Destination?
The strapping youth paused midway through his hike up the Arunachala Hills. He stood breathing hard, sweat streaming down his chest, his head bowed, his knees buckling, his arms trembling. He took a deep breath, shook his head and with grim determination resumed his climb.
***
Kailash was staring at the monitor at his workstation in the huge Incubation Centre. He had just received a communication from the manager of the reputed venture capital fund. They have granted preliminary in-principle approval for his concept paper, which required funding of S$ 1.2 billion. They asked for a detailed project report including relevant techno-commercial data within three months.
Seconds merged into minutes, minutes into hours; Kailash and his dedicated team hardly knew how eighty days had passed. They had finally dispatched the papers to their VC. They hardly had time to get their breath back when they got an e-mail acknowledging the receipt of their proposal and setting a date 30 days later for final discussions and closure.
Kailash announced, “Folks, I don’t know about you, but I am completely exhausted. I am going to take off to India for three weeks. Let us meet just a week before the D-day. Let your hair down!”
Kailash spent a whole week doing nothing but partake of delicacies supplied non-stop by his mother. After serving him his favourite Mysore bajjis, Kamala hesitated, opened her mouth to say something, thought better of it and started to walk away from his room. Kailash drew her into a hug and said softly, “Mother, I know I am getting on to be thirty. You want me to settle down. I am about to get my dream project off the ground. Give me one year, pick up a girl of your choice and you will have your daughter-in-law.” Kamala, visibly relieved, literally ran away from the room, barely suppressing her giggle.
Sudhakar, his friend from kindergarten days was a professor of Sanskrit and deeply religious. Kailash would often tease him, “Sudhi, my favourite philosophers are the Charuvakas and I especially like their motto*: Live happily as long you live. Incur a debt but drink Ghee.” Invariably, Sudhi would sagely remark, “Kailash, your time will come. You are too intelligent to ignore the pearls of wisdom by the ancient rishis and munis, although they were mere cow farmers.”
Kailash and Sudhakar took a whirlwind pilgrimage of places of worship throughout the south and ended up in Thiruvannamalai. They were performing the circumambulation of the Hill when they saw an emancipated sannyasi in ochre robes. He beckoned them and said,” Kailash! You are not destined to live the life of a multi-billionaire. Leave your friend and take this path and climb up the hill. At the peak, you will meet your destiny.”
***
He was making steady progress towards his destination. Perhaps the end was just another beginning!
* Rishi Charuvaka - यावत् जीवेत् सुखम् जीवेत्। ऋणं कृत्वा घृतं पिबेत्।
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