A Tribute to An Uncle: A Story From Rags to Riches of an Imperfect Active Person

He was semi-literate,

Studied till class 4,

Skipped classes,

Withstood thrashing by parents and teachers.

Understood importance of money,

Later, learnt 'Munimi', the Indian accountancy system,

Could prepare invoices faster than engineers,

Who used log tables and slide rules;

Calculators were not heard off then,

But would have given tough fight there too.

Rags to Riches

In 1950s,

Starting selling cloth on cycle,

As a refugee from Pakistan to India,

In one of lesser developed state,

Of a developing country.

Got into lending business,

Akin to 'Pawn Shop'

Minted money,

Played hide and seek, with tax authorities,

Had to spend, couple of nights in jail.

Personal Life

He was fond of Indian perfumes,

Had 11 children, who survived,

Had a short, extra marital fling,

A weakness, but an accepted indulgence,

Of well to do middle-aged business men;

Which is prevalent world over.

Social Obligations

Looked after his sister,

Married in a salary class family, with limited resources.

Invited them, after retirement,

Set up business, for them.

But he was getting old.

His sons resented,

The sister moved out.

Life continued.

Ethics

The man, a millionaire now,

Established a school in the memory of his father.

A religious minded person,a shrewd business man,

Who indulged in corrupt business practices as well, just to save tax;

An essential evil, all over the world,

Donated enormous sums to religious places,

Never regretted or mixed the two ideologies,

Followed in business and religion.

The End

Alas, he had to abdicate the business,

Hand over the reins

To his son and grand-son,

Who did not appreciate his conservative ideas,

His interference in business, which he has founded.

He had lived his life,

His son realized that his son was to get priority,

Over his father, who has lived his innings honorably.

He was not allowed, not welcomed, in the business.

He got disenchanted,

Withdrew inwards,

Slowly forgotten by society,

Faded and passed away.

The life moved on.

The Future

Son and grandson,

Will enjoy his labor,

Till, the son meets the same fate.

A Possible Solution

If only,

He had asked his son to set up an independent business,

Helped them,

Scaled down own business,

Lived independently,

May be his life was more pleasant during last days!

A Salute to a Life Well Lived

Thank you uncle.

Your nephews and niece,

Remember you,

For all the sweet memories of their childhood.

God bless you, where ever you are.