Is True Nobility a rare commodity in today’s world or does it still exist in varied manifestations….

Savitha and Sampath looked forward to spending their childhood vacations together. They were brother’s children visiting their grandparents during vacations. Often Sampath would say “Come on Savi, let us go to the backyard and catch butterflies! We can grow them in the chocolate boxes we have. What we need is just grass to put inside the box and close it tight lest they fly away”. Savitha religiously listened to his great idea with unflinching eyes. How they enjoyed together running after butterflies, almost catching them while they escaped leaving the coloured dust from their wings on their hands! The hide and seek game was endless fun for them. Their blissful childhood vacations slowly started to dwindle as their education advanced. Still, they made it a point to keep in touch with each other.

After their grandparents’ death, the property was settled according to their wishes between the sons. Though there was no glaring favouritism shown by their parents, each thought the other got the better deal. They wasted no time in injecting this poison into their children respectively. Results were immediate though not conspicuous. The communication between Savitha and Sampath became less and very soon it came to a grinding halt. Meanwhile, their lives were steadily progressing with marriage and children. Their parents also left the world due to old age and other related illnesses. Savitha and Sampath settled in Chennai with their respective families. Their houses were not far from each other but with absolutely no contact. They kept to themselves oblivious of the existence of the other.

Life was going well for both of them. Sampath had joined military service and steadily rose in the ranks. He came home for vacation. Savitha had resumed duty in the bank after confinement. Much as she wanted to stay with her baby at home, she could only leave her with a babysitter and maid, Pushpa. Savitha’s husband, a sales engineer in a firm was invariably on tour. That fateful day, before leaving for work she gave instructions to Pushpa regarding baby care. “Give bath to the baby in the forenoon. Also, give the feeds at the right time and keep the doors closed”. Little did she know- closing the door would have meant getting charred to death that day.
After giving the customary bath and feed, Pushpa put the baby in the cot and was about to stretch herself when she heard a loud uproar outside. People were running helter-skelter in the neighbouring slum. A fire was blazing all around, she was stunned to see the window curtains of their house catching fire. She took the baby, made an SOS call to the Fire Department from the telephone at home, and rushed out. The clothes she had put for drying on the terrace were all burning. The afternoon sea breeze helped the flame spread very quickly engulfing the other huts and advancing to Savitha’s house burning the green banana trees in the backyard.
Many had come out on the road looking helpless – not knowing what to do.

“ Did you inform the Fire Department?” they were frantically asking the maid. “ Yes” was the answer.” “They are on their way”. The telephone was then the only mode of communication, cell phones not being in the scene.

Slowly the cause of the fire came round. It was from one of the huts in the locality and was due to the negligence of the lady of the house. She put a frying pan with oil on a lighted stove and then to her dismay there was no mustard seed. Next to her hut was a petty shop, from where she always got her provisions. Hoping to come back in no time, she left the lighted stove with the frying pan and oil on. There, at the shop, she met someone whom she had not seen for a long time. In her excitement, she forgot everything else including the burning oil on the stove. Rest is history.

Sampath had come home on vacation and was due to leave for his military station that night. When he heard of the blazing fire at Savitha’s place in her absence, he thought to himself like anybody else. “Why should I be bothered? We are not even on talking terms.”. But is not blood thicker than water? Concern for his cousin overcame enmity. He ran to her place, his military training came in handy for him. He climbed the building and reaching the terrace, he opened the overhead tank in no time. With a bucket, he was pouring water on the engulfing fire. It was a very risky task. But he did it forgetting the enmity. The fire was finally quenched. And then came the fire engine to check if the work had been done properly!

Savitha was informed of the fire at her place and she rushed back home. On her way home, she also heard the news from the auto driver of the fire in her locality. As soon as she reached home, with huge relief, she hugged her baby and the maid. It was then Pushpa said, “ Amma, you owe your house and the belongings to your cousin Sampath. If only he had not come at the right time to save us, you’d have lost everything- lock, stock barrel”. No sooner she heard this than she ran to her cousin’s place. With tear-filled eyes and folded hands, she thanked him for his timely help. Needless to say, what transpired after that. The misunderstanding of all the years vanished into thin air. Fire not only destroys things but can purify emotions too!