The Price - Part 5

Dear Kamla,
You have raised a very fundamental question: why should women pay such a price for her man's successes?
I can appreciate your anxiety in wanting Raghavan to suffer for it was he who started the bad bargain in the first place.
Women are like stomaches to the body. They are the softest part that nourishes all other parts.
When there is a temptation to eat unhealthy food - it is the mouth and more than the mouth, the mind which commits the error. And yet it is the stomach which first bears the brunt of the damage. So is the case with women

As to Raghavan losing her (or she quitting her life) we will have to simply wait. Don't worry about the ten days interval. It will fly off like a jiffy and I promise you, God willing, I'll post the next episode on Friday evening itself, a mere 144 hours away from now.
Till then...... just relax,
sridhar

Dear Meena,
I am very proud as a writer that you have gone out to reach to a character created by me. What you have said is any writer's dream - to chant slokas for Vidya's protection, giving her more life than even her creator can do.
And you send jitters to me and all men around the world in saying that women have already started thinking beyond man and marriage.
I already have a couple of well-meaning friends (to call them girl-friends would be an insult both to them as well as the relationship they share with me) who have done that.
Especially I admire one of those friends. She was born daughter of a mathematics professor. Her father gave her the freedom to think and gave her the gift of expression.
She was married into a very rich family in AP. I can't say the name of the family for that would be enough to identify her.
The marriage was a happy one for a while - she had two fine children through the marriage. Then the husband started giving trouble.
She walked out of the marriage. Her husband foistered cases on her which went on for years on end.
She was just a graduate and could not get a good job at that time. She was a counsellor at a computer education centre.
Then she slowly started climbing up her career ladder. I should paraphrase an ad which says that she unlike men did not climb the corporate ladder. She just took an elevator.
She went through hell during this period. Children demanding her attention, her career and the tortuous necessity of attending to a court case in a town about thousand kms away from her place of residence. Once she wrote a satire on our judicial system which was carried by a famous English daily. Every one appreciated her language. It was I and a few other friends who knew that the article was written in blood. When I called her up to say this, she just broke down and wept.
But over a period of time things changed. The court cleared her of all the false charges levelled by her ex and granted a divorce to her.
Meanwhile a man-power consultant circulated her resume to a leading IT company saying,
"she is not that qualified. But, boss, you should see this lady before you decide on your next HR manager."
That one sentence changed her career. She leapt from a Counsellor at Rs.15 k per month to a HR Manager at Rs.9 lakhs per annum. After a few more job changes she now leads the HR division of a leading manpower agency getting Rs. 20 lakhs plus. She now leads a team of highly qualified men and women, some of them, IIM MBAs, IITs et al.

Sorry for the long reply, Meena. But I wanted our ILites to know about my friend's story and you gave me an excuse to do so.
I'll make a deal. I'll post the next episode on Friday itself. Just 143.8 hours from now. Happy?
regards,
sridhar

Dear Sridhar,
I am not sure if Chandar is upto something. My heart is literally pounding since I feel something is about to happen to R and V is going to pay a heavy price. I feel she is already paying a price marrying R. I wish this C character is out of the picture,but then won't is be a usual story. Let's wait till Sat.
Bye,

Dear Anjana,
Everybody's upto something and that's life. Not only Chandar but Raghavan, Vidya and even the author is up to something. Let's just wait and see.
thanks for the interest, Anjana.
regards,
sridhar

Most Gracious Ladies,
Now our handsome Raghavan has become a cine star. And his life has taken a turn for better. Vidya's life?
They say that every man owes his success to his first wife and owes his second wife to his success.
Oh, I am sorry, I am spoiling your suspense.
Please read Part 6
regards,
sridhar