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Karma: A Poem by Lalita Vaitheeswaran

High-flying, flamboyant and luxurious.  These three words described Shantanu who would be heard often saying his famous quote

If you have it- flaunt it!

A palatial bungalow, helps to assist in household chores, a fleet of luxury cars -you name it and it was there.

The only vacuum in his life was children. God had not blessed them with progeny. After months and years of deliberation, both he and his wife Seema decided to adopt a child. They named him Samriddh meaning prosperity.
As soon as Samriddh entered their lives, their lives became magical. For Seema, it looked as if the whole universe had bestowed on her, love and joys of a lifetime.

They would both take him to exotic locations for vacations and spoil him by fulfilling his every wish.

Time passed and Samriddh grew up to become a handsome man helping his father handle his business.

Shantanu and Seema had now become aged and could not be as active as before. It was now time to get Samriddh a life partner. Shreya and Samriddh had been seeing each other and soon they tied the knot.

Now, Shantanu had become an irregular visitor to his office.

Here, Samriddh and Shreya had taken control and gradually became the complete holders of all property.

Shantanu and Seema were getting weaker by the day. The old household helps had been changed by the new masters and now everything and everyone looked so unfamiliar.

Samriddh and Seema started showing cold shoulders which gradually changed into abusive behaviour.

One fine day, they decided to shift both parents into an old age home. Despite their pleadings, Samriddh and Shreya showed no kindness whatsoever and left them in a destitute home.

Material pleasures are but a fleeting illusion of happiness. It so happened that because of wrong policies and investments, now their business began to see a downhill trend. Soon their wealth diminished, their cars had to be sold and bungalow auctioned.

Dejected, Samriddh and Seema called in their family Guru Sadanand ji for guidance and asked him to do some rituals to get out of this situation.
Sadanand ji closed his eyes and just said

“It is karma my son.”

That great man, your father, adopted you from an orphanage to give you the best life, and you threw him back in an orphanage for no fault of his.

Go there, ask for his forgiveness. Only if he forgives you, you will have a turnaround in life.
Crying, both Samriddh and Shreya rushed to the old age home resolving to bring them back home with love.

They went up to the manager and asked for their parents.

Who? Shantanu sahab? Ohhhh I’m sorry both of them passed away in a span of a month. We sent so many messages, made so many phone calls but never got an answer. So we completed the rituals.

Both Samriddh and Shreya now live a life of penury, guilt and despondence.