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SETH AKALASA
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huge loss on his shoulder. But what could he do now? He came to Seth Akalasa and apprised him of the great loss that the business has suffered from this single deal. Akalasa too was stunned to hear this. How could he meet a loss of fifteen lakhs ? Said he to Nanchand
"You have done a very wrong thing in transgressing the limit I had fixed and this you have done without taking me into confidence. But now we must honour the commitment You go to Seth Hirachand at once and tell him that the compensation will reach him to-morrow in the morning
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When Akalsa said like that, he himself did not know wherefrom he would get such a huge amount. Whenever he remembered of it, he saw a nightmare. He felt that he was wrong in taking to business at the insistence of his wife For a credit-worthy man, it was a very bad thing to fail to honour his commitment Akalasa was pious, conscientious and brave, but now he saw no other alternative but to end bis own life. He came out of his house, went to the market and purchased some opium. With this, he came back to his home Bhadra knew nothing of it. He came to his room, but as he was about to swallow this poisonous drug, Bhadra entered his room. She caught his hand and said,
"What is this you are doing?"
Akalasa told her the entire story, concluding,
"Such is the outcome of your insistence How can I meet such a heavy loss out of a small capital? I cannot live after my credit is gone So I must end my life What remains will be enough to support you and the child."
Bhadra had tears in her eyes when she heard all this. She said,
"You end your life in this manner, and I continue to to live after that I cannot even think of it! If you must end your life, let me sip the poison first and end mine. The child will be supported by his own luck "
It was a very tense situation The seth and his wife were on the point of exit from this world In such a situa
