Continued from here
It was late in the night. Harish had asked his brother not to come to the shop. He wanted some alone time.It was better to be in the shop than to be at home.
‘Take this Rs 100 balance from morning’, it was Manoj.
‘What balance?’ asked Harish
‘Morning I had wanted some provisions urgently but didn’t have enough cash. So the balance of Rs. 100…your brother had noted it down in the red book’, said Manoj.
And indeed Suresh had noted that Rs 100 was outstanding from Manoj. Harish was satisfied that slowly Suresh was learning. He used to tell him repeatedly to note things down as our mind tends to forget. Suddenly something clicked and he asked, ‘ Manoj were you here when Dinesh came?’
‘Who Dinesh?’, asked Manoj
The one who comes for collection from dairy’, said Harish.
‘I don’t know that but yes when I came in Suresh was handing over money to a man’, said Manoj.
‘Were you there when that person said no to cheque and asked for cash?’, asked Harish.
‘Err…no, I was there when Suresh was handing money and then he said, here take this six thousand eight hundred eighty Rupees’, said Manoj
Harish was beaming widely
‘Why are you grinning like that?’, asked Manoj
Harish explained everything and then asked, ‘Will you come with me to the dairy tomorrow morning Manoj?’
‘Of course, I will’,said Manoj
Harish closed down in a happy mood.
Next day both Harish and Manoj went to the dairy at 10 am. Harish explained that Manoj had seen Dinesh in the shop the previous day. Mr Ranga immediately called Dinesh.
Upon Dinesh’s arrival it was explained that Manoj had seen Dinesh in the shop and heard the conversation between him and Suresh.
‘So?’, asked Dinesh,’ Has he seen me asking for cash and not cheque. I say that Suresh insisted on giving cash and I obliged. As to me taking RS.6880 instead of 5880, what proof does this person have? This person is your friend Harish, so he must be helping you.’
There were lot of accusations back and forth. And all the while Mr. Ranga was silently observing Dinesh. Then ultimately he said,’Harish, nothing can be done now, just ask Suresh to be careful now onwards’.
There was nothing else to be done. Manoj and Harish returned.
After sometime there was a message from Mr. Ranga. ‘I understand that Dinesh is lying but at present I cannot do anything. Don’t be disheartened Harish but be more cautious from now on.’
——————————————-
But from that day on Harish was disheartened. His faith in people has reduced. On the other hand Suresh has turned for the better. He is much more serious. It is as if the episode was the bitter pill that Suresh needed.
And another good turn was that Mr. Ranga announced that from now they will get fortnightly bill by email, which they could check and then pay online.
Harish’s mood improved.
Next Sunday ,it was raining heavily. There were not much customers when Suresh stepped into the shop, Harish was surprised because generally he saw to it that his Anna and Vanhi spend Sunday evenings together.
‘Harish Go take a break.’, said Suresh and then on seeing the surprised look on his face he continued,’You have been working too hard, go relax, I will handle today’
Harish was truly happy and thought ‘And I was thinking to run away from such a brother’.
He took an umbrella crossed the road and turned right when suddenly he felt a movement….
to be continued
In life sometimes we have to keep on endeavouring even though we do not see any end or any success in our endeavours. Sometimes it is just important to keep on working without worrying about the outcome and then suddenly like a streak of lightening there will be a ray of hope
siddhy-asiddhyoh samo bhutvasamatvam yoga ucyate
The shock of loss had been too much for Suresh and he turned for the better and that was the ray of hope for Harish who had been working tirelessly and hoping for such a change
Your story is very interesting with its ups and downs . Can’t wait to see how it progresses
Thank you. The ups and downs of middle class life…..
Glad to see some change in Suresh.
Me too. Some mature early…Some need some shocks
Yes
I like the gradual way this story is proceeding slowly and steadily towards a good ending.
Here is my Barathon 4th day post
http://www.jaispoetryblog.com/2018/07/four-corners-of-world.html
Thank you
Looks like things are changing for the better for Harish.. glad to see the sunshine
But is there danger around the corner??
This post teaches the importance of persevering sincerely with chosen work irrespective of the outcome,good or bad.One should not flee from responsibility at the first sign of trouble.
Your long story is like a serial with suspense kept at the end!
😀 There should be some incentive for the next post
A lesson learnt here. Also the point about learning from mistake and moving on, well made.
Thank You Parul
True…
We r eagerly waiting for the story and sloka
Thank you Anjali
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Lessons of life either come with sugar coating or as a bitter pill. What remains to be seen is whether one learns from them or otherwise.
True
Ouch… what was that movement? cant wait to read the next part! And yet another lesson about keep working for there will be a ray of hope despite the challenges!
Thank you Shilpa