The Cobbler

There was once a rich man who lived right across a poor cobbler. The rich man's wife often looked across the street and saw the cobbler and his family living a happy life, free of pressures, celebrating all festivals etc. She brought it to the notice of her husband who told his wife to watch that family over the next few days and she would get her answer. He secretly told his employee to place a pouch with 99 gold coins in it outside the cobbler's house. When the cobbler found the pouch of coins, he was ecstatic and counted them. He was slightly disappointed that there were only 99 coins in it. He decided that he would save every penny and make it a 100 gold coins. He started working long hours and had no time for family and celebrations. The rich man's wife noticed this and asked her husband what had brought about this change. The man replied "So far they had no wealth and so had been spared the lust for it. Now that they had wealth, lust for it had come into their lives." Now the wife realized what was wrong with their life.

Popular posts from this blog

Passing Through A Village

It was a dark moonless night and Nick had just got off a truck which he had hitched a ride on.  He looked around and found himself standing on the outskirts of a small village. He wanted to get another ride but it looked like it was not to happen for a few hours.  He was used to this and just sat on the milestone by the side of the highway. He looked at the time on his watch, it said 2:15 a.m. He lit a beedi, a taste he had developed on his rides on the highways.  He was hungry and his stomach growled. He checked his satchel and there was nothing in there that he could eat.  A villager was on a bicycle and he was passing Nick when he heard Nick’s stomach growl and stopped and said “You look hungry sir, please come to my shop. I will get you something to eat.”  Nick was not surprised by this sort of thing anymore. Being hospitable was a way of life in the villages and small towns. Nick followed him and they reached a small shop that was shut.  The villager o...
Read more

Tequila Night

The sun was in his eyes as he woke up and he was startled by the surroundings in which he awoke. He had never seen this room before, and was in a haze about where he was and what had happened last night.  He slowly got out of the bed and looked around, it looked like he was in somebody’s living room. He walked around and saw a kitchen which was empty and a bedroom which was empty as well. The inhabitants of this house were clearly not at home.  He went to the kitchen and got a bottle of cold water from the fridge. He gulped half of it and felt refreshed. He went back to the living room and sat on the sofa and tried to piece together what had happened last night.  He had been invited to a birthday party in the loft of a recording studio. He remembered that there was lots of whiskey followed by lots of tequila interspersed with a few joints. He had to stop living like this and rethink at what cost was he trying to regain his youth after his divorce. If things continued like...
Read more

Aisha's Family

This was not the end. Aisha had seen this sort of thing in movies, but she had no idea that it would happen to her and thought that this too could pass.  It must be just a passing phase she thought. All of her pain had tied her in a knot that nothing could untie. She had to see this through to the end.  Haider loved her and she knew that he would never hurt her. He was sensitive and caring.There was not an evil bone in him.  Her father had tried to warn her about this, but she was too much in love to think clearly. All of her days and nights she had thought of him, loved him and took care of him. Now he had told her that he was gay.  “Where were the signs?” she thought.  Her father had warned her that he was much too effeminate and she would get her heart broken.  But she just dismissed it as the opinion of a suspicious man. Now she regretted not having paid heed to his words.  She had a ten month old baby and was feeling totally helpless. She did not ...
Read more