Vijayalakshmi

3). Vijayalakshmi : She has lean angular face which over the years has added a lot of flesh. Her eyes sparkle in animation and a long sloping nose on a fair complexion commands respect even at first glance. She talks loud and long; she talks to win her point of view. By nature dominating and she can out-shout others but very prudent in selecting her victims. Viji’s self-righteousness to see her own frailties has made me turn my back to her.

There is a streak in our family and that it only afflicts women like a malignant weed. They take both sides of the argument but in the end they only do their way. These women preserve a sense of well-being before others and go through life in an acting mode. Petty soon they would be reduced to a caricature and opaque to learning. Gossip is big time-pass activity; trade stories from one end to the other and end up giving a bad name to the subject.

Viji, of late, has put on a lot of weight to the point of being obese. She dresses most atrociously; the bra would be jutting out at the shoulder or her blouse too loose and stitched a decade back. It is an embarrassment to walk on the roads so oblivious to glaring defect in the dress; an exact opposite of PW on dressing front.

Viji is warm, affectionate, and responsible to her relations. But only as long as it does not involve a “single naya paisa” loss to her account! In any argument, her expertise lies in diverting the agitating issue by starting another battle when it gets inconvenient. In our fights she will list out her “supposed” favours in the past to invoke guilt; a temptation even 6 year olds would desist.

Viji is responsible to the family as long as she does not lose that “naya paisa”. During my heart surgery, she washed the used jocks for 4 days. She kept reminding me as though an epic toil for the next 5 years. She only stopped playing that prattle when I mocked it out of hand. She is never capable of doing a good turn to others except in her head.

It was during “bar business” episode, I lost respect and affection. She kept reiterating that the joint property was mine but when it was time to act, she played vamp (she will not shoot arrows straight but go round in foiling my loan attempt). We fought bitterly on the issue – I broke the badminton racket against the switchboard damaging both of them – before arriving on the loan amount. Predictably after such a ruckus, I lost money even before the enterprise began.

That was 5 years ago and she is still just as mean. On the pretext of saving this flat for mother from my treacherous designs, she made my life miserable. I wanted this flat in lieu of the impending marriage and that too fell flat on the ground. After this I realized that she would only be too glad of my death and usurp the premises.

Did she learn anything from this? Hell, no. Yesterday, I asked her for a 15 K loan for a week as my mutual fund payment was getting delayed. She asked for a postdated cheque raising my hackles. Even when that was complied, she justified,” I am fat and I cannot come to your house to collect”. Another second later, she says,” I don’t earn and I am giving this money without my husband’s knowledge”. I walked out without the money. This was for publishing my first book and signs don’t look auspicious after this warfare. I defaulted on the cheque and suffered a week of distraught nerves. A small penalty for such a sister!!!!

The difference between Viji and Latha is this: one never gets involved and the others gets involved and muddles it. Both my sisters are a terrible disappointment.

Verdict: She is RAJAS. Lesson to be learnt: Don’t ever get too friendly or confessional. Keep appearances from a distance.