THE LIFE AND DEATH STRUGLLE BETWEEN TWO SELLERS

In the suburb of Adyar, just west of Chennari, there was a religious society. The visitors were mysterious about the life and death struggle between two women who sold coconuts outside the iron gate. One of the women, Vijaya, was in her early sixties. She was healthier and more prosperous than Sharada, the other one. Sharada was also in her early sixties, but she was thin and had a bad tone. Mostly, she stood staring at her unsold piles of coconuts. Since, the crowd of pilgrims were magnetically drawn to Vijaya. Sharada was very fed up as she was the first one to set up business there, once she got to know that the former coconut seller had died, she seized his place as her own at once. At first, she made a decent money but after a few months, Vijaya set up her own piles of coconuts on the left of her gate. Sharada abused her that she would better go away but Vijaya ignored her.

Their competition began in earnest, they did not speak to each other for more than a year. More and more passer-by began to buy from Vijaya, seeing this Sharada became envious. She always tried to degrade her. One day, the cauldron of hot emotions within her boiled over. She raised knife at Vijaya, who did not react. She remembered the graceful image of Lakshmi from the temple, which seemed to merge Vijaya’s rags. She lowered her knife and become serene, and pilgrims became drawn to her as if she were a holy shrine.