REVENGE

REVENGE

 Ramu   was  his parent's only child..  Thus he grew up  to be  somewhat of  a spoilt  child.

He was given to tantrums, and had a very short  temper.

As a child,  he enjoyed  teasing the insects and animals;

 he would catch  flies and small cockroaches and throw them in a spider's web and enjoy see them struggling in the web;

likewise, he would pull the cat's  tail, chase the pigeon's  away,while they were on the ground and throw stones at street dogs.

His parents would tell him not to tease, or harass the animals, but he would not listen to them.

Even with his neighbourhood   friends, he was very assertive;  

thus when they played cricket, he would insist on batting and batting only!  

he would easily get into fights with his friends, which would result in him , first  striking at them  needlessly;  

Their parents would complain about his behaviour, to his parents  who had to pacify them.

His parents  though,thought, that, this was only a passing phase, and envisaged  a bright future for their son;

 he was an intelligent boy; his teachers always thought that if he worked harder, his performance in class  would improve.
                                 
* * * 

By now, Ramu  had grown up to be a boy;  

It was now the turn of the animals to strike back at Ramu!   

While walking to school, there was a black street dog, in the neighbourhood,which would bark at Ramu, as he passed by;  

Ramu found this strange, as the dog chose only Ramu, for barking at,  leaving the other pedestrians alone! 

Anyway  Ramu did not pay much  attention to it, as he knew  barking dogs do not bite .

Then it was the turn of the crows;  

Ramu  used the verandah of his house for his studies;

While deeply engrossed in his work, he  would be harassed by  crows,  which would peck his hairs, and then fly away. 

so much so that he had to shift to an inner room for his studies.!

* * * 

Ramu had completed his studies;  

he was now employed as a junior engineering manager in a private limited company. 

Ramu  had now matured and grown clear of his bad childhood habits,  but his bad temper remained;  

however, since  he was sincere and hard working, his work was appreciated in the company. 

His manager had talked to him several times to remain calm in tense situations, but Ramu  could not resist shouting  at his colleagues.

Once there was a meeting of all the managers of the company at the conference room; 

the junior managers were asked to make a presentation of their department's achievements during the year to their seniors. 

It was attended by the managing director of the company too.

Ramu's presentation  was excellent and it was applauded by all in the room. 

Soon came the time to take questions, by the group, on the presentation.  

One questioner doubted the data  presented by Ramu; 

Ramu got into a slanging match with the questioner and it turned out to be very acidic with each calling the other ' names'; 

the moderator had to intervene and save the situation.   

A look from his manager convinced Ramu , that he had lost the plot and all chances of his future promotion in the company had gone down the drain!!

 When  Ramu returned home, Sheila knew that Ramu was not in a good mood;   

At the  dinner table Ramu  had not lost his anger yet;

he wanted to shout, just for the sake of shouting. at Sheila..

"The  roti  is hard as cement and the soup tastes like water"

When Sheila  tried to put a soothing hand on him at bed, he shouted "Get away from me ". 

The next morning the shouting  continued:

 "Where have you  kept my towels , Sheila ?,  You don't  even know how to do this simple job ;  Your mother has not even taught  you this ."  

That was the last straw in the camel's back for Sheila; 

"Yes I am going home to learn this", she taunted him.

"Please do" said Ramu;   

Sheila packed her bags, took  the children along; 

"Take the house keys, Ramu, she said, "or else you will be locked out ,while returning home."

Time is a great healer ; Two months had passed after Sheila's exit; 

Ramu was finding it increasingly difficult to manage the affairs at home and in office. 

Ramu's  hope that his inlaws would send Sheila, back did not happen. 

He was missing his children too; the house was eeringly silent ; as if wanting to hear  the children's noises  once again.

Ramu rang the bell at his in-law's house;  

Sheila opened the door;  "Yes", she asked;

"Come back, Sheila," he replied;  

"To be shouted  at?" , she asked;

"No ,to be loved once again",  he replied as  he  took   her  hands tenderly.

They snuggled into each other's arms at night;  

Ramu, was lost in thought;  

"What are you thinking?" asked  Sheila. 

"At least, you have forgiven me, where others didn't"  replied  Ramu.






G.Venkatesh.