A Bend in the River of Life

by Budh Aditya Roy

  On a casual night after dinner at Rana’s house, Heather mentioned, “Rana, for all that you have been doing for me and my children, I will always remain indebted to you.” Rana responded, “Heather, if you really count me as your friend then you owe me nothing. Among friends and family advices and friendly consultations take place without any considerations. They are natural concomitants to genuine friendship and are never counted as debts. The events or deeds that give rise to the sense of indebtedness are only to be preserved as the treasure of life in one’s memory chamber. There is a meaning to every relationship. You can realize it only if you try to rationalize why friendship develops with some and not with others among those we come across along the boulevards of life. Hundreds and thousands of people come and stay in your hotel. Many buy flowers from you. Have you ever thought why your friendship developed with me and not with someone else? And we should be thankful to Him who decides even before we are born who would be our friends and family in the life ahead.”

  Heather said, “Rana, I never knew you think so deeply about God’s presence in human affairs in their earthly living. Your cogent explanation is bound to leave some food for thought for me.”

  During that spring Rana was invited to attend a credit seminar for a week in Zurich. He invited Heather to accompany him as his “Significant Other” in terms of his company policy, leaving the business to Paula. However, she was fearful of leaving a big business in the “inexperienced” hands of her sixteen year old daughter. Zurich in spring looked like paradise on earth. The carnival of flowers and the riot of colors restored his heart and soul in addition to being preponderantly pleasing to his eyes. On his return to London, he told Heather, “It is beyond your imagination what you missed. I would strongly advise you to trust in Paula’s business instincts and acumen, putting them to test once in a while. I might add that there would be many more opportunities in the months ahead and you should take advantage of them.”

  Life is a symphony of repetition. As day after day the morning star heralds the sun to rule the endless sky; as the full moon illuminates the earth at regular intervals, so too are men attuned to doing things repetitiously at rhythmic frequencies. Spring hurriedly brought in summer. Activities were on high pitch, but mostly repetitious. Notable exceptions were a seminar Rana attended in Vienna and a meeting of his territory held in Amsterdam. That gave him the opportunity to see some historic sites and break the monotony. Amidst the flurry of activities summer gave way to autumn, could winter be far behind? Thus life goes on and the River of Life flows on, to the tune of time, to its far away destiny, the ever enigmatic Eternity.

  Life is a balanced interplay of positives and negatives. In the past year, lot of positives happened to Rana. He also had his share of negatives. On the positive side, his horizon expanded. The phenomenal success in his new assignment in the international arena created a solid first impression. He traveled to new places, made new friends and colleagues. Especially, his friendship with Heather carried the promise of a lasting impact on his life. But on the negative side, the time not spent with his children was the time lost forever in the twists and turns of life’s treacherous bends, like the flowers not fully bloomed but dropped on the dewy grass only to blend with the soil of the earth forever. Also on the negative note, his fond friendship with Iris lay buried in the rubbles of the past. Yet time marches on and the River of Life flows on. The reflection of the past is good to prepare one better to encounter the future more confidently. Rana was looking forward to what the next year would bring to make a difference in his life and in the lives of the people he cared for.

  The sights and sounds of Christmas filled the air once again. This year Heather and her children decided to celebrate in an elaborate fashion. They were showered with God’s grace. Her business and Paula’s were doing exceptionally well. Weather was unseasonably sunny and dry to brighten the mood. Perhaps the effect of the positive weather spilled over to their decision. During the Christmas dinner Rana was humbled to hear the family acknowledge his contribution in their success. They perceived that he was part of the family and they would not like to see him go away from London ever. In many ways, that was the most enjoyable Christmas in Rana’s memory, primarily because Heather, Paula and Joshua were in a joyous frame of mind. They had the taste of success during the current year that was on its way out and they were confident that the trend would continue in the New Year in a more prosperous way. Their every word and every action reflected that new found confidence and enthusiasm. Rana enjoyed watching the joy of the family and thanked them for a blessed time. Then wishing them a happy New Year, he proceeded eastward once again to see his children.

  The New Year began with a high note for Heather. That would be her first full year as the owner of the business. Good luck would have it, as a matter of coincidence, Rana learnt from a colleague of his Miami office that previously the flower companies in USA used to import flowers from Holland, but found out of late that real flower producing country was Colombia, in its backyard. Colombia had been traditionally exporting flowers to Holland and Holland had been re-exporting the same flowers to USA and other countries at an enormous profit. Rana got a list of Colombian flower producers from his Miami colleague and passed on the list to Heather. Just by switching her imports to Colombia, Heather almost doubled her profit. She became rapturous and so did Paula and Joshua.

  Soon Paula became seventeen and earned her High School Diploma. She had no plan to continue with her education further. She decided to be a fulltime business woman with lots of promise. Joshua became fifteen. He had always been helping his sister in her business. Now at Rana’s suggestion Paula began devoting considerable time in her mother’s business and Joshua in Paula’s. Heather started taking few days off at a time to enjoy life beyond business for which opprtunity did not arise previously. Gradually, she started believing in Paula’s ingenuity in running her business independently.

  Time is an indispensable part of the River of Life. Time is measured by the prolific imagination of man. The only mandate time has is to move forward; to follow the perceived path to the intractable Eternity. That sole mandate does not even allow time to stop for a split second to rationalize its endless journey. For Rana, time was passing along gently and imperceptibly like a running brook. At work, success was robust. On the personal side, Heather was loving and caring. It was hard to believe that eighteen months and two Christmas Seasons elapsed since he came to the west. So far he did not encounter any hurdles that were insurmountable. May be this was because of his cosmopolitan upbringing, or his aptitude for quick adaptability, or his solid professional training, or a combination of all of them. Whatever might be the reason, he did not see any noticeable difference between life in the West and his erstwhile life in the East.

  On further reflection, he understood that the distinction between the East and West was just nomenclatural. As an integral part of His vast universe God created this earth conducive to sustain human life. He then created man in His own image and gave him the mind and intellect that was capable of understanding God and His Creation and rationalizing between good and evil. God, therefore, made him the ruler of His planet earth and gave him unlimited freedom to govern it.

  Man, the ruler, created the world atlas, delineating East, West, North and South as a matter of managing directions and as a tool of governance. What is East today might have been easily the West by the stroke of a pen. For the sun, the moon, the stars, the wind, the oceans and the seasons have no idea of the nomenclature that the ruler man adopted for managing the directions and for his administrative convenience. They would continue to function exactly the same way they have always been since the beginning of creation. Rana was immensely gratified that his mind was not cluttered with the untidy thoughts that East and West were frozen in watertight compartments.

  East and West reside in human mind, they make home in his prolific imagination. Whenever the mind wants to bring them together, it is not at all impossible to u
nite the two. For mind is free-flowing like the air of the space. Obviously, Rana’s intellectual mind did not want to make any distinction between the East and West.

  The New Year brought in new opportunities and new path for was success. Rana was invited again to attend a string of seminars and conferences to be held at various places in Europe. Naturally, he combined these seminars with his vacations to maximize his quest for travel. This time also Rana invited Heather to accompany him to these seminars as his “Significant Other,” according to his company’s progressive personnel policy. Paula and Joshua too encouraged their mother strongly. They had their benevolent self-interest at heart in doing that. They wanted to prove to their mother that they were competent enough to manage her business very well in her absence from the country. Previously, their ability was tested on several occasions when Heather took time off from the business for couple of days at a time but remained in town, apprehending unforeseen problems in the business due to the inexperience of Paula and Joshua. Notwithstanding Heather’s apprehensions, Paula managed the business better than her mother’s expectations. So it was not that Paula’s ability was not tested. After all’s said and done, Heather now had the luxury of stepping out of the country once in a while, trusting in the business instincts of Paula.

  It was nice to see Heather accompanying her significant other to the countries and places of historic significance with the eyes of a child. Despite the fact that she was born in an aristocratic family, she never went beyond the boundaries of England and Scotland. Her mother’s premature death brought untold misery to her. Early marriage did not help, rather hindered every step of the way. For too long she carried the burden of the family as the only bread-winner. Then she became the single mother of the two school going children. Fortune did not smile on her until very recently, when she bought the company where she worked for twelve long years. Finally, things started going her way. Her company was growing and possibilities were enormous. She was also blessed with two wonderful children who were instrumental in relieving her of the grueling task of a small business owner. So Heather took to traveling with her foreign-born beau with lots of thirst in her eyes.

  Looking at the transparent water at the private beach of their hotel in an island off Athens, Heather said, “I had no idea that sea water could be as clear as crystal!”

  Rana said, “Like my mind; see-through as far inside as you can see.”

  Heather laughed and said, “Rana, you might have said this lightheartedly, but they are absolutely true. I have known no body in my life whose mind is as transparent as yours.”

  Rana said, “Heather, many thanks for those kind compliments. However, let me take this opportunity to congratulate you from the core of my heart.”

  Heather asked, “Why Rana? What have I done to you today?”

  Rana answered, “You have done nothing new to me, but I am happy that you have opened up new vistas of your mind. I see you are really enjoying your first sojourn abroad. Travel expands the reach of one’s mind and exactly for this reason I have been trying to bring you out of your narrow groove. Now you will understand why. When we go back you will see how much energy, how many new ideas you will carry with you to your children and your business. They will rejoice, saying, “We have a new Mum, we have a new Mum!”

  Heather laughed heartily and said, “Rana, now you have begun to paint a dreamy picture for me.”

  Struck by the beauty of Zurich, Heather said, “What a wonderful place! I have read and heard so much about Switzerland. But unless one comes to the place personally, looks around and breathes the air, it is hard to believe all the superlatives that are said about it.”

  Rana added to her appreciation, “The aura of a place also deeply influences the attributes of its people. See how beautiful is the mind of the Swiss people. It is simple, sincere and free of spite.”

  Heather said, “Yes, your observation could not be more appropriate. You watch things with an inner eye.”

  Heather had never seen a big lake because there is none around London, what to talk about taking a cruise? She was virtually mesmerized cruising on the Lake Zurich surrounded by hundreds of awesome, snow-covered, Alpine peaks skirted by a thick forest of pine, fir, birch, rhododendron and other coniferous trees. She said as if in a trance, “Rana, thank you once again for bringing me out of my shell. Surprisingly, born and raised in London, I never looked beyond the English Channel! You had to come all the way from India to show me Europe!”

  Rana said jokingly, “Heather, that’s no wonder; it’s always dark beneath the lamp!”

  While attending the conference at the Hoffesberg Palace, Heather said, “As we drive past our palaces in London, we crane our necks to look at them from outside and wonder what pomp and glitter might be lurking behind their thick walls! Here, sitting inside one of the most well-known palaces in the world we are attending the conference!”

  Rana said, “That’s because the British people have allowed themselves to stay overawed by history. Elsewhere, people have decided to put the history behind and move forward.”

  Heather said, “May be, you are right.’

  During their tour of Paris, Heather held back her comments to start with. However, upon visiting the Notre Dame Cathedral she said, “This is the most beautiful Cathedral I have ever seen. It is breathtaking!”

  Rana said, “Finally, I have heard a comment from you on the French soil.”

  Heather smiled and said, “We, the British and the French, cannot stand each other because we cannot accept the notion of superiority of the other in any matter. That’s why I reserved my comments so far. However, you have to give the devil its due. I must admit that aesthetically Paris is more beautiful than London and the Cathedral of Notre Dame is the most elegant and reverential among the Cathedrals in two historic cities.”

  Rana did not expect such a candid comment from Heather. So in order to give her a little comfort, he said, “Nevertheless, London is more dwelling and travel friendly between the two.”

  There was no comment from Heather but a smile of appreciation. Then Rana added with a smile, “There is another huge and historic difference.”

  Heather asked, “What is it?”

  Rana answered, “Paris does not have the privilege of counting Heather as its honored citizen, but London does.”

  Heather said, “Now you are trying to boost my ego.”

  Having been photographed under the Eiffel Tower and then at the Champs-Elysees, Heather quipped, “Now I am a part of the French history.”

  Rana said, “For this wonderful accomplishment, they will honor you with a Key to the city of Paris.”

  Heather smiled and said, “Who cares?”

  At the Rembrandt Art Gallery Heather said, “We hardly have any time to go to the National Gallery and here we have hours to spend at the Rembrandt Gallery.”

  Rana quipped, “It is aptly said, ‘Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.”’(Mathew 13:57).

  Heather burst out into laughter and said, “Rana, you have answers to everything!”

  Rana said, “I am just trying to make your travel livelier. I apologize if I have disturbed your peace in any way.”

  Heather said, “No Rana, You have not disturbed my peace at all. On the contrary, there is absolutely no doubt that I am really enjoying every bit of this trip because of your lively company. So there is no need for apology.”

  In Luxembourg, Heather was surprised to learn that though it enjoyed the status of an independent country, with a total area of as little as 1000 sq. miles and a population of less than 400,000, it was actually called a Grand Duchy not a country, because it was ruled by a sovereign Grand Duke. Notwithstanding that surprise revelation, she liked the peace and tranquility of Luxembourg. There the conference was held at the Parliament House. Heather felt so important and honored that she burbled out, “In London, we see the proceedings of the House of Commons on television; here we are part of the proceedings.”
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  Rana said, “Heather, that is absolutely correct except that the House of Commons looks like a dungeon, a big rat hole, where the lawmakers keep on screaming and booing at each other like school boys. But this conference hall is spacious, bright and cheerful and the proceedings are dignified. Most of all, we are part of the proceedings.”

  There was no disagreement on that remark and both smiled in acceptance of each other’s point of view. Before departing Luxembourg on their way home, Heather commented, “It is unbelievable how much one can learn just by stepping out of the door.”

  Yes, Heather was right. These trips were eye-openers to her and more importantly, they inculcated in her an unquenchable thirst for more travels. Besides, traveling together in relaxed atmosphere helped their endearing relationship to be even chummier.

  These short forays abroad by Heather also helped bring out the business instincts and leadership of Paula to limelight. She not only managed the business well in her mother’s absence, but also brought some embassy and corporate accounts by talking to the guests of the hotel when they placed orders for flowers and bouquets. Undoubtedly, this is a skillful and aggressive marketing practice that often leads to enormous success in any business. Even Heather agreed that she did not have that business acumen and agility at Paula’s age. Moreover, Paula effectively supervised her brother Joshua, who was filling in for her in her own business by giving him instructions on telephone.

  Another year was coming to an end. One could feel the nip in the air. Autumn entered the seasonal quadrant unheralded and unnoticed. Winter was approaching on its heels. Rana just completed another swing through his business territory one last time before the end of the year. Christmas came with all its splendor and sparkle. Rana enjoyed the Christmas in peace and serenity with Heather and her children yet one more time.

  The New Year brought endless possibilities to Heather and her family. Paula became eighteen and began looking like her mother at her younger age. She did not have a boyfriend. Having witnessed the tragic divorce between her parents, she did not want to make any boyfriend. Her boyfriend was her business. She wanted to expand her business with a gift shop, catering to high-end clientele; she wanted more activities. At Rana’s suggestion Heather moved Paula’s shop to a much larger space near the rotunda at the center of the mall. On one side of the shop her flower business continued and on the other, she began the new gift shop. With one mighty stroke she brought her captive flower customers into her stylish gift shop. She was a wunderkind of that mall. All the store owners knew her. She convinced all of them to embellish the vicinity of their cash register with some sort of flower arrangements; a clever and customer sensitive idea considering the fact that about 80% of the customers of that mall were housewives. There was not a single store in that mall that did not have Paula’s flowers. Now they began sending their customers looking for a specialty gift to Paula’s shop. So her high class gift business took off nicely on the strength of her flower business. Joshua too kept himself busy at his sister’s business without giving up his studies. Previously, he was kind of a sidekick. Now he became the Manager. The neatly designed ivory business card on the counter proudly declared the welcome change in his status.