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Stories / Novel – The Halo Reams
The Debts
by TA Ramesh
After a hard day’s strenuous work,
Kannan returned home from his factory at 5.30 p.m. Krishna Industries
was the name of the factory situated 3 km. outside the town. He was one
of the partners in the factory. His father-in-law, Manohar and himself
were the active partners in the factory. The other partners were really
sleeping partners! Though Manohar was the Managing Partner, Kannan was
the real Chief in the industry.
The debt incurred by his father was amounting to Rs. 51 Lakh. By
disposing off accessories of machines, bank deposits, one small
building, etc. the loan amount was brought down to the tune of Rs.
30,000. With the assistance of his father-in-law, Kannan was paying Rs.
5000 or so every six months to the parties concerned to reduce the
burden of loan. Within 3 to 4 years he would be free from all those
pestering things! He was disappointed by his friends in his career and
his own misguiding relatives and other parties in his personal life. As
he was exhausted due to those misfortunes, he had to listen to his
father-in-law for all matters, both personal and common for sometime.
Kannan washed his face, went to the dining room and had a cup of coffee.
Mrs. Manohar was the substitute for his mother. Both Mr. Manohar and his
wife were living with Kannan for more than ten months. They had come and
settled with him when he had agreed to work as a partner along with Mr.
Manohar and his brothers. Though they had lost their only daughter, they
got solace to look after their son-in-law. By doing so they thought that
their sin which took away the life of their daughter would not affect
their son-in-law also!
Then Kannan went to his room and sat on his favorite chair. Through the
window he saw the changing hues of the Sky in the West. After one hour,
his physical tiredness had gone away.
The calling bell of the house rang twice and stopped. It was Gopal. The
melancholic face of Kannan turned into a cheerful one. A new enthusiasm
ran over his body!
“Hello Gopal! How are you?” greeted Kannan.
“It is a longtime back I have seen you. I am well and what about you?”
“I am very happy to see you. I am also well along with my substitutes
for my parents!”
He took Gopal to his room balcony. They sat comfortably on a sofa facing
each other with a beaming smile.
“Come on Gopal; tell me your story about your activities so long! I
shall tell you what I did and what I am doing now.”
Kannan lit a cigarette and helped Gopal to light his cigarette. By
keeping an ash tray on a tea-poy, Kannan started listening to Gopal’s
story.
“I have to finish my final year in the B.L. Degree Course. I want to
become a criminal lawyer. I like to work as a junior lawyer under the
only best criminal lawyer of the town, Mr. Ramanathan.”
“Why do you intend to become a criminal lawyer?”
“That is a relevant question. I have reasons for it.”
“Yes, you may go ahead with your story”
“Well Kannan, in our town there are many civil lawyers. Criminal lawyers
are less. Crimes are too many in our State. There are a lot of
opportunities for criminal lawyers. That is why I prefer specialization
in criminal cases.”
“What is the reaction of your family regarding your desire in this
profession?”
“They are all illiterate people. I am the only one of my family who has
educational qualification. They think that I shall live separately
leaving them to die in miseries. There is quite a lot I have to do to
develop my financial position. That you will know as time passes on.
What is your story, man?”
“My story is not as simple as yours Gopal. It is an incredibly true one!
It is connected with different characters and incidences, which have
become a matter of imagination now!”
“It is quite interesting to hear, Kannan! Please proceed further.”
“Two years back I joined THE TREASURE magazine publishing office as a
writer. You know that. First they asked me to go to Bangalore as a Sales
Officer for the magazine. Immediately the program changed! I was asked
to go to Logun’s Engine Limited, Bangalore under the guise of the
representative of Ramakrishna Brothers, Madras to observe the actual
activities of Longun’s Sales and Service. By doing one work, I was
collecting information for two companies – one to enlighten Ramakrishna
Brothers about the suspected fraud dealings of Logun’s and secondly
matters for articles to be published in THE TREASURE.”
“Then what happened, Kannan?”
“The proprietor of THE TREASURE could not improve the sales of his
magazine. There was trouble in his family circles. He got the Staff
Editorship in a company in Bombay. So, he settled the accounts, gave
salary, etc. to his staff members and closed THE TREASURE Office once
and for all. So, I have come back here again.”
“What has happened to the Ramakrishna Brothers in Madras?”
“They got a lot of information from my reports about the Logun’s people.
The Logun’s objective was to market their products through the
influential businessmen through out this country. Once their materials
were marketed, all the areas should have to be brought under the control
of Logun’s men. By some reason or other the influential businessmen
would be forced to give up their dealerships with Logun’s Engines
Limited. In that way they could establish their monopoly in India. So,
Ramakrishna Brothers immediately cancelled all of their connections with
them before they met with the business disaster at a later period!”
“I see. Then what were you doing along with the Logun’s men and what
were the articles you wrote for THE TREASURE magazines?”
“I roamed about here and there in Karnataka State and Tamil Nadu State
along with the Logun’s men observing their activities as well as the
performance of the robust Logun’s engines working in various places like
the mines, mills, industries and factories. From place to place Logun’s
men changed. But in each place there was one Logun’s man to take me to
the spot where their engine was working. Each one said the same in the
same words! Each one on his tour visited his family and children if
possible. Those men left their wives and children to live with money!
But those men spent their time like kids in assembling and disassembling
Logun’s engines and taking heavy drinks in the nights!
Their customers were provoked to spend much of their money on buying
spares whether they were necessary or not. Instead of rectifying the
actual defects of the particular device of the engine they replaced the
whole thing by a new one taking freely from the customer’s stock! No
real defect of a new engine was considered to be a genuine one! The
defects came up due to the improper maintenance of the customer
(operators) always as per the detection of the Logun’s men!
Every evening they wrote reports, took drinks and slept well! In the
meantime, I wrote what I found out there to THE TREASURE. The magazine
made travelogues and articles out of my reports and conveyed the actual
faults of the Logun’s men to Ramakrishna Brothers. That was how life
went on till my training with them came to a halt!”
“Quite a fun, Kannan! Logun’s men live in child’s paradise! The scope of
their lives is limited. Poor fellows, in fact!”
“In the official circle, Gopal, there were certain characters I cannot
forget. The time I spent in the field service, I can’t forget Prakash,
one of the typical Logun’s men. He was living the life I just described
in general. Gentlemen like Jack, Brown and Parker in the Logun’s Engine
Limited, Bangalore and Janakan and Meena in THE TREASURE are the
characters that I cannot forget forever!”
“Kannan, these characters may be useful to you for the purpose of
portrayal in your fictions or novels. At present they are of no use to
you. What is your present position and what is your plan of action?”
“Yes Gopal, what you say is my plan. Though the magazine works have
stopped I am still capable of writing in any form what I feel. I shall
compile what I write in the form of a book and publish it one day! This
is one of my plans of action.
At present I am doing as an industrialist. Along with my father-in-law
and his two brothers I am manufacturing electric equipments such as fuse
boxes, terminal boxes, etc. We plan to manufacture electric starters in
the course of next year. When my father passed away along with my mother
and my wife in the car accident, we were having a debt of Rs. 5 lakh,
which after paying back was reduced to Rs. 30,000 by disposing off
electric goods such as motors, grinders, welding machines, fans, etc.,
diesel engines from the stock, Radio spares and pump sets and a building
worth Rs. 60,000. The balance amount of Rs. 30,000 will be reduced step
by step say to the tune of Rs. 4000 twice a year.
With this in mind I am working along with my father-in-law now. This way
I can dispose off my debts within four years. This material debt can be
settled, but the mental debt i.e. writing articles such as poems,
stories and novels to settle down my mental pains due to the
disappointment in my family life and in the Halo friendship, is hardly
possible to clear soon! I don’t know when I am going to solve this
problem.”
“Take it easy, Kannan! The industrial work you handle is much better
than the writing profession. You can do one thing. You look after your
factory work first and last. When you are in holidays, you take up the
writing work and pour out what you have in your heart. To put it in a
nut shell, you can take up the writing work as a sort of hobby.”
“This suggestion is solacing me, Gopal. Now I feel you are really acting
as a worthy friend. Say such things to me so that I shall regain my
spirit. Thank you much, my fellow!”
“Okay! Do you know anything about our friends? I have some information
regarding Selvam. Have you got any letter form them?”
“Vaithianathan is silent. Selvam wrote letter soon after he reached
Madras. That is all. But Balu is regularly writing letters to me. I am
also responding him well to the best of his satisfaction.”
“I see. Balu is writing letters to me. But I am not able to drop him
replies. What has he written to you in his last letter?”
“Balu writes that mainly due to our letters which he receives now and
then, he gets a cheerful mood. He feels he is lonely there among
strangers. Daily he expects some letters or other from us. He is happy
that I am regular in writing letters to him. He is going to write IAS
Exam. He is preparing for it. That is all. What about our Selvam, who is
now in Madras?”
“Selvam has become a junior lawyer under a good lawyer, Krishnasamy. He
feels if he has a good training in the high court there; he can shine
well in this profession. At present he is staying in a small house for
rent. Time is going fast, he says. He is exhausted after he returns to
his place in the night around 8 o’ clock. It seems he has got very tight
schedule in Madras. He has not written much about his professional work
there. It is a very great change for him”
“Okay! Any news from our humorous man, Vaithianathan? I don’t understand
him.”
“Kannan, though Vaithianathan is lucky in getting a job, he is not
suitable for it. Please have this information in secret. One day I went
to his house. His mother was there; she was very sad. I asked her for
her state of affair. She told me a lot about Vaithianathan which you
cannot imagine even in your dreams!
It seems, one day his brother has reached Coimbatore and direct to his
office. Vaithianathan without even regarding him took him out of the
office and asked him to get out of the place immediately and forever!
That chap returned home with great dejection.
After a few days, Vaithianathan left the office and returned home
without informing the authorities and bothering about rejoining the job.
He decided to quit the office and take up the study of law. His mother
was very much perturbed. After a great trouble, she took him to
Coimbatore, begged the officer to take him back in the work. Now he is
there. Because I went to his house, I came to know about these matters!”
“Fantastic, Gopal!”
“Yes, why do you ask about that?!”
“Then how are you? How are you going on with your study of law?”
“Law is interesting. I never miss any Class. My problem is in the house
only.”
“What is it, man?”
“You know well, Kannan that our family is a big one. I have many
brothers and sisters. It is very difficult to keep a thing safely in one
place in our house. Only in the open terrace I have a portion – 8’×8’ in
size. If I build a thatched roof in that portion and a door, I can keep
my books and other materials undisturbed in my house. I require Rs. 100
for this work to complete. I am struggling to collect this amount from
others. Otherwise, everything will go as smoothly as possible.”
“Have you approached anyone for getting this amount?”
“I thought of getting this amount on loan from an outsider. Selvam also
knew about this. He promised me to help in this matter. I have to meet
him one of these days.”
“Please don’t postpone this matter. I can give you Rs. 25 now. You
contact Selvam through a letter and soon collect the balance amount in
postal money order service. Then immediately put the thatched roof on
your house terrace and start your work at the earliest. You need not pay
me back this amount. Wait here. I shall bring the money for you.”
Gopal received the amount from Kannan with much encouragement and left
him to attend to his other engagements with an inspired mood.
~*~
Kannan regularly followed his routine with the view to settle all of his
debts. As to his plan he paid to the parties concerned the whole of his
loan amount with interest within three years.
Though physically gone down, he did not lose his mind. Though he had
disposed off his debts, he did not feel any sense of satisfaction. His
mind was firmly nailed to the idea of becoming a writer one day. His
long cherished dream had become a great ambition then. It was totally
impossible for him to write even a single word during the past three
years! Then he felt he could revive his old spirit and proceed with his
ambition.
In the meantime, a few more changes took place n the activities of the
Haloens. Selvam left Madras for Pudhu Town once and for all as he could
not coup with the city life and habits of the people there.
Vaithianathan had been transferred from Coimbatore to Cuddalore. Gopal
had become a junior lawyer under a well known criminal lawyer in the
town. Before Gopal, Selvam also enlisted himself as a junior lawyer
under a well known civil lawyer. Balu after taking great efforts and
doing hard work was able to become only an assistant grade officer
instead of an Indian Administrative Service officer.
They were able to pull on the days rather than live a satisfying life.
They were able to follow their routines very precisely rather than
achieve any praise worthy thing. Indeed they had not met with any
failure; yet the little success they achieved was not at all to be
reckoned with as per the Halo standard.
–
Continued
December 9, 2007
The Halo Dreams : A Novel
Writing a Novel | The Park |
Philosophy | The Confusion |
The Conversation
The Appointment | The Journey
| The First Publication | The Change
The Secret | The Painted Veil |
The Halo Magazine | The Debts |
The Break
A Letter | A Surprise Letter |
The Literary Muse | The Souvenir |
The Questionnaire
The Reconciliation
| The Lake
| The Final Meets |
The Surprise |
The
Settlements
The Result
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Stories
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