The document describes a story about Rekha, Sunil, and Manohar who are childhood friends. Rekha is to be engaged but decides to meet Manohar instead. She crosses the river alone at night and is assaulted by a criminal. When she meets Manohar, he rejects her. She then goes to Sunil but he also rejects helping her permanently.
The document describes a story about Rekha, Sunil, and Manohar who are childhood friends. Rekha is to be engaged but decides to meet Manohar instead. She crosses the river alone at night and is assaulted by a criminal. When she meets Manohar, he rejects her. She then goes to Sunil but he also rejects helping her permanently.
The document describes a story about Rekha, Sunil, and Manohar who are childhood friends. Rekha is to be engaged but decides to meet Manohar instead. She crosses the river alone at night and is assaulted by a criminal. When she meets Manohar, he rejects her. She then goes to Sunil but he also rejects helping her permanently.
The document describes a story about Rekha, Sunil, and Manohar who are childhood friends. Rekha is to be engaged but decides to meet Manohar instead. She crosses the river alone at night and is assaulted by a criminal. When she meets Manohar, he rejects her. She then goes to Sunil but he also rejects helping her permanently.
Sunil, Rekha and Manohar are friends from childhood days. They studied in the same school. A couple of months ago they graduated from the K.K. College.
Sunil has since joined his father's firm, Data Systems, a multi-crore computer enterprise trading in hardware and software both.
Manohar - the only son of Pandit Murli Dhar Sharma, a Sanskrit teacher known for his strict adherence to Brahaminic traditions and practices is looking for a job. Sunil has asked him several times to work with him, in his fathers firm on attractive terms: Rs 3000 per month plus allowances and perks. Manohar has repeatedly declined the offer on the plea that it would affect their friendship. He also feels that Sunils offer is motivated by friendship, not his (Manohar' s) competence or qualifications. Sunil concedes the point but says "if a friend can't help a friend what is the worth of friendship?" He reminds Manohar the old saying they share in common with Rekha: "A friend in need is a friend indeed". Manohar agrees but says his need is to find a job by himself, on the basis of whatever competence or qualification he possesses. This alone, he feels, will help him preserving his "self-esteem" and meet the life's challenges.
Rekha, the youngest daughter of a non-Brahmin senior government administrator, is a
charming girl of 20 summers old. She is reasonably intelligent. Indeed, her academic achievements right from school days have been slightly better than Sunil and Manohar. (Not that Sunil and Manohar are duffers. They too did quite well in school and college securing 60-70% marks in various exams). Being the youngest member of the family Rekha always received more care and affection from her parents, which at times used to annoy her two elder brothers when they were young. But they too are extremely fond of their "little sister" or "lil sis" as they still call her. Both brothers are married and well placed. One is an IAS and another an engineer in TELCO. Rekha is talented, has won several awards in dramatic and classical Hindustani music competitions. She has several hobbies, photography and painting being two of them. After graduation she has joined a course in video-filming.
Both Sunil and Manohar are in love with Rekha. Sunil has already proposed to her. But she declined as she loves Manohar. Twice or thrice in the past she even indicated, though indirectly, to Manohar her feelings and preference to settle down with him. Even though Manohar knows this and wishes to marry her, he has always been non-committal.
Sunil is aware of Rekha's preference as well as Manohar's non-committal response.
According to Sunil, Manohar's non-committal stance despite being in love with Rekha is due partly to his apprehension that his parents, whom he respects and loves, will never agree to his marrying Rekha. He knows that they would like their son to marry a girl from a strictly Brahmin family, not necessarily rich or city-bred, but acceptable to their conservative tastes
Prepared by Professor Ranjit Gupta, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
Case material of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad is prepared as a basis for class room discussion. Cases are not designed, to present illustrations of either correct or incorrect handling of administrative problems. 1988 by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad This document is authorized for use only in Behavioral Science - I course, PGP by R. Dwivedi & S. Nongmaithem from July 13, 2015 to September 24, 2015 2 of 3 IIMA/CMA0661
and social environment.
While Rekhas parents are fond of both Sunil and Manohar, they have never considered either as a suitable choice for Rekha. They are keen to find a groom for Rekha with social and economic background similar, to theirs. In fact they have already found one: a young IAS probationer, the only son of a colleague of Rekha's father, who is also a senior government administrator and whose relatives are well placed as professionals in reputed establishments.
Sunil, Rekha and Manohar live in a town which has a large river. Decades ago it was a village. The town grew mostly on the northern side of the river. Though administratively the southern side is also viewed as a part of the town, it remains virtually as underdeveloped as before. A 2-kilometre wide marshy, almost barren and unsettled, land along the southern bank of the river separates the settlement on this side consisting of a cluster of houses. Manohar lives on this side; Sunil and Rekha on the other side of the river. The two sides are not connected by a bridge. Few ferry boats ply to transport the commuters residing on two sides of the river. Following is a rough sketch showing the location of the houses of three friends.
Rekha' s house
The Event
Rekha's marriage with the IAS probationer is settled. Her mother tells her that the engagement ceremony will take place tomorrow morning. She tells her how deeply Papa- Mama love her, how they will miss her after she is married, asks her to rest, blesses her and leaves. Rekha is desperate, the loneliness of the night accentuates her agony. "I have to act tonight, otherwise it will be too late", she tells herself. An hour after mid-night, when everything is still and quiet except the agony of her throbbing heart, she leaves the house quietly. She has taken the decision: she must meet Manohar and persuade him to marry her come what may.
As she reaches the river-bank, she finds only a single boat anchored there the boat-man looking old and tired cursing his luck for not getting a single customer for two days consecutively. He agrees to take her across and demands Rs 10 as a fare. Rekha realises that
This document is authorized for use only in Behavioral Science - I course, PGP by R. Dwivedi & S. Nongmaithem from July 13, 2015 to September 24, 2015 3 of 3 IIMA/CMA0661
in her anxiety she did not bring any money with her. She assures that she will pay the fare next day. The boat-man refuses telling her that the fares are the only source of his livelihood, that he needs the money badly to feed his children. Rekha explains her plight, her desperate need to meet Manohar whom she loves and wants to marry, and begs him to take her across. The boat-man thinks for some time and agrees to take her across if she would exchange her silk saree for an old and ordinary saree of his wife kept in the boat. Rekha hesitates. After sometime she agrees.
As she reaches the southern river-bank, the boat-man asks her to pray to-God to protect her from falling into the hands of Lukka, a notorious- character heading a gang of tough smugglers, who usually move in the night along the southern river-bank. Rekha prays as she proceeds towards Manohar's house. The prayer doesn't save her. Half-way through she is caught by Lukka. A man of few words Lukka tells her in no uncertain terms that he will have his fun and leave her after he has satisfied himself. But he offers her a choice either submit meekly or compel him to use force in which case he will first disfigure her face badly as a mark of his triumph and then satisfy his hunger. For a while Rekha is immobilized with fear. As she regains her senses, she cries and pleads him to leave her. She tells him her story, the purpose of her desperate journey. Lukka remains unmoved, warns her to decide quickly, otherwise he will be compelled to exercise his threat. Rekha realises the impossibility of the situation, the futility of any plea or protest, and the grave implications of voicing protest. She surrenders.
Half-an-hour later Lukka releases her. He even decides to escort her.
Rekha reaches Manohar's house. She tells everything to him except that she has been disgraced by Lukka. Manohar listens to her and says "I love you, but how can I trust you? If you thought it fit to leave your parents without their approval, how do I know you will not do the same to me or my parents? At any rate, I am not interested in talking to another man's left-overs. Please go".
Crestfallen, broken, Rekha requests Lukka to help her cross the river and leave her near Sunil's house. Lukka agrees, but taunts her by saying that she is being foolish in thinking that Sunil will behave differently.
They take the same boat to cross the river. Lukka pays the boat fare.
Rekha tells everything to Sunil, including Lukka's exploitation of her body and Manohar's refusal. As she narrates, she weeps. Sunil tries to console her. After a while Rekha tells Sunil: "Sometime ago, you asked me to marry you. I declined because I did not love you as much as Manohar. If you still love me, wish to marry me, I will do my best to make you happy".
Sunil said: "I do love you and I know I will be never happy without you. But now it is too late. However, I can give you some money to leave the town and find a place for yourself".
Rekha declined the offer and left. Her parting words to Sunil were : "A friend in need has no friend in deed".
This document is authorized for use only in Behavioral Science - I course, PGP by R. Dwivedi & S. Nongmaithem from July 13, 2015 to September 24, 2015
