Misses Ratna stared on absent mindedly as the shopkeeper spoke with a glint of happiness in his eyes

 "Madam , so we'll settle for the magenta coat ? Yes ? ." She nodded , quite apprehensive about the fact that they would have a hefty lot to pay towards the end of the month . Anyways , she was to wear this  coat for the party that the Bannerjee's planned to host . And all the ladies would stare at her , cuss at her luckiness and she would feel happy - once again - for broadcasting the image of a wealthy family .
That night , Ramesh spoke as he poured more dal to his plate - "Ratna , I understand that it's very typical of almost all women to resort to an image play . But you're exceeding the limits " . Was it just her , or did she sense a tone of warning in Ramesh's voice . Anyways , Ratna cared less - her husband was meant to cox her and buy things for her . If he didn't do that , he wasn't abiding his karma .

 And after all , how could he ever not listen to her humble demands ? . She cooked good food for him , praised him during family meetings and kept the home running without even a single tinge of help . Adding to this , their daughter - Dolly , was a miniature Ratna . The posh and composed behavior of the ten year old added to her mother's pride .

 Ratna had all of it under lease , until the bills started overflowing . Though Ramesh earned a healthy sum every month , he could could not really hold on for long - with half the salary gone into paying loans and debts of new accessories and furniture . That had been a tough time for Ratna .
She could no longer walk to the bazaar in different colored saree's every day and had to resort to wearing the same dress twice or maybe even thrice a week . And little dolly , could not eat her bowls of cereal on a daily basis . Her mother , packed her parathas and pickle , rather than the usual sandwich and toffees for school .

That was Ratna's bit of the story . A glimpse into Ramesh's life and it was easy to guess that he was used to the problems while handling money and as a businessman - open to the dangers of playing with cash .
However , he could not , quite grasp his wife's nature . She had never had a heart to heart conversation with him , neither did she bother to ask him how the day turned out to be like, but chose to rant about money matters and gossip on the latest trends . The guy however was brought up an orphan and was just glad that he had a family now , and that Ratna had once been willing to marry a scrawny youth , who tend to shy away from others .
 Both Ramesh and Ratna had different needs and demands . When he craved for a consoling shoulder , or caring words - she demanded a burgeoning pocket and charming persona . Things turned out for the worst when Ratna insisted to buy herself a Maruti 800 . She faked headaches for several weeks and held a long face - long enought to prompt Ramesh to buy it .
After that , Ramesh went completely broke . He scraped up some cash for the daily necessities . The depression continued for several months more and Dolly had to sit at home , as her parents could not
afford her schooling fee . Although a small pinch of guilt did strike Ratna once in a while - she
continued to blame her husband for their situation .

 " Why , can't you be like that Surat babu - he earns twice as much as you .  And his wife ? - well she's living a happy life , unlike me . "

 This is just an exterme situation of how life would be if you fail to see over you're demands and
needs and when you play tune to reckless wishes and dreams . Let's hope that the family gets back on track and the couple understood that in order to live life happily , they should see beyond their expectations and perceptions on life itself and the people wo live it .