CONSOLATION PRIZE
by Vengrai Parthasarathy
Harikrishna had come up in life the hard way. By the time he was thirty he knew that he had made good only through the goodwill and help of friends. He wanted to give something back to society as he had much to give by way of service. As a volunteer in the Welfare Guild he devoted his time for the betterment of the quality of life of the poor, specially the elderly and handicapped. In his spare time, after work in a private clinic, he was there for anyone who needed him. He taught the little ones in the night school that he had started the art of living together. He imparted to them the need for hygeine ; and vigorously advocated family planning methods. Thyagi Hariji as he came to be known, soon became a legendary figure in the locality and a noble pillar of society.. It was no fluke that he got elected first to the Corporation Council and then by a thumping majority to the Legislative Assembly where he initiated several proposals for the cause of the poor and rose in public esteem.
Seeing his popularity, some politicians wanted him to join their parties but he did not consent. Being a true Gandhian with an independent mind, he did not want to have anything to do with partisan politics and be among wheeler-dealers without conscience.. Only the poor mattered; he was there for them.
Hariji, expected much of his only son Murali. And the boy, studious and smart, did not let him down. He fared extremely well in the school and in the Medical college to become a respected doctor with lucrative practice .Devoted as he was to his father, he readily agreed to his suggestion to give free treatment for the poor on two days in a week.
Hariji was getting old, rounding the bend into the seventies. His friends, who were many, wished that for all that he had done some recognition was called for. .They petitioned the authorities and even met the Chief Minister to get his name on one of the roads which were being re-named to Indianise, pre-independence Britiish names. But they did not go far because the political parties were feathering their own nests. Hariji took it philosophically, saying that the reward is in the doing not in the prize; but his son felt life was not fair to his father .He was chagrined…He knew that his father never cared for such awards. In fact when the public gave him a purse for ‘Civic Activism'( for his service after a ghastly train accident}, he gave the money away for constructing a community well.
Murali had saved enough money and wished to invest in a house in a posh locality but he did not want to go through the hassles which constructing a new one would have involved.. Age was not on his father side and in fact his health was giving way to some affliction or other, Murali wanted his father to enjoy better creature comforts in the evening of his life..
An advertisement in a local paper riveted his attention…He liked this one because of a rare coincidence. Location is always a prime criterion in selecting houses. So, the address drew him to it like a magnet. He got busy and contacted the developers of the enclave and after inspection, he bought one of the ready-made houses advertised; and made it a plush livable home of it with a special room with many amenities. to instalL his parents..
The first thing that Murali did before the house warming was to tell his father that he had a good reason, a very good reason for selecting that particular house.. ’ If the mountain will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet must go to the mountain’, as the saying goes..:, he said
His new address:
S..Harikrishna , 23 Harikrishna Road. Thyagi enclave..
(vengrai@hotmail.com)