Into this scenario came a new baby.
The woman had given birth for the umpteenth time and though the
baby would be a burden for her she still felt happy. You see, hope
springs eternal and every time she gave birth she hoped that the
new born would be her savior, her caretaker. And who can discount
a mother's love, no matter how many times she gave birth or how
much of a burden the new born would be, the love of a mother comes
from within. What is more surprising is that a mother will always
find some love to share with all her children leaving no one out.
So, the new baby boy was welcomed with joy by one and all and he
was the cynosure of all eyes. The baby boy was very sharp and he
showed prodigious talent from a very young age. The mother wanted
to give her son the best of everything, but her earnings were limited.
She worked a little bit harder and gave the boy good schooling and
the boy did not disappoint her. He came first in whatever he participated.
He never had an inkling to the hardships his mother was facing.
In fact all his family members chipped in with something so that
the boys life would be better. They gave up a percentage of their
earnings so that the boy could have the best of the education and
comforts.
The boy grew up to be a very creative
and intelligent boy. Day by day, the Mother started to believe that
this boy would be the one who would take her out of the doldrums
and get recognition for her. Slowly she started investing in some
of her own businesses with some help from her rich brother. Now,
though the brother was a good person, he was out and out a businessman
at heart. So though he was helping the Mother, he had his own scheme
of things. He was lending money to the mother to start her own business
at a very large interest rate. In spite of this the Mother borrowed
the money based on the faith she had on the boy. She believed that
someday, he would grow up and becoming bigger than his uncle.
The rich brother meanwhile was
having some problems on his home front as well. He was running out
of qualified people to run his business. So one day, when he visited
his sister, the Mother, he saw the young boy, well educated and
ready to come out into the world. He was impressed with the knowledge,
industriousness and intelligence of the boy. He also saw the hardships
his mother was going through to get the boy educated. He also saw
that the Mother had given all she could to get the boy educated
and she could give no more and hence the boy's learning would become
stagnant. He discussed this with the Mother. He explained that he
could give the boy a much better education, education at a much
higher level. The boy would work with the best in the business,
work with the best tools and there was no way she could give education
of that quality to the boy on her own. In fact, because he was so
impressed with the boy, he would bear all the cost of educating
the boy. The mother need not do anything except give her permission
to let her brother take the boy and get him educated. The Mother,
always thinking about what was best for the boy gave her permission
readily.
Within a month, the boy packed
his bags and left for his uncles' abode. As soon as he kept his
foot in his uncles house, he was awestruck. He was received cordially
by his brothers who were already working with his uncle. He also
saw that his uncle was helping out talented youngsters from other
not so well to do families. Everything was spic and span in his
uncle's house. His uncle's house was completely air conditioned
and he felt very comfortable there. After the effects of wonderment
had subsided, he started working very hard and very soon made an
impact. Slowly, he realized that if he worked really hard and impressed
his uncle, he would be given a very good job. The competition was
very high, but somehow he managed to get through his higher studies
and also get a job. In fact, the offer was so good, that the boys
life was made. The only problem was that he would be far away from
home and Mother and by now, the boy was starting to feel homesick.
But, he did not want to lose this wonderful opportunity and so he
convinced himself that he would work hard for three to four years
and then return back home. He called up his mother and explained
the situation to her and she gladly gave her permission to the boy
to continue to work for his Uncle.
Three years went by. The boy turned
out to be so talented that he increased his Uncles' business ten
fold and he got fame to his uncle. He had not forgotten his mother.
He used to send her money every month so that she could live happily
and she was living comfortably. But she was not happy. She looked
at the success of her brother and sibling rivalry started to come
to the fore. She also wanted to be the best in her family. She was
hurt all the more because her brother was getting all the money
and the fame mainly due to her children. She was happy for her children,
make no mistake about that. But, somewhere in her heart she longed
for her children. She wanted them to come back to her and take care
of her and bring her glory. After some time she couldn't hold back
and leaving aside all shame she called up the boy and asked him
to come back. The boy thought long and hard about it. He was also
missing his mother very much and he wanted to come back. But he
had got used to the extravagant life style at his uncle's place.
He thought about the dirt and lack of space of his house and he
thought about the cleanliness and excesses of his uncles' house.
After thinking for a long time he made the difficult decision of
staying at his uncle's place. He decided that he had not saved enough
and that he had to work at his uncles place for at least 10-1
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