballers who I can bring onboard do you. And they can be your ambassadors.”

Raj had not thought about involving sports stars. He had focused only on doctors and physicians – who had not been very co-operative as they were often tied together with pharmacies and hospitals. Raj was willing to try this approach with endorsements from sports stars on health products – perhaps not medicines.

“I have another idea for you – if I may”, added Rita.

“You see, my Wool & Warmth sells warm clothing – our sales peak just ahead of winter. That is when people need our products. Now, that is also when people need your products Raj – think about it, we are talking about a similar business here: I help prevent cold infections (with my warm clothing) and you help cure such infections (if and when they happen)!

I can advertise your online pharmacy on my platform and you advertise my ‘Wool & Warmth’ on yours! In addition, as I said we have two arms – one is a charity arm that distributes warm clothes to underprivileged people in the country. Why don’t we join forces on this charity part of the business? We can distribute both prevention and cure to people who need it most.”

Raj had not thought of that either! His online pharmacy was the lowest priced pharmacy in the entire country. With some support from the governing bodies, he could develop a charitable arm to the idea and build his brand at the same time!

He was excited by the ideas shared by Ravi and Rita – they were certainly actionable. So he accepted both proposals. He decided that he would build a new plan and request his top management team to provide him with a few more months to execute the same. Given his credentials, they would certainly agree. His online pharmacy had a chance to survive – a real chance to survive.

The alumni meet was indeed very fruitful. Raj was re-energized and as he took the train back home in the evening.

At home after dinner, his son was singing the same tune –

“Feathers fur or fins! Feathers fur or fins!

If it walks on legs or flies on wings,

If it climbs or crawls or slithers or swims,

It’s got its place in the scheme of things,

Feathers fur or fins!

Feathers fur or fins!”

This time Raj listened not just to the tune, but the words too! He smiled, and smiled again as he realized what it meant!

Today the flier had been rescued by the fins and the fur! Who would have imagined back then, that the high flier at school – the topper, the star of all teachers would take help from the so called “failure” and an unnoticed, shy little girl.

Indeed – Feathers, Fur and Fins: they all have their place in the scheme of things.