Meritorious

Arin was good at everything. He was great at studies, particularly
geography. He spent hours with his large globe identifying various
places. At the same time Arin was a talented musician and a gifted
dancer. He played cricket for his school. Often, he single-handedly won
matches for his team. Indeed Arin was everything anyone could wish to
be. But, there was a problem. When Arin was very young his two elder
sisters used to dress him up like a woman. They would then call him
'Aunt Agatha' till he began to cry. Indeed Arin hated it if anyone
called him Aunt Agatha. No matter where he was and what he was doing,
the moment the words 'Aunt Agatha' reached his ears Arin would lose all
his energy and stand still. It took him around an hour to recover. Only
his immediate family knew about his problem initially. But soon his
schoolmates also came to know. One day Arin's school was playing a
cricket match with their arch rivals. Arin's school was batting first.
Two wickets fell cheaply and Arin was sent in to bat. He took charge of
the situation and scored forty runs rather fast. Just as he was trying
to accelerate further one of the fielders told the rival captain, "So
where were you yesterday evening?" The captain looked at Arin and said,
"O, I was at Aunt Agatha's place." That was it. Arin lost all interest
in the game. He became stiff and immobile. His shoulders drooped and
his hands became limp. He saw stars before his eyes. The opposition
took full advantage of his distraction and he was bowled
comprehensively on the next ball. After this incident it became known
how Arin would react if anyone said 'Aunt Agatha' in his presence. But
his teachers were considerate people and his friends were well,
friends. Naturally neither his teachers nor his classmates bothered him
by saying 'Aunt Agatha'. Instead, they prevented others from saying the
words, even by mistake. But then came college. Like other students Arin
was interviewed by the Dean of Arts before he was admitted into
college. The Dean asked routine questions really. And before he could
even think, the test was nearly over. I said nearly. The phone rang
suddenly. The Dean picked up the phone and said, "Hello, Aunt Agatha,
how are you?" Arin was traumatized. He turned to stone. His eyes lost
all signs of life. His fists were clenched tightly. He could neither
move nor speak. He was not able to answer any more questions. Naturally
he was not admitted into the college despite having great grades. He
lost interest in studies and decided to take up a job. Well, he began
driving public buses. He had always been greatly interested in cars.
This was no motor racing, agreed, but still, he was in command of a
public vehicle. The lives of many passengers depended on him. People
respected him as a responsible person and some people even called him
'Captain'. He had been driving buses for two and a half years when bad
luck struck again. He had not known that Aunt Agatha was the name of a
person who owned a huge supermarket downtown. One day, Arin was asked
to take twenty people to an address. He was not told that he was going
to Aunt Agatha's supermarket. As soon as the bus pulled into the Aunt
Agatha supermarket compound and Arin parked the bus on one side Arin
spotted a signboard. Then another, and another and many others as he
looked around. Arin had come to a place where there was nothing but a
huge number of Aunt Agathas. Arin lost consciousness immediately. When
he came to, a well-dressed doctor spoke to him. Arin told him his
problem and was asked to consult a psychologist. The psychologist told
Arin that each time he saw or heard Aunt Agatha's name he must remember
and call out the name of a person whom his sisters hated as much as he
hated the imaginary Aunt Agatha. Indeed there was such a person called
Uncle Josh. His sisters feared this man more than they feared death.
Now, whenever Aunt Agatha was mentioned Arin knew what to do. He went
on to become a famous man.