A Bend in the River of Life

by Budh Aditya Roy

  Rana responded, “Heather, the pleasure is mine. I will extend to them exactly the same affectionate welcome as I would to my children. But only you know what sort of activities they like; what kind of food they relish, and what type of entertainment delight them most. So let’s plan the long weekend in a manner that their stay is not only enjoyable, but also memorable.”

  No one knew what they saw in Rana’s eyes by spending one evening with him over that dinner at Hampstead. However, Paula and Joshua found immense pleasure in staying at his home during that holiday weekend. Perhaps they were looking for a place where there was a father-figure much closer to their imagination than their own father, whose unruly behavior influenced by his atrocious drinking habits evoked nothing but disrespect from them. It was obvious to Rana that they were good kids and the unfortunate disharmony between their parents affected them very dearly. In course of conversations in presence of their mother, Heather’s fifteen-year old daughter Paula said that her own small flower business on a cartwheel in their local Hampstead Mall would do much better if she had the use of a car for home delivery to the neighboring residential districts. It was clear that the parental turmoil made Paula and Joshua introspective about the future and they had been preparing themselves for any possible future debacle. They loved their mother and did not want to put her through further financial stress than she had already been undergoing as a virtual single mother over a decade. Rana saw in their eyes the reflection of his own childen. Later he discussed Paula’s ideas of better delivery mechanism for her small business with Heather and obtained her consent to give Paula a surprise gift of a small Volkswagen Beatle on her sixteenth birthday, just a few months away.

  Little by little, without his realizing it, Rana found himself getting entwined in Heather’s family. This is how the relationship grows in the River of Life. Slowly but surely, it spreads its tentacle like the eye-pleasing ivy shrub until it covers the entire spectrum of kinship. And that was Rana’s worry. Developing relationship was not a problem, but when that relationship suddenly snaps due to physical separation beyond one’s control, it brings in its wake terrible sorrow of parting. Rana went through this painful experience before. That is why he was doubly fearful of it now, for it’s aptly said, “Once bitten, twice shy.” Yet there was nothing to prevent the relationship from growing stronger. In the whirlpool of the River of Life the human beings keep repeating the same self-inflicting acts over and over again, knowing fully well the consequences that follow.

  That year winter came early to London. Leaves of the trees showed signs of thinning out earlier than usual. Hyde Park and parks around town began looking desolate and dismal. To heighten this bleak picture, the dusk of the twilight began descending on the earth and pervading the landscape by mid-afternoon. However, to counter this dreary look of the nature, the Christmas decorations began in right earnest in the malls and shopping centers. Activities multiplied in the marketplace. Days seemed to be whizzing past in a flurry. Great expectancy filled the air. In no time, the Christmas was upon them with all its glory and glitter.

  Rana was looking forward to his first Christmas in the west. Once again, the generosity of Heather and her two lovely children became readily discernible. They decorated not only their house to celebrate the season but his house also, because after their initial stay there over the autumn holidays, they became very fond of Uncle Rana’s house. On the Christmas Eve, they took Rana to their family church to attend the special church service with them. On completion of the service the family drove him around the metropolis to show him the glimpses of London at Christmas. However, the Christmas Day dawned with flakes of snow and remained so throughout the day. As a result, they were confined at home, mostly watching television shows or playing cards or listening to the stories of the previous Christmas celebrations recounted by Heather, Paula and Joshua. Among the traditional meal that Heather cooked, stuffed paper thin pancake found favor with Rana. Since his childhood stuffed pancake was always his favorite and his grandma Rajani used to prepare it especially for him.

  On the Boxing Day, he was told by the family that to their recollection that Christmas brought much more joy and peace to them than any other Christmas previously, implying, perhaps, that Rana brought the welcome change. Of course, it was pleasing for Rana to hear that. Nonetheless, he pondered that the family was oblivious of the fact that it was not him who brought anything extraordinary, but that prior to his arrival the man of the family destroyed their happiness by over-indulging in alcohol. Be that as it may, he had to cut short the celebration on the evening of the Boxing Day for he was scheduled to proceed to Calcutta to see his children after about six months.

  Rana returned to London from his vacation in the second week of January amidst a warm welcome by Heather and her children. Visibly delighted, she said, “I am happy to see you back. I hope you had a Happy New Year and a good time with your children. How are they?”

  He replied, “I am happy to see you too. My children are fine by God’s grace. And yes, we had a Happy New Year and a fabulous time together.”

  She asked, “Did they cry a lot when you were leaving?”

  He said, “Yes, they cried. At the same time, they were very understanding.”

  After a little pause, he reiterated his appreciation to Heather and her children for extending their warm treatment to him at the Christmas by saying, “Heather, I cannot thank you, Paula and Joshua enough for treating me so well during the Christmas. I am sorry that I could not stay here for the New Year, but I hope you all had a wonderful time.”

  She replied, “After your departure my holidays were quiet. Paula and Joshua also missed you. Yet overall we were happy, remembering and cherishing the days you were with us and looking forward to the days when you would be back.”

  Rana appreciated that positive outlook of Heather. He acknowledged that by saying, “Heather, I am learning something new from you. I wish I could be as positive as you are about life.”

  She said, “I thought I was learning these traits from your character. You are always so positive.”

  Rana laughed and said, “It seems we are all members of the Mutual Admiration Society.”

  She responded, “May be it is true.”

  Then wishing to determine how the businesses did in general during the Holiday Season, considering the overall bleak picture of the economy, he asked, “Heather, how did your business do this Holiday Season?”

  She said, “Surprisingly, this year sales were much better than the last year.”

  Rana said, “That’s good to hear. You must be very happy then.”

  Heather said, “With regard to business I have no complaints. However, I am somewhat concerned, because my Senior Partner has decided to sell her share of the business. This has raised many questions and worries in my mind.”

  He asked, “Why does she want to sell her shares when the business is doing better? Is she not happy with you?”

  Heather said, “No, no, she has always treated me like her daughter. But she is now seventy and wants to retire totally. However, she is not trying to dump me in the River Thames. Nonetheless, if she sells her shares soon, the new senior partner might not want to keep a junior partner at all. Even if he does, he might not retain the existing employees. Even if he does, he might not want to keep me as the Manager. And, you know, my primary income comes from the salary as the manager.”

  Rana asked, “Heather, have you ever thought of owning the business entirely?”

  Heather said, “It is not that it did not cross my mind at all, but it did not make much headway, primarily because I thought I would not be able to come up with the money.”

  Rana asked, “Heather, do you have any idea about the valuation of the business?”

  Heather answered, “No Rana, I have absolutely no idea.”

  Rana said, “Then do yourself a favor.”

  Heather asked, “What favor?”

  He said, “Heather, please go and see your senior partn
er and ask the following questions: When the sale is going to take place? What could be the likely sale price? Also, if you were to buy her shares will she give you any discount? Do you think you can do this?”

  Heather replied, “Yes. But what are you going to do with the information?”

  Rana said, “On my part, I will ask my credit department if they can obtain a valuation done through the valuators we work with.”

  Heather asked, “Once these are done, what are you going to accomplish?”

  Rana said, “Once these inputs are received, I will tell you what I have in mind.” He continued, “It might be a little insensitive, but it is also important to know how good your credit is.”

  Heather said, “With regard to my credit, I can say right away that I have no problem with that. I have no credit card debt. My mortgage payment is up-to-date.”

  Rana said, “That’s great. Let’s then get down to business.”

  The valuation report indicated that because of the prime location, many captive clients and longstanding reputation as a chain business, the market value of the business was Pound Sterling 300,000 of which Heather owned 20%. Heather brought the answers to other questions. Her senior partner would like to sell her shares as early as possible. If Heather were to buy the shares to be the sole owner of the business, her senior partner would give her 10% discount. What it boiled down to was that Heather had to come up with Pound Sterling 210,000 to own the business. Rana’s bank was willing to lend her Pound Sterling 150,000 against the second mortgage of her house. Heather should come up with only Pound Sterling 60,000.

  Rana sensed Heather had a goldmine in the making because she dealt with a commodity that was recession proof. Birth, death, wedding and their anniversaries do not cease to occur due to recession, nor do the inaugurations, receptions, welcomes and sendoffs. Recession does not diminish the cravings of the high and mighty to pamper their admirers and love interests, nor does it make the lovers refrain from creating romantic impressions on their beloveds, neither do the fancy hotels and restaurants stop their floral displays during recessive times. Even Heather disclosed that the business was up during the just concluded Christmas Season though the recession was rampant everywhere else. Besides, psychologically, the purchase price of the business during the booming economic times would be much higher than that at the recessive times. So hypothetically, just by buying the business in recession and selling at the boom time, Heather would stand to make a handsome profit. And the business itself was a moneymaker. So from every angle the proposal to buy the flower business appeared sound. However, there was a snag. Though all the indicators were in her favor and though her employees were encouraging her to buy the business, Heather was fearful. After all, she was a single mother. Since her ex-husband lost his job more than a decade earlier, she was carrying the burden of the family single-handedly.

  Understandably, what was in the back of her mind was that in the unlikely event of the business going down under, she would stand to lose everything that she still owned. Rana recognized her dilemma and was totally sympathetic to her. He also did not fail to realize that for all his good intentions, he himself might be transferred at a moment’s notice and she might not have an unselfish adviser any more. Yet to let an opportunity like that slip through the grasp was not in Rana. Not only that, the eventuality of a new owner of the business firing Heather as the Manager could be even worse. With more than 13% unemployment rate it would be well-nigh impossible for her to get a job during the recession time.

  So Rana was in a quandary as to how to solve Heather’s problem without twisting her knuckles. Knowing that Paula, whose sixteenth birthday was just round the corner, had the sharpest business instincts, he explained the entire deal to her so that she could encourage her mother to take advantage of the opportunity. Paula understood the deal in no time. With Paula to support him, on a Friday night after the dinner Rana sat down with Heather in the presence of her children. He raised the subject with facts and figures. Heather explained plainly what was bothering her.

  Then Rana said to her, “Heather, I can understand your apprehension. But please respond to my following questions.”

  Heather asked, “What questions?”

  Rana asked, “Heather, do you manage this flower business?”

  Heather responded, “Yes, I do.”

  Rana asked, “As I understand, you do everything that a small business owner does, namely, choosing the growers and vendors in this country and abroad; deciding and buying flowers of various kinds and quantities from them; taking orders and selling to customers in person in the store and over telephone; managing the logistics of supply to the out-of-town outlets and customers; supervising employees, hiring and firing; and completing daily accounts. An outside accountant compiles the monthly data and prepares annual/ semi-annual statements. Am I substantially right?

  Heather answered, “Yes Rana, you are right.”

  Rana asked, “Your senior partner does not perform any of these and has entrusted you with all these responsibilities and has appointed you as the Manager. She only takes her profit from time to time. She pays you a monthly salary and your share of the profit at the end of the year when the annual accounts are completed.”

  Heather answered, “Yes, you are right.”

  Rana said, “It is reasonable to believe that after paying for rent, salaries, other expenses and taxes, your partner has been making some profit. Otherwise, she would have sold the business long time ago. Do you agree?”

  Heather replied, “Yes, I agree.”

  He said, “Then you must know what the net profit of the company is, because you also get your share.”

  She said, “Yes, I know.”

  He asked, “May I ask what the average net profit is?”

  She said, “The average profit is about PS 50,000 per annum.”

  He said, “Heather, if you own the company entirely and continue to do exactly the same work as you do now and do not appoint a new Manager, you will keep that profit and continue to draw your salary. So your income would be PS 50,000 plus your salary. Is that right?”

  Heather said, “Yes, you are right.”

  He said, “Heather, this then you are going to accomplish if you buy the company: You will have unfettered freedom of decision on everything concerning the business; you can vary your decisions from time to time or on a daily basis to increase your earnings; you will be able to pay back the proposed business loan in a few years; you will soon pay back your home mortgage entirely; you can expand your business; buy a larger house; send Paula and Joshua to Oxford or Cambridge and so on and so forth. I hope you can see the whole picture now.”

  In order not to hurt her mother’s feelings, Paula said discreetly, “If I were in my mother’s shoes, I would have taken the offer right now.”

  Heather laughed at the perceived precociousness of her daughter, but said exasperatedly, “Rana, admittedly, all you said are right, how on earth I can come up with PS 60,000.00 right now? The most that I can mobilize on scrounging all my resources is PS 30,000.00.”

  Rana said, “Heather, what if I lend you PS 30,000.00 now? You may pay me back gradually any time you can; there is no time limit and no interest.”

  As a last ditch attempt to resist his proposal doggedly, Heather asked, “Why do you want to lend me the money?”

  Rana answered, “For the better future of a dear friend like you and her children. This is my input to resolve your problem. You gave your worry to me as soon as I came back from vacation. Presumably, at that point you considered me as your friend. I thought through this solution, obviously because I perceived it to be in your best interest. However, if you don’t trust me and don’t consider me as your friend anymore, it is better for me to walk away.” He feigned walking out of her house seriously. Heather ran after him frantically and caught him from behind, but broke down crying. Paula and Joshua burst out in applause as if they were watching an intense drama.

  It did not take long
for the idea to materialize. The deal was straight forward and was closed without further delay. Heather became the full owner of the flower business where she worked for twelve long years as an employee and Manager. The day the change in the ownership took effect, Heather’s children and Rana were physically present at her business to congratulate and encourage her. That day Heather wore an unmistakable smile of success. However, beneath the veil there was trepidation, the fear of failure, for it is said, “Uneasy lies the head, who wears the crown.” Nevertheless, Heather knew her business very well and she had the financial discipline. When extra cash began flowing in by way of profit from the ongoing sales, the money that used to go to the account of the previous owner, she got a little breathing space, the luxury of financial independence that she did not have as a Manager. By doing a few things little differently than her previous partner and by recycling the extra money, she began expanding her business and making more profits. Success begets not only success, but more importantly, confidence. Heather became confident and began to see the future clearly. She understood what Rana meant when he had advised her to buy her partner’s stock. Success, however, did not go to her head. Her relationship with Rana grew increasingly stronger. She could make out clearly that Rana did not do anything in his own interest but exclusively for her benefit and that of her children. She continued to take his advice with regard to her business. She began understanding the difference between an owner and a manager.

  Soon Paula celebrated her sixteenth birthday. She received the surprise of her life. As agreed with her mother before, Rana presented her with a Volkswagen Beatle. That gave her tremendous impetus. Rana also suggested to Heather that Paula’s small flower shop on a cartwheel in a corner of the Mall needed to be expanded to accommodate increasing inventory and traffic. It also demanded better visibility to match her energy and business instincts. He recommended a better store in the mall for her. Heather got her the recommended site. Just a little change in the location and new delivery capability took Paula’s business to a new level in a short period of time. She became ecstatic.