Is Idealism Affordable?

( already published in an in-house magazine)

          This is a real life event narrated in the form of a story. 

          Padma, as you all know, was born into a middle class family. She grew up listening to stories of how Rajah Rammohun Roy braved the society of his time to bring in the Sati Abolition Legislation, how Kandukuri  Veeresalingam Pantulu conducted widow remarriage, braving ostracism  from his fellow castemen, how Sir Raghupati Venkataratnam  Naidu brought about a transformation in the Devadasi community, so on and so forth.

          It was her grandpa, Sitaram, and her aunt, Lakshmi, who were her story-tellers. After relating the anecdote, they would add, ‘See, how courageous he was?’, or ‘One should stick to ideals like that’.

          ‘What are these ideals, grandpa?’  Padma would ask. Sitaram’s definition was ‘Ideals are beliefs in situations which are desirable, but not easily attainable’.

Faith in Upbringing

          Soma & Sakti were an understanding couple and blessed with two daughters,  Padmasana and Lalitha.  They were content with one child till their daughter began to miss the love of a sibling.  Lalitha was born a good ten years later.  Eventhough theirs was an arranged marriage and despite the fact that they did not converse with each other before their marriage,  they understood each other well, mainly because both of them believed in the same set of ideals.  Since they believed in realizing their ideals, they took great care in bringing up their children in the way they wanted to.  The couple feared God, spoke the truth (even if it were bitter), respected elders and treated others kindly.