Fiction & Nonfiction

Right Attitude, a source of pleasure

Right Attitude,  source of pleasure


This took place in India and ‘thereby hangs the tale’.

As Kiran drove past the quiet houses in the tree-lined street, she felt a pleasing sense of joy. No wonder. Today is a red-letter day in her life. She will be taking charge as the head of the department of women’s welfare. It is an important post in the ministry of Rural development. Today is also significant because her niece will be graduating from the school of business. Kiran was largely responsible for her progress financially as well as morally. Soon her niece will launch her practice as a chartered accountant.

As she drove at a calm pace, Kiran saw a number of college going teenagers walking towards the main street to catch a bus. The young faces, mirrored her tender teens.

Rendered fatherless at 14, Kiran and her mother had to stay with her older brother Bobby and his family. With hardly any income on their own, the mother and daughter bore quite a few slighting words from the brother’s family. They were hardly in a position to complain, as the brother himself was not doing well financially, as an Insurance Agent. Kiran learnt to take every insult as a challenge and concentrated all the more in getting closer to her set-goals.

She joined the college on a scholarship. This took care of her tuition fee and the needed books. She bought a seasonal bus pass and this took care of her daily transport to school.

Kiran is a fine volleyball player. Her team represented her school in the national games She is a known go-getter of goals and wins. They were the winners of that year’s trophy. Besides games and sports, Kiran was also the school captain and assisted the teachers in conducting competitions in various branches such as writing, debate and group discussion. She enjoyed everything she did.

Kiran loved languages, civics and administration a lot. Organizing and getting things done was one of her outputs at school. Her motivation helped participants win inter school quiz and table tennis championships for two consecutive years. Her cheery spirit and encouragement went a long way in these achievements.

Being an avid reader, she used to collect a lot of information on various issues relating to social and economic situation of her country and others as well. As a naturally reaching out person, she made a lot of friends in the neighborhood. On weekends, she made time, for the illiterate poor in her locality, which is almost at the outskirts of the town. She taught them, basic language skills like reading, writing and some elementary math.

After joining the college, she took up coaching children of 5th through 9th grades, in the evenings. The income from these tuitions was good enough to help brother meeting the rising price situation to some extent. She contributed towards family expenses like buying milk and any provisions she could.

A month before her B.A. final exams she fell sick. She couldn’t respond to her mother’s wake up call. Her college used to begin at 8 in the morning.
A trip to the Government Hospital was necessary. The doctor examined her and diagnosed viral fever. It took a week to recover.

She listened to the radio during this hibernation and with the help of her sister in law, won some big prizes in contests.
These contests were generally about answering questions in History and language skills like grammar and some in literature.

The radio guys sent in free holiday tickets for two, to Singapore for two days. Kiran persuaded her brother and his wife, to go on this trip and have some fun. The couple returned rather refreshed. They thanked Kiran for the big change in their humdrum lives.

Once her college closed after the exams, Kiran was left with a lot of free time. She and her mother shared housework and did gardening too. When the first rains fell, they planted some leafy greens, chickpeas, tomatoes, beans and a lot of vegetables.
This helped the family in fending for themselves. There are 3 coconut trees and a mango tree in the compound. They enjoyed their fruit and made a buck on the extra supply too.

Kiran found pleasure in helping others as much as she helped herself. She glowed in taking others along with her.

‘Vadina, why can’t we start some Home food production?’ Kiran asked her sister in law on a morning during her summer vacation. (Vadina means sister in law in a regional language in India.)

‘It is a good idea Kiran. But who will help me starting it?’ asked her Vadina.
‘ Why Vadina, the bank is ready to give loans under self-employment scheme. Shall we try that out?’ asked an enthusiastic Kiran.

The next morning they filled in the forms applying for the loan, at the Bank of India. They pledged some old family silver and her mother’s gold chain as a guarantee against  payment of loan.

Kiran’s sister in law is a great cook. She made several varieties of sweets, pickles and other durable stuff that folks loved. Soon the ‘Sweet and Spicy’ became popular. They used to get orders for the preparations. The profit on this project, took care of Bobby’s dream of buying a house for himself. Before the year ended, her sister in law cleared the loan and brought back the pledged items. It just shows how far one’s determination to achieve, goes.

Very soon, it was time for Kiran to join M.A. class. Thank God, money was no longer a looming problem with three people contributing to the kitty.

She chose to join Public Administration, which is her favorite subject anyway. It is during her University career that Kiran met Mandy, short for Mandira. A happy go lucky type of a girl, Mandy is the only daughter of her doctor parents.

Literally rolling in money, university studies were a matter of fun for Mandy. She paid a huge fee to get enrolled.
‘That’s a lot of money you paid.’ Said Kiran as they walked in lawn outside their department.
‘What’s money for if it doesn’t come useful when we need it?’ asked Mandy.
‘I am not interested in slogging for something that money can buy me’ she continued.

Kiran worked hard, making good use of the well-stocked University Library. Soon it was time for semester exams. Mandy couldn’t attend the exams, as she wanted to go on a European holiday with her family. Her parents did not mind it either. They didn’t want to hurt their daughter’s feelings by emphasizing the exam importance.

During the next two years of studies and daily cares, she had won a Fullbright scholarship for study at a college in New Hampshire, USA. She went ahead with great courage and joy and spent the stipulated year abroad. Her departmental head and Professor appreciated her work and urged her to stay back. They promised to sponsor her stay and help her in getting the necessary visa.

But Kiran had other plans. All she wanted was to see how things work in developed countries and take home the experience and the expertise. She wanted her skills to work for her country, still a developing economy.

She met Mandy at a friend’s house in New Hampshire. They both knew Sandy, (that is Sadhya) back home in India. She was Kiran’s classmate in school and Mandy’s cousin.
Together they enjoyed going on a beachside picnic and a bit of sightseeing.

Mandy expressed her unwillingness to come back home. She seemed to have met a man after her heart. She wants to get married and stay back in the United States.

‘What about your studies Mandy?’ asked Kiran before the end of her stay abroad.
‘I don’t care. Vicky (short for Vivek) will take care of everything’ she said defiantly.

‘But it would be good for you to finish the degree. You can be self dependent that way.’ Said Kiran.

But Mandy is hardly in a condition to listen to advice of any kind.

On returning home, Kiran fully got busy in working for the finals. A lot of fieldwork such as meeting different people in different administrative capacities took their toll on Kiran.

She fell sick again, this time rather seriously. A strange kind of allergy sapped her energy. She became skeletal thin and pale.

But she didn’t lose heart. She was still feeling weak just three days before her final exams in theory. She pulled herself out of the sagging spirits and a weak state. Bobby dropped her at the exam venue for as long as the examinations continued.

Finally, Kiran could relax with nothing to bother her for the next one month. She  rested a lot. She had a lot of fun with her niece and friends.

‘Hey, Kiran, your results are out in today’s newspaper’ shouted her brother.

She got a distinction. Finally there is one avenue opened for her to get into the right job, thought a grateful Kiran. She went to the Krishna (a Hindu God)temple nearby, thanked Him for being constantly by her side. Her faith in God strengthened her mind further.

During the next two months Kiran wrote as many responses as possible for job offers. Then she wrote an exam conducted by Union Public Service Commission. She passed it. Then she got a call letter for interview. She prepared carefully to face the crucial interview.

She wore a pale pink dress and looked fresh as a lily. She clutched her neat file of certificates and a brown shoulder bag hung by her side. Her sister in law dropped her at the venue of the interview, promising to come back to pick her up.

She went in when her turn came.
There were four people sitting behind a long table. As she entered, she politely wished them a ‘good morning’. One of the board members, a lady in fifties smiled and said ‘come in please.’ After she was seated, a member pointedly asked her,

‘Why do you want to join the public sector, Miss Kiran?’

Kiran felt the flutter of butterflies in her stomach but smothered it soon and replied in a confidant voice,
‘Sir, I always loved to be in the thick of activity. Public service offered a lot of such opportunity.’

‘What kind of work do you prefer?’ asked another member.
‘I would prefer to work among the rural poor Sir, if I get a chance.’

‘Could you be more specific?’ asked the lady member.
‘Women Madam. It is the women that concern me more. They need to be uplifted in our country, because they are the most suppressed.’ Said a slightly flushed Kiran.

‘Miss Kiran, how come a Fullbright scholar like you, didn’t prefer to stay back in the USA, a land of opportunity and riches?’

Kiran paused before answering. She took a deep breath and said,

‘Sir, I loved my stay in the US. I learnt a lot besides my subject during my stay, in New Hampshire. I have picked up their pleasant habit of smiling at strangers and saying something cheerful.  Their devotion and commitment to work and their organizational skills will work wonders in our own country. I feel I should share, the good things I got from my US experience, with my countrymen.’

The board members listened to her in silence.

Within a week’s time she received her appointment letter. She was posted as women’s welfare officer at a district headquarters.

Since then, Kiran didn’t turn back.
Her leadership qualities, her cheerful and optimistic disposition prompted her and her colleagues, in achieving many goals such as  education and economic freedom for women.

As for Mandy, she left her degree unfinished. She did nothing serious and remained a drifter.As for Mandy, she left her degree unfinished. She did nothing serious and remained a drifter. It was later known that she got divorced from her US based Indian husband. Having no qualifications to work in any capacity, she returned to her parents’ place in India. Overcome with frustration and depression Mandy spent her days in a kind of limbo.

On one of her wild shopping trips, she met Kiran in a mall. Friends sat together over a cup of coffee and Kiran could see that Mandy was in need of something fulfilling to do. The present life has no motive or meaning obviously.

Kiran suggested that Mandy should complete her graduation and then take up some computer training courses.

Somehow Mandy saw the advantage of doing studies and followed Kiran’s guidelines.
Though it was a difficult task, she put her will into it and pursued her studies. Luckily she cleared all the exams and was suitably qualified for a job in a computer-coaching centre as a member of the teaching staff. She was happy at last and thanked Kiran for making her see sense and cultivate right attitude in life.