How does one become a better person? Its by doing
good deeds, repeatedly and consistently over a long period of time. How does
one become a bad person? Its pretty simple, after he does all these good things
he just does one bad deed and tarnishes his reputation for the rest of his days. It’s
a similar story we explore today.
Armaan was
a 31 year old man working in a multinational in New Delhi. He was married for
seven years to Geeta, a social worker and the head of an NGO for the homeless. They
have two kids, Viraj, a boy of six and Samaira, a girl of four. They were a middle
class family and Armaan did his very best to keep the family happy at any cost.
According to Geeta he does more than enough for the family and needs to learn
to be a little more selfish. She has every reason to say so and here is why.
One day she
and Armaan visited Gurgaon’s Ambience mall as he had to buy a suit for a very
important board meeting the next day, and as wives never trust their husband’s
choice when it comes to matters like clothes she accompanied him. They were in
this really expensive store as Geeta insisted he buy the best. Armaan selected
his suit and walked over to the women section to gain the approval of his wife.
She really liked the royal blue suit which suited the 6”4’ tall body of her
husband. She had also picked up some stuff for herself. How could she not? She was
a woman left alone in a clothing store and obviously was very happy at her
predicament. So Armaan went ahead to pay.
Later when
they were on their way home Geeta opened the packet excitedly to check on her
stuff, but shew was surprised to find the suit that Armaan picked up was
different to the one he showed her. “Why have you picked up this one?” she
asked. No reply came, just a boyish smile, like the one you give to your mom
when you've been caught in mischief. She
repeated her question firmly. “If I picked up both my suit and your stuff it
would have exceeded our budget, so I picked up a cheaper suit.” Geeta gave a
fed up expression, but didn’t say anything as she knew it would be futile.
Armaan was the ideal father. His children meant the
world to him. He would pamper them like anything, even take them to India Gate
late at night for ice cream even if he was dead tired from work. He would buy
Samaira her favorite stuff toys and Viraj his latest video games. They were the
perfect family.
One day
Armaan decided to take his family to Mumbai to visit Geeta’s parents. He applied
for leave that very day. Later that day his boss called him to his cabin. He told
him that his leave was granted. However he also added that he needed a
briefcase to be transferred to Mumbai and that he take it with him. When Armaan
asked what was in it he said he didn’t need to know. Armaan was a bit perplexed
but the excitement of a family vacation overwhelmed his doubt. The next day
they left for the airport and Armaan took the briefcase with him.
After the
security check, police came and took Armaan for questioning. It was later found
out that the briefcase had drugs and two fake passports hidden in it. Armaan
was shell shocked and so was his wife. What would happen now?
*************
A few
months had now passed since the incident. Armaan had been sentenced to 12 years
jail for smuggling. He had lost all appeals against the judgment. How did this
happen? Maybe his boss was a smuggler, or maybe he too was put in a situation
similar to Armaan’s by his superiors. It was Armaan’s fault also to the extent
that he should have checked the briefcase, but he had blind trust on his employer.
What is
important is now Geeta thinks her marriage was a lie and her husband a thug. She
has to manage her children and get a
job. Armaan’s children will spend their teens without a father and when he does
come out of jail he wouldn’t know his children ( Viraj would be 18 and Samaira
16) that is if they meet him. Armaan now has to spend 12 years he wanted to
devote to his family( who now hates him) in jail.
The moral of the story is, to find heaven on Earth
one has to become an Angel ten thousand times, but to attain hell on it he just
has to become a devil once, sometimes even unknowingly.
