SmallStory 335.

Small Story 335 Forward Padmanaban Murthy and Ramesh never expected a call from their old buddy Padmanaban, inviting them for a tea get-together at his new house in JP Nagar. Sharply at 4:30 PM, both arrived at Padmanaban’s residence. His wife, Malathi, greeted them warmly and invited them to sit on the sofa. A few minutes later, Padmanaban came out of his room and welcomed them with a smile. “You’ll be surprised why I called you today,” he began. “I officially retired from my business last week. Today, I turn 70, and I felt this was the right time to hand things over. My son Vijay has taken my place.” He continued, “For the past four and a half decades, I’ve been running a successful clearing and forwarding business. I’ve earned a good name and reputation in the field. Now, Vijay—who studied management at a reputed institute in India—was eager to take the reins. So, he resigned from his previous job to continue the legacy.” Murthy and Ramesh listened attentively as Padmanaban went on. “That’s one reason for this gathering,” he said. “The other is my 70th birthday. I just wanted to share this special moment with my good old buddies. I’ll have a bigger celebration on my actual star birthday and will invite everyone then.” He paused for a moment and smiled. “Now that I’m retired, I’ve decided to focus on something new—my WhatsApp group. I’ll be sharing useful and healthy information with my contacts, planning to send messages to around 200 people regularly.” Then he added with a chuckle, “I request you and the others to read the messages and delete them the same day. WhatsApp is purely an entertainment platform—so keep the good things in your mind and delete the messages. It saves space and reduces traffic on the app.” “Absolutely correct,” both friends nodded in agreement. Just then, Malathi entered the room with a tray full of sweets—halwa, badam cake, and snacks. The aroma filled the room, and the mood turned festive. As they were leaving, Murthy and Ramesh whispered with a grin, “All these years, you were doing clearing and forwarding… but from tomorrow, you’ll be doing only forwarding—and deleting! From now on, we’ll call you Forward Padmanaban! A fitting title, don’t you think?” Padmanaban laughed heartily as the friends shared a warm handshake. K.Ragavan 12-8-25