The Actor's Mistresses!

He is a very popular actor. And he has a weakness for women. He is as much known for his beautiful mistresses as for his acting talents.

Apart from his mistresses he has a lot of temporary liaisons. His relationship with his mistresses is relatively permanent.

A mistress lasts for six months or at most a year. And then she is replaced with somebody more beautiful. He changes his mistresses more often than I change my cars.

In the seventies he was gossiped with his star heroine (about a year or so) and then with an actress a few years his senior. And then with a Malayalee actress. The next in line was a Bollywood heroine.

About six years ago he was seen with an actress young enough to be his daughter.

After a stormy romance with that slim girl he switched over to somebody even younger.

Why should we indulge in gossip and that too on a Monday morning?

I just want to drive home the point that the worries we carry in our mind are like the Actor’s mistresses.

The Actor is with a mistress at all times. But he is not with the same woman. We worry at all times; but our worries are not the same.

Fifteen years ago I was a consultant for a young industrialist. We used to meet every week for about one and a half hours.

He would have a list of questions to be answered by me. But on that fateful Monday he did not have any.

“Sridhar Sir, I am devastated. You know about our sales tax case. It has assumed huge proportions. The authorities are likely to close down the shop. The kind of penalty they have in mind.. well I will be wiped clean. I will be on the street.”

How could I console him? I did not handle his sales tax cases. But I knew they were pretty serious. I did not have the heart to give false hopes. And then it struck me.

“Mr.J, I have a hunch. Six months from now sales tax will not be your worry. It wll be something else.”

“It’s easy for you to say that, Sridhar Sir. But from my seat I can’t see the end of the tunnel let alone the light.”

“It’s a challenge, J. I am marking this day in my diary. Exactly six months later I will call you or meet you in person. I am sure you wont talk about sales tax.”

He was so much worried that he dismissed that as a kind of management gimmick which we consultants employ most of the time.

He forgot all about our meeting; but I did not.

It so happened that six months later I was with Mr.J on a consulting assignment.

He was worried about his relationship with his principals – the car manufacturers. He told me that the worry was killing him because if he listened to his principals he would have to incur huge losses.

“Let’s come to that a little later. Tell me about your sales tax problems.”

“Oh that’s over. Four months ago. I told everything to the authorities and they helped me come out of the mess. Now about this dealership..”

“Stop. Didn’t I tell you that six months down the line you won’t even remember your sales tax issues? And today is the day.

"Exactly six months since that fateful Monday meeting. And now your worry is about something else.

"I am ready to challenge you again that you won’t have this wory six months later. But this time it will be for stakes. One lakh. What do you say?”

He was stumped. He stood up and shook hands with me. I could feel his understanding in his arms which warmly gripped mine.

Now that’s what a worry really is. Exactly like the Actor’s mistresses. They keep on changing.

So there is no need to emotionally invest too much on one mistress, I mean one worry.

Worries are like our mistresses and paramours. Let’s not pay too much attention to them.

Let’s be faithful to our spouses – I mean the work for which we are here on Planet Earth.

Don’t worry, be happy! Have a great week ahead.