________________
THE
-Jain
14
Purana: certain sacred scriptures.
Purva: certain other sacred scriptures which were lost many centuries ago.
Another series which ran for a number of issues was 'The Shah Family'. Intended to be fairly lighthearted, it depicted a fairly ordinary family doing fairly ordinary things. The family were certainly not perfect as this extract shows. It appeared in July 1983. The imagination of the author was sorely taxed to produce new situations and the Shah family eventually disappeared from the pages of THE JAIN
THE SHAH
FAMILY AT
WAR
There's a state of conflict in the Shah household! Padma has the offer of a nice job but it's on the other side of the city. She wants to look for another house half-way between her job and that of her husband, Gautam. The children have gone to bed and the argument has been resumed.
Gautam: Just when we are getting the house nice you want to get up and move across the town. And our friends are all near.
Padma: But it is a very good job and I might not get such a good chance again. And with the extra money we could easily afford the move.
Gautam: We don't really need the extra money. My pay is enough to keep us both. And I don't think married women should work. Who's going to look after the house?
Padma (angrily): Why shouldn't I get out and have a bit of independence. The children are old enough to give a hand with the housework and if you did a few things instead of sitting there reading the paper as soon as you get back from work we should manage very well.
Gautam: Well, I'm tired when I come home. My job keeps me pretty busy. It's your job to look after the house and mine to go out and work. That's the way my mother and father did it, and their mothers and fathers before them.
Padma: That's just not true. You know very well your mother practically ran the shop when your father was out doing deliveries and orders and so on.
Just at this point the doorbell rings.
Jain Education International 2010_03
Gautam: See who that is.
Padma: See for yourself.
Gautam gets up unwillingly and goes to the door. It is their neighbour Gerald.
Gerald: Hello, I just popped in to see you. Hope I'm not disturbing you.
Gautam: No. Glad to see you. You can make her see some sense perhaps. Padma wants to take a job and move from here.
Gerald: Oh no, we don't want you to move.
Gautam: See. He doesn't think you should take the job. Gerald: But what's the trouble?
Padma explains the situation and asks him, What do you think we should do?
Gerald: Well, that book on Jainism you lent me said something about anek..., what's it called? Looking at a question from two sides. I thought that was the way you Jains looked at things. But you're both looking at the question one-sidedly. Padma wants the job, Gautam doesn't want to move. I don't want you to move but I can see that it would do Padma good to take this job.
Gautam: Well, I suppose if you look at it like that there are two sides but I don't see what we can do about it. Padma: Yes, it would be a pity to move, but there's no bus to the place where the job is.
Gautam is struggling a bit. Then he says:
Well, I suppose there are advantages to Padma's having a job and it's really a very good chance. Look, I don't really need the car to get to work. What if you took the car in the mornings: you could get there easily then. Padma: And then we could stay here in this house, couldn't we? That would be wonderful.
Gerald has taken the book on Jainism off the shelf. Gerald: Ah, here it is, anekantavada. It means not looking at a thing from one angle only. It's really an idea the philosphers thought out to get at the truth of things. But you know, I think they really had something important there which can be applied in everyday life as well. For the past six years THE JAIN has chronicled the life of Jain Samaj Europe. It has published serious articles and lighter ones. The Editors have struggled with the difficulties of getting material from other writers but have often been rewarded by extremely worthwhile contributions. THE JAIN records a piece of social history. Long may it flourish! K
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