Kutty Kadhaigal

The Truth

“Who the hell threw this garbage in my fencing?”
“How dare you throw it?”

“Why are you seeing me and shouting? Ask the person who threw it.”
“I know it should be only you and nobody else”

“You have dared to do such a thing, soiling my house” and she threw some garbage inside the other fencing.

Mrs. Nirmala and Mrs. Durga were the ones who were fighting. This was a routine thing for their neighbors. Every day they fought for something or the other. Nobody knew the reason why they were fighting. Few days back it was an interesting scene for the neighbors to listen to them fighting. But as days passed by it became a routine and no one watched them fight.

It all started off with the Mango tree. Both the ladies lived in a government quarters. There was a huge Mango tree which had grown in the middle of the fencing line of both the house. It all started off when Mrs. Durga saw a mango on the tree and tried to pluck it. Mrs. Nirmala claimed that the tree is theirs as they have lived for many years in that quarter and that they have been enjoying the fruits for years now. Only if she wills, she would give some fruits to her neighbors, so started the fight from that day. They would abuse each other and sometimes do things like throwing garbage in each other’s premises.

Mango season was soon arrived and the tree had bloomed into so many beautiful white flowers. Mrs. Nirmala and Mrs. Durga waited for the opportunity to get their hands on the mangoes. On the same tree there was a crow which built its nest. Mrs. Durga’s little son befriended the crow and everyday in the morning when he had his breakfast the crow would fly down to his balcony, and he would feed it a piece of anything that he ate from bread to idly and dosa.

The crow observed from its nest the two ladies fight every day. And it used to wonder why they fought every day for no reason at all. It used to discuss this with its mate, “why do human beings fight for no reason?” But she never received any reply from her mate as he was as clueless as her.

The mango tree had huge delicious and succulent mangoes by the time the crow laid three eggs. One night when the crow was fast asleep on her nest, she heard Mrs. Durga talking something to a man, who was dressed in shorts and had a sickle in his hand. The crow tried to understand what she was up to.

“Climb up the tree without making any noise and pluck all the mangoes, put it inside this sack and bring it slowly. Remember don’t make any noise”

And the man nodded his head, like an obedient slave. He climbed the tree, as the crow watched him near a mango. He plucked it slowly and started to fill the sack. Suddenly the lights were on in Mrs. Nirmala’s house and she started abusing Mrs. Durga for what she was doing. She called her a thief. While Mrs. Durga said that she was plucking mangoes of the tree and it was her right as the roots are on her fence too. Their noise woke up the neighborhood people. People started to jeer out of their windows and see what the issue was this time between the two ladies.

Their husbands had to intervene and stop them from making a fool of themselves. They said to each other no one will pluck the fruits henceforth. The eggs soon hatched and the fruits from the tree ripened and started falling down. Nobody could enjoy the delicious mangoes, other than the squirrels, parrots, and few beggars who picked them from roadside.

The crow saw the whole scene and said to her chicks “children learn to be good, unlike humans”
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If Justice be right

“Ravi, look at what you son has done”
The little kid hid behind his mother and saw his father with one eye.
“Why are you hiding behind me? Go tell dad what you did”
“Arrey! Sanju don’t be so harsh with the kid. What did he do?” and Ravi gestured the little one to come to him. The little boy nodded his head and continued to hide behind his mother.
“Arjun, daddy is calling you na, go, go and tell him what you did”
The little one quickly nodded his head and stayed behind his mother, now using her duppatta to hide his face.
Ravi walked to the little one and sat down near him, as Sanjitha moved away.
“What did my little boy do? Why is he so scared of daddy?”
The little one hug his head, as if he did something drastically wrong.
“Take a look at this” and she showed him a pencil box which had Power Rangers on it. It was the box that he wanted to have for a long time. But Ravi never bought it as it was expensive for a pencil box.
“He had stolen it from someone in his school. I saw it in his bag.”
“Arun, whose box is that daddy never got such a box for you, did someone gift it to you?”
The little one nodded his head to say that nobody had gifted it to him”
“He told me that it was Varun’s box and he took it from his bag”
“Arrey that’s a very bad habit dear. What would Varun do now? Won’t the cry that his box is missing?”
“You know what your son said for that? He had left his box in Varun’s bag, so that Varun won’t cry”
Though Ravi felt like laughing at this act of his dear son, he didn’t, as he knew that if he laughs the whole situation would become a funny one and Arjun would continue to steal things.

He stood up and lifted him up on his shoulder “come let’s go for a walk”
As they walked, the little one felt guilty of what he had done, and he felt guilty that his dad never bet him for what he had done. They passed through a beggar boy; Ravi gave him a coin and asked Arjun to give it to the beggar.
“Arjun, why did u give the coin to the beggar boy? You could have had it with you instead of giving it to him isn’t it?”
“Papa that boy has no money, he is poor boy”
“Good, now are you a beggar boy? Do you have a pencil box or you don’t? Only those who don’t have will take from others”
“I am not a beggar boy”
“Oh! Then why did you take from Varun? Only beggar boys do it”
“I am not a beggar boy”
“Then go and give to Varun tomorrow, and say that you are not a beggar boy. If you do that papa will buy you a new pencil box” the kid smiled and nodded his head.
And they walked home.
The next day Arjun’s teacher had written a remark on his diary. “Your son is a gem, you should be proud of him”
After few days as Sanjitha was busy with some work, Ravi had to pick up Arjun from school. Ravi worked as a police inspector. He took Arjun to his police station as his duty time was not over. It was only then that Arjun observed something. A man came into the station and said to his father,
“Sir, that’s my son, whom you have arrested, let him free and you will get what you need” and he grinned.
Ravi thought for some time and gestured the constable to release the guy who was behind the bars.
The man smiled and gave Ravi a bundle of 500Rs. Ravi smiled and gave a few 500s to the constables.

When it was time to go home Arjun got into the police jeep and he kept mum. Wondering what was wrong Ravi tried to pick up a conversation. “So Arjun how was school today?”
Arjun kept mum still. Suddenly he looked up at his dad and asked, “Daddy are you a beggar?”
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Bitter Fate


“Pick that leaf it has more food”
“I got one”
“Wow! There is a sweet in this leaf”
A group of rag pickers were digging the trashcan outside a marriage hall. This is a typical scene which can be seen outside every marriage hall in India.
“Wow! Sinji look at that lady, she has so many gold ornaments all over her body. How I wish I had so much”
“Kanji, those people have so much of wealth but they are never happy like us.”
“Like us? Look at us, we beg for food and eat from garbage trash, look at her she eats in cool room and goes in a car”
“Kanji, she might be going by car and eating the richest food on earth, but in the night she will not sleep happily like us, nor will she snore like you ha, ha”
“Snore I never snore. How I wish I were like her”
And they walked away to their platform where they slept everyday with other people of their clan. That night Kanji had a lot of dreams.
Next day had a lot of surprises waiting for Kanji. They walked on the road looking out for dustbins for their breakfast. They spotted one outside a huge bungalow. They sat and relished the food. Suddenly a fat man, dressed in white dress walked out of the house, and he watched Kanji for some time and drove away. After some time a tall man came out of the house and called them both inside. What the man said was like a dream come true. He said that the man who was dressed in white was a film director and that he liked Kanji a lot, and that she would suit very much for his character, in his current project. He had asked his assistant to bring her to the shooting spot, if she was interested.

Sinji could see the excitement in her eyes and so he never opposed to that offer, while Kanji was more than willing to take it up. The assistant gave her good clothes to wear and took her in an ac car to the studio. There they met the man in white dress, “What is your name?” “Kanji sir” “what sort of name is that?” “That’s my Goddess’ name sir” and she smiled. “From today your name is Kanchana, I will make you a star, but you need to do all that I say. Will you?” She nodded her head like a goat which was just about to be butchered. From that day her life changed.

In few months, she bought a new house and a car. While Sinji just remained with her and didn’t enjoy that life. He heard many a things about her. That she had slept with the director to sign up for the next movie, and also she had a secret relationship with a hero. But he never believed all that, he trusted her so much. Until one day when her photograph with one of the movie hero was published in all the newspaper. Sinji was wild that day he took the newspaper to the watchman and asked him to read it. “Sir” he scratched his head as if he hesitated to read the news. “It says that Kanchana madam has an affair with this hero and that she is going to marry him”

Sinji waited for Kanji to come home. It was too late when she returned from shoot that day. “Kanji” “Sinji I am very tired please let me sleep” “you have to answer this” and he threw the newspaper at her. “Do you believe this? I am a star people will talk like this, you can’t believe everything” and they fought for a long time. Next morning Sinji was not found in the house. He went back to the platform. Though Kanji tried to convince him he never came back home. “This is the limit I won’t beg you anymore” and she left him on the platform. She became busy with her life. Sinji heard lots about Kanji every day. The newspapers even described her to be a prostitute in the film industry.

One day Sinji sat outside a marriage hall with his clan and picked up the leaves to find food. He saw Kanji walk out of the marriage hall she was dressed in gold from head to toe, in fact more than the lady whom they saw few days before. She sat in an ac car and drove. As she drove she saw Sinji, she peeped out of the window. That night she could not sleep… and that was not the only night.
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The Expected


“Lakshmi, I am going to the office, will you come here?”
“Ah! I am coming”
It was the daily routine of Mr. Ramamurthy. His wife has to see him off when he leaves for work.
“Ah! Today will be the last day isn’t it? I won’t disturb you any more, in the morning”
“Stop talking like this. If not to work, every time you go out I will stand before you” and she smiled.

Ramamurthy was getting retired that day. He had served the electricity board for 56 years. He had got his daughters and son married with the money he earned in it. Today his son was a software engineer working for a huge company. His daughters were both teachers and he could give them good amount of dowry and get them married. He was a proud man, relived of all his duties in life.

He took his old scooter and started it to drive to his office. That evening he got back home with a garland made of rose and a suitcase in his hand. He was surprised to see his daughters and son at home. As soon as he entered the house, his grandchildren went running and hugged him.

“Thatha must be very tired don’t disturb him” said his elder daughter. He saw Lakshmi sitting in a corner of the room. Her face told him everything; there was something bad waiting for him. He went and sat on the chair and so did his daughters and son.

“Appa, my company is planning to send me abroad, I require some cash for it” said his son.
“Appa, you know that we are constructing a house isn’t it? There is some budget constraint in it, I require some money”
And he turned to his little daughter and asked you also need money right? “Appa, I have to pay school donation for your grandson”

He understood that they had all come to divide the retirement settlement that he had got and they didn’t come for soothing him on his retirement day. He opened the suitcase that he had in his hand. It had 6 lakhs. He dived 2 lakhs for each of them. As he did so he remembered his colleague’s words, “Keep this money in the bank it will help you for the days that you will live until your death. Nobody else will help you other than this money.”

Within few hours all of them left not even bothering to thank him or talk few soothing words. Lakshmi sat in the same corner she didn’t speak even a word.
“What Lakshmi, are you wondering what would we do for our future? Your husband has no earnings now and no job, no money.”

She smiled and said, “This was expected. I know about you very well. You only know to love selflessly. You will give everything that you have to anyone who asks. And when it’s your own children who asks, will you say no” and she smiled. She gave him a bank passbook. “I saved some money from the money that you used to give me every month, and I saved it in a bank, without your knowledge for all these years. I know there would be a day when you would require this.” She coughed, “I am diabetic and I will not live for many years more. From the day of our marriage till now, I have done all that I could to keep you happy, after I die our children will not help you, so I wish to help you with this money.”

Ramamurthy had his own saving and he never used even a rupee from the account that his wife had maintained. After few years that account had nil balance, he wondered how to make ends meet. That night, Lakshmi silently passed away in her sleep, all the money that was in her account was transferred to him as he was the beneficiary. The next day Ramamurthy used the money that his wife had saved, for her funeral rites. It was only then he released there could be so many relations on earth but only those who loved you true would help you in your last days.

That evening he told his son, “Son I will not live long. When I die withdraw money from this account and use for my funeral, my wife’s soul will rest in peace” as he said tears rolled out of his eyes.
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Better Abode


“Ring a ring rose, pocket full of posses….”
“Rosy Madam is calling you”

And Rosy went running to the office room. The rest of the children knew that she was not going to any longer live with them in that orphanage. It happened at least once in a month. Stella watched it every time and wondered and wished that she should be adopted by a very rich family and that they should buy her ice creams everyday and take her out in an ac car.

Rosy, came running with her adopted parents and introduced all her friends to them. The next day she walked off with them. Every child in that orphanage wished that next turn should be theirs. Though the life in the orphanage was so bad, all of them enjoyed each other’s company and they loved each other as good friends.

After few months it was Stella’s turn. When she was called to the office room, she saw a lady and a man sitting in the room with the Mother Superior. “Stella they would like to adopt you, will you go with them?” asked Mother Superior. Stella saw the lady, she was dressed in fine clothes and jewelry, and she also remembered the car, which was parked outside the office room. She knew that her dream had come true. She quickly nodded her head in agreement to go with them.

All of them laughed seeing her nod. “Then you can come tomorrow and finish the adoption formalities and take her with you”. Stella was so proud that she wanted to take them to her friends to introduce. But she never did as she thought that it would hurt her other friends’ feelings. She walked back and continued to play her game.

“Stella, are you also going to leave us?”
“Yes, I will be leaving tomorrow.” And she cried, while the rest of them joined her.

The next day she waved off to her dear friends whom she knew from the time she was born. She was taken to a bungalow in an ac car. She thought that her dreams were coming true and she quickly said a prayer to God. She had a room for herself, which had a lot of toys. The room even had a refrigerator which had ice creams in it.

Her adopted mother came to her and said, “All these things are for you, have fun enjoy yourself.” She ate all the ice cream in the fridge and slept on a bed which she needn’t share with anyone.” She thought that this is the life that she wanted. Her parents admitted her in a school, she was dropped everyday to the school by that ac car and the car also picked her back home. But her dreams started to fade soon. Both her mother and father were working in huge MNCs and soon she realized that they had no time for her.

She had a huge dining table with lot of dishes on it, but she had no company to eat. She had a cupboard full of dresses but when she wore it there was none to admire. She thought of her life back in the orphanage. She didn’t have many things to eat but she enjoyed her food with her friends. She used to wear the ill fitting dresses that people donated to the orphanage, but still when she wore there were people to admire it. Today in spite of her living in all riches, the drudgery poor life that she lived seemed much better to her.

She released that she needed only parents, who can spend time with her and not riches and room full of ice creams and toys. The next day she asked the driver to drop her in the orphanage and she told the driver, “If my adopted parents find that I am missing in their rich house, let them know that I will never come back to that house” and she walked away to her better abode.