The Most Wretched.

Ramu was a very smart boy. At the age of twelve, he showed the intelligence of a grown up man. He was good at studies and his parents were happy with their son’s performance in school, home and among relatives.

He was precocious, and many elderly ladies among his relatives knew it. The did not like him inwardly, but showed no sign of overt anger or enmity. They had secret plans to bring tragedy upon his life.

Ramu was a success in high school and he passed with high grades. He joined college for his pre degree. But then something happened to his mind that took him off balance.

The problem was that he showed abnormal interest in adult matters. He began visiting film theatres where soft porn films were shown. At that time it was the practice in those theatres to show hard core scenes that were not related to the films shown. Wahab, his classmate and friend warned him.

‘Ramu, you are showing an interest that in something that cannot make you realize your dreams. Life will go waste if you pursue momentary pleasures. I bet you will not successfully complete your studies if you continue this habit.’

‘There are many people in the world who have chosen erotica as a lifestyle and many people in South East Asia, Europe and the Americas have enjoyed their lives to the fullest and nothing happened to them’, Ramu replied.

‘But we are different. Our culture does not permit promiscuity and though there may be people who enjoy all pleasures here in India, we people who take the path of education will move away from the right frame work and will find it difficult to come back’, was Wahab’s word of maturity.

Amidst these problems, another affair began to sprout in Ramu’s life. Beautiful Geetha, his mother’s sister’s daughter began to influence him a lot. Her beauty was quite great and he could not take his mind away from the thoughts of her. In this case also, he had an ambivalence; she is his close relative and it would not be proper to marry her. His mind wandered in many directions to find a solution for his agonies. He decided to move away from her and tried to concentrate on his studies.

Geetha eloped with Sunil, who was of a different caste. It was a real shock. ‘All my manhood has been marred and I do not know whether I will find a recovery from this’ , Ramu thought. Sunil was doing some business and they bought a new house and a car. They enjoyed their higher status and Ramu’s doom. Ramu passed the degree final exams. But a job and a decent income were still out of reach.

Ramu became a beast whenever he thought of Geetha and Sunil. He really wanted to kill both. He imagined cutting the head of his two enemies and crush them on a stone wall. He could not believe that it was his own mind, which he considered to be good, that prompts him to criminal ways, really, he could not believe that it was himself who thought about being a killer.

He decided to go to Geetha’s house with a knife and do the thing he desired out of the darkest humiliation in his life. But after wards what will happen. May be he will pass his courses and get a job. A good career would ease all these frustrations and he will have a better life.

Ramu reached Geetha’s house one evening. Geetha , her mother and Sunil were there. Ramu found it difficult to begin. ‘I, I was wrong when I came here often. I should not have had an attachment with her’. ‘Would you stop talking Ramu?’ Geetha showed her uneasiness. Suresh was silently watching. Ramu thought, ‘ This is the most wretched existence. I should have taken the knife and … ‘Okay, see you, bye’, Raju said and departed from the place.

‘Oh my god, why did you punish me like this? May be I might have cheated my love in the previous birth and now I really feel the pain. But there is enough time for me to recover and kindly lead me through the right path’. Determining not to meet Geetha again in his life, he hurried to his house, hoping for a remedy in the near future.