Its Me And My Life....: Tale O’ 12: A Book But it’s more about the AUTHOR!!

A SHORT STORY COLLECTION

Tale O’ 12: A Book But it’s more about the AUTHOR!!

Tale O’ 12 is a book written by Author Biranchi Narayan Acharya, is a collection of 12 short stories in a fictional narrative. However, I am not going to write about the book here. Instead I will write about the author because that makes more sense why a person should read this book. If inquisitiveness is taking a better of you then, Read on….

We hardly know an author of a book because we don’t have any source other than what is written in the Author’s Profile. Most of the time it’s not needed also. But here I think it’s a need to tell the world what kind of person the author is as I know him very well.

Yes, he is my elder brother but that’s not the reason at all why I want to write on him. Of course he is the best brother in the world and it’s a blessing to be born having such brothers around.

But Biranchi Narayan Acharya is not just an ideal son, brother, father, uncle or spouse, He is one of the finest individual I have ever seen. He is the one whom I have seen “How NOT to preach HONESTY but Live with it.” Did I say I can vow on his HONESTY??

Let me tell you about an incident

Those days I was staying with my brother’s family as I was doing a professional course at Cuttack and my brother was staying in a nearby area. My brother is a civil engineer. That time he was working with a Private Construction Company. Obviously the salary was not very good and given to his responsibilities as the eldest son of our family along with his own…financial crunch was the order of the day.

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Now being a competent civil engineer and working as a project manager in a construction project, it is quite predictable that there were tempting offers of BRIBE and one can hardly believe that someone could treat “IT” as untouchable. But my brother was so. He had already shunned many enticing offers like that even if he was financially struggling like anything. He was already reputed as one who would be incorruptible. However, since he was the project manager of the project of the company and many other contractors like labour supplier, raw material supplier etc were working for the project, so they were in constant search for some other way-outs to be in good terms with him for their own benefit.

That day it was as mundane as any other. Around 10.30 pm I woke up (We sleep early in Odisha unlike in Mumbai) to get a bottle of water from the fridge. As I crossed my brother’s room I overheard some conversation of my Bhabi and Bhaiya. Bhabi was asking for the money that she was supposed to pay for the school fee of my nephew next day which was probably the last date and after that “late fee” would be levied on it. I knew that was a regular phenomenon. You know what I had seen my brother, even struggling for paying the school fees (which weren’t at all exorbitant) of his children or meeting out small expenditures at times. It was indeed a period of acute financially critical time. Well, my brother gave her the money.

Next day morning something happened. Actually there was one Uncle who was one of the contractors too who were working for the project, of which my brother was the PM, used to try hard to maintain a personal relationship with our family. Every other day he would turn up with something or other, say fish, vegetable, mango etc (it’s quite a natural thing at Odisha to offer such free things to Officers from whom you want some favour) saying it’s for the children. No need to say, since he was a father figure, so he was personally bit indulged with our family. However, whenever he used to bring something, my brother would ask My Bhabi to pay him accordingly and never accept anything free even if uncle would resist hard. In fact that was a strong instruction of my brother. And trust me, it was irritating at times too as sometimes you would end up buy something which you don’t even wish to.

That day he turned up with prawns. Now, that wasn’t a time when my Bhabi would have really liked to buy Prawns. But my brother told her to pay him right that moment wioth the money he had given her night before and she did. Just imagine…she had the money to pay for the school fee of my nephew but she had to pay for the prawns. Need not to say; later the school fee was paid with Late-fee levied on it.

I had noticed these things. After few days, while discussing, I shoot a direct question to my brother.

“Bhaina, what was the need to pay him for the prawns that moment? Wasn’t school fee more important that time? He had brought it by himself. Even if you wanted to pay, you could have done so later. Kyaa app aisehi karte agar who “admission fee” hota thaa? In that case, admission miss ho jata tha..isn’t it? In any case Education comes first. Right?”

My brother was calm and then he answered. “See EDUCATION without ETHIC is useless. Had it been for the purpose of admission in school, I would have done the same; I would have chosen my child to miss an entire year than compromising with my ethics if had to choose one. I will not accept bribe in any form, any moment, come what may. Had I paid him later, what would it have been meant, that I took it for some time? You know what, these people are smart enough to understand your weak points and it would become a practice after that. They would come up with kind things at a time when you’re really unable to pay.”

“What if you had no money at all?” I again questioned him, point blank.

“I would have borrowed the amount from the neighbour. And I think I would have got also. Isn’t it” He answered plainly

It’s a very small incident. But I have been brought up with innumerable incidents like this happening every now and then. I don’t know when he became a self proclaimed activist in his life. He never did accept anything as bribe and always observed HONESTY as a policy not only in terms of money but also in every aspect of life. He is very practical too and so are his observations. He is the one who always say “Every view has a counter-view too.”

The BOOK TALE O’ 12 reflects these thoughts of him through his words. A person of integrity, he tells Honesty is not something which you should show it the world; rather it’s something which you should be able to show it to the person in the mirror.”

That’s why probably I admire him most and he is in my “Most Outstanding People of My Life” folder.

If any time any one approaches him for something in terms of advice, he has a very sensible, realistic yet convincing one to offer. Believe me; you will get an answer for everything you ask him. The stories in the book Tale O’ 12 are simple yet they will make you encounter with most profound things in the world and immense truth of life…I swear!!!

Well today is WORLD BOOK DAY. Read more books....They are the gate way to the soul at times!!!!