Rachel looked at the necklace she received as a gift from Rakesh.It was Rakesh's parting gift to her as he was leaving for a foreign assignment. Their affair was now over 5 months old and she thought it was the best part of her life.Not only was their physical intimacy very fulfilling, their conversations beyond made her feel valued and respected.

This was a far cry from her dry marriage at home. She was in a golden cage, wife to the CEO of a very successful multi-national. She was a prop for her husband, his arm candy at social and professional parties; he loved showing her off; she was no mean beauty and could carry herself off with ease in his socially conscious circles.

Deep down, she was dead; a keyed up doll expected to perform for her husband once a while.

Rakesh , whom she met in an internet chat room, came as a whiff of fresh air.He gave her life and a way out of her chronic boredom.She used to meet Rakesh with a carefully created alibi each time.

And now, Rakesh was leaving town.

Suddenly, her hand phone rang. It was Archit, her husband.A routine formality, both players playing their expected roles to perfection.

Soon, she had to create an explanation for this expensive necklace.
She went to her routine jeweller and set up an arrangement with him to call up her place with a gift arrangement. She would have her husband collect it and feign surprise.
All perfectly manipulated and planned.( Don't we all do it when any need of the mind consumes us? we manipulate, tell lies and do so many things to achieve our objective).
Only , this time there was a snag. Her husband called her to office to show her the surprise he had collected from the jewellers.
The box had a small ring in it. She was livid within, thinking the jeweller had taken her for a ride. Masking herself well ( are we all not great experts at this) , she left his cabin. She went to the reception and dialled the jeweller. His number was unavailable. As she was dialling , she observed the receptionist's neck. Around that neck was the same necklace.Rachel appreciated it and enquired of her where she had got it from. The receptionist replied that it was a recent gift from her boyfriend.
The truth dawned on Rachel.....................Her hubby had given it to his girl....
The power of thought....what we give to life comes back to us and more often than not manifold.
Rachel was cheating on her husband only to find the tables reversed on her.
I meet a lot of people who cite infidelity problems from their spouse. As we explore, we find that they have cheated on their parents during courtship - sounds familiar ? - project work, extra classes and so many other excuses to enable dates...while our dear parents feel that we are working so hard....
somewhere , everything comes back to us in accordance with the principles of karma and then it is not acceptable....
Do unto others as you would have others do unto you, thunders Sri Bhagavan.
Would serve us well to put it in practice...

from my inbox...seeing is not believing...

One day while walking down the street a highly successful Human Resources Manager was tragically hit by a bus and she died. Her soul arrived up in heaven where she was met at the Pearly Gates by St. Peter himself. "Welcome to Heaven," said St. Peter. "Before you get settled in though, it seems we have a problem. You see, strangely enough, we've never once had a Human Resources Manager make it this far and we're not really sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," said the woman.

"Well, I'd like to, but I have higher orders. What we're going to do is let you have a day in Hell and a day in Heaven and then you can choose whichever one you want to spend an eternity in."

"Actually, I think I've made up my mind, I prefer to stay in Heaven", said the woman

"Sorry, we have rules..."

And with that St. Peter put the executive in an elevator and it went down-down-down to hell.

The doors opened and she found herself stepping out onto the putting green of a beautiful golf course. In the distance was a country club and standing in front of her were all her friends - fellow executives that she had worked with and they were well dressed in evening gowns and cheering for her. They ran up and kissed her on both cheeks and they talked about old times. They played an excellent round of golf and at night went to the country club where she enjoyed an excellent steak and lobster dinner.

She met the Devil who was actually a really nice guy (kind of cute) and she had a great time telling jokes and dancing. She was having such a good time that before she knew it, it was time to leave. Everybody shook her hand and waved goodbye as she got on the elevator.

The elevator went up-up-up and opened back up at the Pearly Gates and found St. Peter waiting for her.

"Now it's time to spend a day in heaven," he said. So she spent the next 24 hours lounging around on clouds and playing the harp and singing. She had great time and before she knew it her 24 hours were up and St. Peter came and got her.

"So, you've spent a day in hell and you've spent a day in heaven. Now you must choose your eternity,"

The woman paused for a second and then replied, "Well, I never thought I'd say this, I mean, Heaven has been really great and all, but I think I had a better time in Hell."

So St. Peter escorted her to the elevator and again she went down-down-down back to Hell.

When the doors of the elevator opened she found herself standing in a desolate wasteland covered in garbage and filth. She saw her friends were dressed in rags and were picking up the garbage and putting
it in sacks.

The Devil came up to her and put his arm around her.

"I don't understand," stammered the woman, "yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and a country club and we ate lobster and we danced and had a great time. Now all there is a wasteland of garbage and all my friends look miserable."

The Devil looked at her smiled and told...

"Yesterday we were recruiting you, today you're an Employee"

the river in flow....

...the river is everywhere at once, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the rapids, in the sea, in the mountains, everywhere at once, and there is only the "present" time for it, not the shadow of the past, not the shadow of the future...."

- from Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

seeds of conditioning....

The telephone rang.Gaurav, all of 6 years, lifted it. His father beckoned silently to him; "do not indicate I am there"....

The same father, who otherwise extolled him the virtues of honesty.

Gaurav experienced a conflict...

he was learning about the fickleness of life and the concepts that come into play there.

the seeds of conflict sown in..it would stay with him for life...

unsure..uncertain...

a criminal is born...

Raju hurried out of the hospital.The conversation with the doctor had shattered him.His mother could survive but she needed a surgery which would cost over 2.5 lacs.With his job as a helper in a private company and her savings as a maid servant with over 25 years experience, he had managed to buy a slum house for himself in Mumbai.It was all of their life-savings that went into the project.

And now , this crisis. His mom was not very old; 56 years.And he wanted to do his best for her. All his options to get a loan were exhausted too.

The conflict raged on as he was suddenly swarmed by the cacaphony of a brass band playing the latest movie tunes.A marriage baraat was on it's way.People were decked from head to feet in gold and silver.

The sight was blinding.

A thought crossed Raju's mind.A single necklace could help solve his problems and give his mother a fresh lease of life.

The thought overpowered him. Fear was thrown to the winds...
And he snatched a necklace off a lady's neck and vanished into the crowd.

A criminal was born....a routine happening...

Latika...

The rain was battering incessantly outside. The storm water drains were overflowing and it seemed that all of nature was roaring in anger.

Latika stood at the window pane observing the torrent. The turmoil in her inner world seemed no less. It was a tornado. Her world seemed to have come to a standstill.

The events of the past few months flitted before her.

Everything seemed to be flowing smoothly. She had a dream job after completing her Masters in Business Administration. Her ample company quarters in upmarket Mumbai enabled her to bring down her parents from Bangalore to stay with her. Being a lone child, her parents, peers et all applied constant pressure for her to get married and she had finally succumbed. She went in for an arranged marriage with Ashok, after the mandatory matching of horoscopes.

Ashok seemed a great sort in the time she had known him, an extension of her dream manifests. He was very comfortable with her supporting her parents and gave her, her own space, something she cherished deeply. He was caring and valued their shared space.

It all seemed so beautiful until…

Sep 5, 2005. Her mobile ring sought her attention. She was expecting Ashok’s call from the airport on his way back from Delhi. It was his mobile number, but the voice was different. In hurried tones, the voice informed her that Ashok had met with an accident enroute to Delhi airport and lost his life.

Latika’s life came to a standstill……Though marriage was one “aspect” of her life; everything seemed to have got shattered. The fact that she was a successful and respected professional with a wide network of friends and acquaintances hardly mattered.

A constant question plagued her…Why did this have to happen to me?

Resentment, frustration, anger…the list was endless...

And much of her resentment was directed at her parents at whose insistence she went in reluctantly for an arranged marriage. The astrologer was nowhere to be seen. She saw herself as a modern woman who had carved a niche for herself, taking charge of her life in all aspects..well, almost, she thought. She had left the decision of her marriage to her parents and accepted their abilities and discretions in the matter. And now, this had to happen after they had convinced her of the infalliability of astrology and their astrologer.

While she knew they did what they felt to be best for her, she found it difficult to forgive them, making them responsible for her situation.

She was paralyzed into inaction…

Until it dawned on her that she had chosen it thus….and she had to accept responsibility, not shy away from it….The clouds cleared outside and sunlight flooded her portico.

She felt a deep sense of compassion for her parents , understanding their own sense of loss and pain.Her own resentment had added to their suffering.

She moved on….