“Vijay Mallya wants to return to India” Lulu, my parrot, read out the headline of a news report.

Nina, my myna, gave him a sceptic look. “Criminals return to the place of crime,” she said.

“The case of Vijay Mallya is interesting” I said. “He wants to set conditions before he takes the flight to India. What happened to his application for citizenship of England?”

“I think his asylum application is still pending. No citizenship of England so far, and there is a bankruptcy order against him. ” Lulu said as he descended from the mango tree and perched on my window.

“Did you say his case is interesting?”

“I too think it is interesting” Nina said as she too moved closer to Lulu. “Look, he craved for wine and women, and he was called the ‘King of Good Times.’”

“And God gave him plenty of both! Tons of money to enjoy life as he wished, and sweet young things were always around him”

“His prayers for having wine, women and wealth was answered by the God”

“Ha ha! He was born to a rich man, unlike Telgi of Stamp Papers scam fame.

“Abdul Karim Telgi was a poor man who wanted to get rich. He was blessed with so much money that he showered 90 Lakhs on Tarannum, the bar dancer.”

“Did you say 90 Lakhs?”

“Yes, 90 Lakhs”

“Crazy!”

“Both, Vijay Mallya and Abdul Karim Telgi craved for wine, women and wealth”

“And God fulfilled their wish”

“Hmmm ….  That does not sound good”

“Yes, so strange …”

“God answered Mallya’s prayers. And that finally led to his fall. He faces prison term in India, or ignominious life in England.”

“Fugitive they call him. Nobody believes him now, all old friends have deserted him.”

“And Telgi’s fate was similar. He lost his family, wealth and died in the prison. He repented his misdeeds”

“Do you remember the famous Leo Tolstoy story – ‘How much land does a man need?’”

“Got the point, Nina. Same pattern. He wanted to take as much land as he could, he was allowed. But greed took over and he ran to his death.” Lulu said.

“And the King Midas story. His wish to have tons of gold was granted. Everything he touched became gold and he could not even eat his food – it became gold when he touched it.” I said nodding in approval.

“What’s the lesson for us, poor souls?” Nina, my myna, asked, and replied too, “Greed is bad. That leads to the downfall.”

“Your downfall begins with ‘Kaam’ or desire. Those six enemies come in tandem – Kaam, Krodh, Lobh, Moh, Mad, and Matsar”

“Yup – it begins with desire or lust. It began so in the case of Mallya. And Telgi, King Midas and also the Tolstoy’s man. From there it is a slippery slide down the hill”

There was a pause. Nina looked at me and then at Lulu. She was deep in thought. “You know – I recall what Oscar Wilde said ….”

“What was that?”

“When God wants to punish you, HE answers your prayers!”

There was a stunned silence.

Lulu repeated – “When God wants to punish you, HE answers your prayers!”

Nina looked at me and then at my book shelf. “It is time for some soul searching about how to lead a good life” she said.

Vivek S Patwardhan

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” All matters copyrighted