Small Story 657.

 Small Story 657

Liife is Beautiful – 2

Murthy works as a manager in a multinational pharmaceutical company. His entire world revolves around his wife, Aarthi, and their daughter, Nirmala.

Ram lived in the apartment next door to Murthy's. Murthy had built that apartment building ten years earlier. On several occasions, he had asked Ram, "Why did you take voluntary retirement from your college job?"

Ram would always give the same answer: "Because I wanted to enjoy a peaceful and tranquil life."

After that, Murthy never questioned him further about the reason.

On weekends and public holidays, Ram and Nirmala would spend time playing their favorite games—carrom and Monopoly.

In the evenings, Ram would often visit another friend of his, Raj. Raj was a journalist, and like Ram, he had a keen interest in many subjects.

One day, Raj invited Ram to attend his daughter Pinky's birthday celebration that evening.

At around 4:00 p.m. that day, it suddenly began to rain heavily. Although Mysuru is a delightful city, no one can predict when it will rain during the monsoon season because its weather is influenced by the monsoon over the nearby Coorg (Madikeri/Mercara) region.

The rain continued until 6:00 p.m. Despite the heavy downpour, Ram hired an auto-rickshaw and went to Raj's house.

Raj and his wife, Deepa, were delighted to see Ram.

Raj said, "Ram, I'm so happy that you came despite such heavy rain."

With a smile, Ram replied, "I'm happy to be here to celebrate your daughter Pinky's birthday, Raj."

He then walked over to Pinky and said, "Happy Birthday! May you always be healthy and happy."

He handed her the gift he had brought with him.

— K. Ragavan

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