Twin Sisters by Dr.B.S.Patil

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Once upon a time, there lived two sisters Mihika and Shika. Being twins, they shared the same looks, fairness, physique and intelligence. The whole village believed that choosing one over the other was the toughest job in the world. 

Mihika and Shika were in their teens, and their fame spread all over the province. Slowly, the boys from distant and near villages started visiting them, with the hope of marrying one of them. One major problem faced by all the grooms was, to choose one over the other. When they were equal in all aspects, choosing one over the other was almost impossible. Some smart grooms showed willingness to marry any one of them, but Mihika and Shika preferred to hold back their opinion till the boys made up their mind. Smart tactics of smart grooms fell flat on the floor.

This ‘too good factor’ remained a problem for the twins and they remained unmarried for almost two years, yet they insisted that they would express their choice only when grooms express their choice.

One day, two boys came with the proposal of marriage. As usual, sisters did not let their opinion out. It was the boys turn to choose.

Malli a boy from the nearby village was a farmer. He was a full-fledged farmer in his village with a large track of land at his disposal. Raman the other boy was a trader from another village running business and taking care of the whole family.

Both boys accompanied with their relatives were at the twin sisters’ house. The father of the twins called Mihika and asked her to prepare roti (Indian bread) for the visitors. She came out obediently and she stood there, counted the total number of visitors, multiplied it by two and decided to make a fixed number of rotis.

Then the father called Shika and asked her to fix a fresh fruit juice. She came out with same kind of obedience and she didn’t even look at the visitors. She nodded in approval and went straight into the kitchen.

When visitors were having lunch, Mihika came with roti to serve. She first inquired about the requirement. Only when the visitor said ‘yes’, she served. On the other hand, Shika with the jug of fresh juice, kept pouring in the emptied glasses. She never allowed any of the glass to remains empty. When the visitor stopped her from serving the juice, she had a standard appeal, “Please have. It’s too hot outside, it will help you in your journey back.”

After the lunch when the visitors were relaxing in the guest room, a bangle seller called out for the twins. Mihika shouted back, “Nobody wants anything from you, come next time”. At the same time Shika shouted from another room, “I don’t want anything. Wait for some time, I will let you know whether others want.”

When the sisters were busy talking to the bangle seller, the visitors were asked the question to which nobody had given an answer, till date. “Whom do you choose to marry?”

Malli the farmer spoke first. He said, “Simply people are scared about this decision making. I am very sure of my choice. I want to marry Shika; if she doesn’t mind.”

Raman said, “That’s perfectly okay with me. I am very much impressed by Mihika. I am ready take a marriage vow with her, if she agrees.”

Both the sisters agreed to marry the boys. The marriage was performed.

The villagers were at a loss. They could not guess the reason for choosing one over the other. They gathered around the wise man of the village. One villager said in a complaining tone, “Those boys simply picked up one of the two. They didn’t really make a choice.”

“No”, was the emphatic answer from the wise man.  He continued, “Both Mihika and Shika are same in all aspects except their attitude. Raman chose Mihika, because of her calculated approach and the way she treated visitors. She is in habit of making instant decisions which suits the culture of the Raman’s family. Raman is from the family having trading culture. Mihika has the right attitude to adjust to that culture.

“About Shika”,  the wise man continued his unfinished speech. “She has an attitude to give importance to everybody’s opinion. By nature, she is not a decision maker. She treats the guest well and likes to take a very good care of them. Malli being a farmer, his family has a culture, where calculated approach is considered as stingy; sometimes even insulting. Therefore, Malli preferred Shika. By his personality, Malli was impressed with her large heart, her accommodative behaviour and the habit of treating all lovingly.

Negotiation Principle: Cultural dimensions to the negotiation process should never be ignored. Such small homework helps in scaling unbelievable heights”.

Every human being is shaped by his blood line (hereditary) and environmental surroundings. This ‘environment’ is broadly known as ‘culture’. 

In this context, this word ‘culture’ is used with a loose meaning and includes each and every aspect of the personality. If the culture of the other party is addressed correctly, the process looks friendly or else it would amount to an attack on the party involved.