Friends forever

Anju and Sweta were class mates in LadySriramCollege in South Delhi. .Anju was strikingly beautiful while Sweta was chubby and plain looking. Both had taken commerce group. They were very close to each other, had similar tastes and shared their lunch boxes.Sweta’s father was a leading Chartered Accountant with a big office in Sundar Nagar.He had very good business with many reputed firms as clients . They lived in a posh colony and had three cars.Sweta was always well dressed in rich clothes and came to college in car. Anju on the other hand was from lower middle class. Her father worked in a government office on a modest salary. They lived in a small government apartment in Kidwai Nagar inadequate for the six members in the family.Anju was a good student and often helped Sweta in her lessons.Anju went to college initially by bus and after a month or two Sweta invariably picked her up. The difference in status did not stand in the way of their affection for each other.Sweta never put on airs or flaunted her prosperity. Sweta wanted to be a CA like her dad. Anju had modest aim of seeking a job after graduation.
Time flew fast. Immediately after the final examination in the third year, Sweta was married to some relative of hers on the father’s side. She left Delhi soon thereafter and the contact between two friends abruptly ended.
Anju by virtue of her good look got married to a computer engineer who was particular about beauty. After a couple of years they went to US. Her husband in association with a few friends promoted a dot com company in its hey-days and made his millions.Anju had two daughters. After fifteen years they returned to Bangalore and settled down in a nice suburb. He started a company that was flourishing.Anju’s health suffered a set back with acute back pain. She was advised bed rest. It was then she had advertised for a lady cook in the papers. There was no good response.Anju was disappointed. She was resting after sending the girls to college. The servant maid who went to answer a bell came and announced that a lady has come in response to the advertisement for the cook.
When the maid brought her to the room she found a fat lady of her age in a cheap sari, grey in hairs, wrinkled face and a sad face. After a few minutes the lady asked whether Anju ever lived in Delhi and studied in SriramCollege. It was then it struck like a hammer blow that the lady before her was none else than Sweta.Bewildered and uncomprehending at the turn of lives, she asked “Sweta, how come you are in such a position? What happened? Your husband was in flourishing business and rich.” She asked her maid to get coffee and snacks.
Sweta replied” Anju, I was waiting for years to share my agony with someone close to me. My mom had passed away. My father was always haughty and spent all his time in the clubs with friends drinking and playing cards. He never took any interest in the family. Soon after he had a heart attack, he got me married to Suresh a distant relative on his side without ascertaining fully the background. Both I and my mom were against the alliance. My father being a domineering person, we could do little to stop the wedding. Suresh was an engineer and was running a publishing business and had a press. My father had not made proper enquiries about his financial standing or about the income from business. He was given to understand that their family had huge landed property but was not aware that it was all mortgaged against the debts taken. Initially till two sons were born, life went on smoothly. Suresh was lazy by temperament and did not upgrade the machines in keeping with technological developments in the industry. The business went down. My parents had meanwhile passed away. My brothers ignored me. Suresh took to drinking and started pledging my jewels. He sold the house I got from my father. With his wasteful habits and no steady income all the money vanished soon. One son, a college drop out, had turned a vagabond. Luckily the second son, a responsible chap, has just finished the final year of engineering thanks to the generous help from a cousin of mine. I need to work till this boy gets a job to keep the hearth burning. This is my sad story”
Anju thought over the matter and said”Sweta, I am very sorry at the way fate has been cruel to you. Let us be friends for ever and not alter it by being employer and employee. I will request my husband to provide a good job for your son in his company. His office pays very well. I am sure things will brighten up for you. I can let you stay in an out-house in another building for a year. But make sure your husband is kept in his place