To Sir With Love!

Preetham's wife had gone to her mother's place for a week and he felt lonely. Sitting on the sea shore, he looked at the waves which tried to touch his feet now and then. Searching for her dear boss, came Manya. Her state was still worse. It looked from the dark circles around her eyes that she had lost lots of sleep. When she came to the beach, she saw a ship ... that too, a pirate ship hitting the shores and pirates running towards her boss with their long guns and swords. She cried out aloud to the surprise of all the present on the beach, "Boss! Run! Pirates are coming to get you!" But Preetham saw no pirates at all and not even a ship or a boat for that matter on the shores. Nor did any other present there saw any pirates. It looked like Manya was hallucinating and probably because of some sleep deprivation.
Manya stopped the pirates and its leader before they could reach her boss. These pirates looked directly out of the movies and its leader looked like Jack sparrow to her. He started speaking with a grin that couldn't be said villanious but a bit cunning, "Don't Stand in the way of Jatayu, Girl.... I am not a ordinary pirate. I am a collector..collector of souls.. nice souls that would help me in life.... And here we have a soul of a loving and caring husband.... one that is rare to find... a priceless diamond... All I need is to put this sword in and take that loving and caring heart out..."
All Preetham saw was a weird Manya holding her hands out as if she was asking the waves to stay away from him. He was not able to understand anything about the imaginary conversation Manya was having.

But Manya's hallucination continued as she decided it was a testing time for her and she needed to save her boss and for that purpose she was ready to lie, "My Boss has a loving and caring heart? Rubbish! If he had one, would he be here with me? On the beach on a sunday evening? He would be with his wife na?"
Preetham couldn't believe his ears, "What are you saying! I am not sitting alone. Seema, my wife is there with me even now. Like you are chatting aloud with the air, I am chatting within my mind with that clear horizon in which I see her."
Jatayu smiled and answered Manya, "Hmm... He has given the answers, he is like those ideal characters from those mythological serials for whom 'har ladki maa samaan hain' (all girls are like mothers).... Such species are rare to find and I need to have at least one of them in my kitty before they become extinct"

Manya went ahead with another allegation against her Boss only with the good intention of saving his soul, "But he has made me fall in love with him though he is a married man. Isn't it wrong on his part."
Preetham was really getting agitated, "Are you high on booze!I made you work for me because I am your senior. I made you say lies for me so that my wife may not scold me. I never made you love me"
Manya didn't hear her boss but heard the pirate Jatayu say with a big laughter, "I know what kind of relationship you share with your senior. Its those relationship which has to be highly respected.Even a bad man like me cant think bad of such relationships. Nice try!"

Manya wouldn't say quits as she had one last argument, "When you want to know if a person is a really worth, you shoud make a field enquiry or take feedback. You should ask the neighbours or the colleagues... Ask me about him and I will say that his soul is definitely not worth to be praised of."
Now Preetham who heard only Manya's words was furious with anger,"What next? Putting this news on the office noticeboard! Giving an ad in the newspaper! With friends like you, why do I need enemies?"
And Jatayu remembered his idol Jack sparrow's dialogue as he commented, ""You, You are dishonest. And a dishonest man or woman you can always trust to be dishonest. I like them Honestly! It's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly… stupid." Saying so, he pushed her and directly went for Preetham's heart

Manya cried out loud and closed her eyes unable to see her boss's heart being pulled out. But nothing of that sort happened. When she opened her eyes, she found Jatayu in front of him, "I booze... but I have another hobby too, reading books! And in one such book I remember reading the difference between Knowledge and devotion" and suddenly the pirate got highly philosophical, " Knowledge is like a lamp and devotion is like a gem. There is brightness present in both. Keep both anywhere and they eleminate darkness. Lamp cant glow on its own, it needs oil wick etc. But a gem glows on its own. In the storms of lust, anger, greed etc, a lamp's flame can flicker or even blow off. But not the brightness of gem. Likewise one who has true devotion in his heart, no greed, no lust can crush it. A knowledgeable persons enemy is pride and he can fall whereas devotee is humble and he can never fall...!"
Manya was suddenly bored to death by this preaching, "Why the hell are you preaching me all this?"
The pirate made himself clear, "Because I see that devotion in you.. the devotion to your Guru.... your boss. When I have this gem.. Why should I go for something less?" Manya was still confused, "What do you mean?" Jatayu gave one last smile before ordering his men, "Guys! Seize her and put her in my ship!"
As she was dragged, Manya gave cries for help to her Guru, her boss. But all Preetham saw was a mono acting by his junior Manya. He saw her moving towards the ocean with her hands facing skywards as if someone was pulling her towards the ocean.
He couldn't tolerate the drama anymore and just pulled her to the sea and made her take a dip in the salty water. When she was pulled out, she looked surprised and asked him, "Sir! When did you came? " Preetham was filled with joy thinking that his junior had finally returned to her normal self. But his joy was shortlived when she put her next question in a stern voice, "And what are you doing in my bathroom Sir?"
(*** The high preachings about knowledge and devotion taken from Ramayan)

The Kiss Of Death

"You need to hone your story telling skills" came the advice from his dear wife Seema to Preetham. Preetham replied harshly and without giving it much thoughts, "Here... I am trying it hard to update my software skills. And you want me to update my storytelling skills. And what could be the silly excuse for doing so..." Seema got very sad by the casual remark from her husband. She had her future child in mind when she advised her husband. And his silly remark put her into silence the whole day. However hard he tried he couldn't bring the smile back on her face.

The morning changed to evening and then the dusk arrived. As the sun was about to set, Riya entered the home and announced, "I had enough of these reruns of cartoons and serials. I want something new. Preetham uncle, do tell me some nice and different story. Please...." Preetham felt as if God has given him a chance for a redemption and he sat for the story telling, "This story is about a Rakshashi(demoness)...." Ria interrupted immediately, "Na... Na... I had enough of these Asuras(demons) and Rakshashi stories ...." Preetham smiled a bit, "But this story of Rakshashi is set in the present age..." and so he started the story.

"There was this young teenage Rakshashi called Mandira. She once sat for deep penance calling her dear God Bholenath. The penance took years. Her make up withered and she became thinner and thinner. Then Bholenath got happy and appeared before her, 'Devi ! I am happy with you.. Ask me what you want to." Mandira was not happy when Lord addressed her as Devi. She would have loved 'Gorgeous' in its place. But she didn't speak her objection and proceeded with the boon, 'Oh God! All I ask you for is The Kiss of death. A simple kiss of death. Whenever I kiss someone with my lips, they should be reduced to ashes immediately"
Ria went Wow! while Preetham's mother wanted to shut her ears as she proclaimed 'Shantam paapam'. But Seema was expressionless.

Preetham continued, "Bholenath was unlike my boss who took two months to raise my salary after I asked it. He said 'Tathasthu' (Okay) immediately. Mandira was very pleased. But I don't know any girl who purchases goods or anything without testing it. Mandira also wanted to test this vara. So she went ahead to experiment on Bholenath himself. Bholenath cried 'O Paroooooo! Help me out!!!' and ran for his life. But no Gods were ready to help him out as it was month end and all were busy with deadlines. Then helpless he came to his favorite temple in this town today morning and guess whom he met????"
Ria got confused with this sudden twist in the tale and didn't knew what really to expect next. Now even Seema was full ears

Now that all were listening, Preethm got some more encouragement, "At the temple Lord Shiva found me. I was there to ask for forgiveness as I had hurt my dear wife Seema. I heard Lord Shiva's story. I knew that though the Asuras and Rakshashis thought that the God's boons were fool proof, there would be some bug in them. All it needed was a great debugger like me to find such bugs. But In return I asked something from Lord Shiva. I asked him to return the smile on my Wife's face. So the reciprocal agreement was signed between me and Lord Shiva. Then I asked Lord Shiva to hide in the sanctum sanctorum"
Now Ria was really anxious enough to hear the ending and so was Preetham's mother who had stopped her chanting.

Preetham neared the end, "The Rakshashi Mandira entered the temple. With that Sleeveless blouse and that burning eyes and desirous lips, and that enchanting slim figure, she looked more like a angel than a demoness to me" Preetham turned to Seema to see her emotions. Seema tried to hid her emotions but she failed. Her interest in the story was clearly written all over the face. Preetham continued, "As she slowly kept those steps towards me..... I directly went for her lips.... "
Seema and Ria together exclaimed with surprise "What!!!!"
Preetham corrected the sentence, "I mean... I started praising her lips,'Your lips look so sweet. It looks like it is the storehouse of all the nectar that emerged during the churning of the sea.' Mandira started blushing and I continued 'Such red lips would put the minds and hearts of even sages to fire. '"
Mandira may be blushing but Seema was fuming with anger as Preetham used more examples to describe the lips of the Rakshashi.
Preetham came to the climax of the story, "When I stopped the praise, she was standing straight in front of me. She was about to kiss me. My praise had did the trick. The praise had intoxicated her senses and she was completely blinded by my sweet words. So when I uttered these words, she blindly followed them, "If you were to look your lips now in the mirror, You are gonna kiss the reflection of your own lips in the mirror." And the silly teenager went to the mirror, saw her sweet sugar coated lips and blindly kissed them. But Shiva's boon never failed. As I watched, her whole body got engulfed in a raging fire. And within a minute, the rakshashi was reduced to ashes.... END OF THE STORY"

Ria was very clever as he questioned, "And did Shiva keep his promise?" Preetham expressed jubilantly, "Sure he did! Look at your aunt Seema" As both of them turned towards Seema, there was the smile hanging on her lips.

Get Connected!

Riya, the twelve year old neighbor of Preetham landed at his place as soon as the school got over. It was a usual routine for her. But that day her behavior was a bit odd. As soon she entered, Riya got a big Hi from Seema, Preetham's wife. But the young girl didn' even look at Seema. She was angry with Seema for making her walk a mile (Read here). Riya directly approached the eldest member of the family, Preetham's mother and tried to engage her in a conversation. The young girl's intention was not good - she wanted to irritate Seema.

Riya was good in gup-shup and she can discuss about anything under the sun, "These mobile companies are fooling us.... They proclaim with elan, 'GET CONNECTED'. But even if I try hard, Its not possible....I am not able to get connected to Prema"
The old lady looked with utter disbelief, "This is not my cup of tea, dear. You better discuss this with some girl spoiled by technology like my Daughter In Law, Seema"
Seema was right there with them offering Bournvita to the young girl. She was not hurt by her mother-in-law's taunting words. But Seema got a bit hurt when Riya refused to take the bournvita and turned her angelic face the other way.

Riya made herself clear to the old lady,"When I said 'Get Connected', I didn't mean in it in technical terms. Its like this way, Granny. My friend Prema was absent from school today. After school, when I gave her a ring, she said she had high fever and head ache the previous night and so was taking some rest that day. My question is that though she is my best friend, why am I unable to feel her pain? Why I can't connect to her? Why?"
Now, Preetham's mother liked to give nice sermons and thus she started, "To get connected, there need to be a strong bond or the relationship should be intimate. If the girl was sick, then, definitely, more than her, it would be her mother who would have felt the pain. The mother would have been awake all night tendering her dear child with love and affection. She would have been awake all night trying to put her child to sleep. The child may go to sleep but not the mother. Now that's exactly what do you mean by Getting Connected."

Seema was back with a pack of biscuits to offer to the young girl. But Riya was adamant and refused them too and didn't even speak a word to Seema. This pricked Seema very much. Preetham's Mother thought that the young lady was being rude. But she decided to stick to the conversation
Riya was confused with the answer the old lady had given, "You mean there should be a blood relationship in order to get connected...."
The Old lady answered comfortably, "Not necessarily. Even in some sacred relationships like that of a newly wed couple, you may be able to witness it. In such a small time they get easily connected to one another and share all joys and bear all sorrows."

A bit disturbed Seema, now sat in front of the couch potato and was just surfing the channels without intention to watch any channel. Young Riya silently observed the phenomenon, but she had one last question to the Old Lady, "But my question is still unanswered. Why can't one individual feel the pain of another. Is it that impossible? "
The old lady answered in a polite manner, "Its not that people don't connect. They do connect. But not in a positive manner. When someone is in pain, another gets connected with him.... but he seeks pleasure from the pain. Thats the difference"
and then she raises her voice, "Like you are doing now, Riya! You are aware that your behavior is causing torture to Seema. But still you continue to do it and are also taking pleasure from the same, Right!!!"

The Skies Above have the answers.

Riya always wanted to watch a movie in theater and pestered her neighbor Mr Preetham to take her to one. But Preetham used to watch movies in the theater only with his dear wife Seema and she never acquiesced to this young girl's request. When 2012 released, she said okay hoping that the intense disaster sequences in her very first 70mm movie experience will dissuade the young girl from further pestering her uncle.

When they were returning from the movie, Preetham who was at the wheels, observed Riya in the back seat watching with intent at the clouds above. It looked to Preetham that the girl was expecting the skies above to wreak havoc on the planet Earth. He couldn't stop himself comforting the young girl, "Don't worry Riya! Nothing like that as happened in the movie would happen in real life. End of the world is never gonna happen so soon."

Riya's answer surprised him as well as Seema, "No! I am not that type who keeps waiting for the doomsday. Rather I am looking for some answers from the Akash (Sky)... It must have seen the entire creation since its inception.. I am curious to know the start of the creation rather than the end....."
Preetham felt this young girl was more sensible than the Ashes and Bebos of Bollywood who always put silly romantic questions to the sky and the rains, "And did you get the answers?"

Seema got angry with her husband for encouraging the young girl to have the imaginary conversation with the clouds and explained whatever she knew on creation, "It all happened because of an accident out there somewhere in the universe... And out of nothing came everything... That's it girl.. Don't think too much about it"
An inquisitive mind that she had, Riya was not the one to be silenced easily, "But the skies here are telling me about a different theory!"
Riya had already started her imaginary chat session with the skies, "Akash says whenever there is a beautiful creation, there needs to be a creator like a good movie would have a gifted director, a soothing song would have a melodious voice, a great painting would have a perfect artist and so on.... and so does this creation... There is no such thing called an accident."

Seema didn't like it. The young girl was following in her husband's footsteps. She had to avert it, "Anything needs to be proved to a scientific mind. Grow that scientific mind, Riya! Only through experimentation and hypothesis, something can be proved. Same holds good for this CREATION theory also. It can't be proved."
Riya looks at the skies above for an answer and then hits back at Seema, "The theories are not framed in laboratories. They are not arrived at after experimentation or hypothesis. Most of the time it is the intuitive mind that gives the theories. Newton didn't find out the Gravity theory in his laboratory nor in his study room. It was, while he was resting in the nature's lap that the theory of gravity flashed to him! And think in what state, Archimedes was when he cried Eureka!!! Its all intuition which is nothing but meditating on a particular thing...."

Seema's arguments were being quashed very easily and Preetham was silently enjoying it. Seema was not the one to accept defeat at the hands of a twelve year old girl and she questioned aggressively, "Riya! Do you think all the countries and its scientists are wasting their precious time and energy and money by setting up research teams and sending expeditions to the outer space..."
Unlike Seema, the young girl answered with utter calmness, "Akash is seeing nothing wrong in what the scientists are doing. Human is doing the right thing. But while looking for answers, he should not only explore the outside world, but also try to find ways to explore inwards into his mind." and again the young girl repeated her mantra, "And that can be done only through Dhyan"

On hearing the young girl mentioning again about Dhyan, Seema got very angry and demanded her husband to stop the car immediately. The Ideal Husband that he was, Preetham did it without any questions. Seema asked the young girl to get down, "Here is the MUTT, the place for meditation!!!. Find a nice place and sit down there and do your meditation or Dhyan and come back home only when you have found the complete answers for the creation of this universe!!!"

Preetham didn't utter a word and drove the vehicle away from the place on his wife's instructions. Riya was not even given a chance to open her mouth.
Left along, young Riya looked up at the skies above and questioned loudly, "Hey Akash! Why are you speechless now?!!!"

The Orkut Philosophy

When he reached home from work that day, Preetham saw his wife Seema immersed in watching a mindless movie of Emraan Hashmi. Preetham didn't like the idea of his wife wasting a Saturday evening in front of the telly. Much against her wishes, Preetham dragged his dear wife to a pravachan (discourse) at the local temple. Seema tried to change her husband's mind by trying to quote from Ramayana - the one that Sita used when Ravan forcibly kidnapped her from the hermitage, "You can forcibly take this Immortal Body with you. But my soul would be here in front of the television..."

After half an hour they were at the temple for the pravachan. Roaming eyes of Seema was searching for someone. She was hoping to find the teenager who had enlightened her on the soul-body concept (Read it here). And she found him with his mother sitting somewhere in the middle row. Preetham was reluctant to allow her to sit near that teenager. This time around Seema got clever and quoted her mother in law, "You know what your mother often says! A pregnant lady's wish should never go unfulfilled. Now I wish to sit near that teenager.Please!!!" That did the trick.

Before she could exchange greetings, the old man on the dais started his pravachan, "Today I am going to talk about Maya (Illusion). When I say Maya, I am not talking about the Maya of any magician, I am talking about Maya of the Mayapathi(Almighty). This Maya blinds our inner eyes and diverts us from our life's sole purpose - salvation. This Maya has several forms - the Maya of Youth, the Maya of Love, the Maya of Attachment..."
Seema was already getting bored and shared her thoughts with the teenager, "This is boring me to death! Even my economics lecturer was much better. He explained those crazy economic theories with a case study"
The teenager was full of energy as he replied, "Sis! I can explain to you this simple concept of Maya and that too with a case study and with the help of internet." So saying, he took out his laptop and directly logged into the networking site, Orkut and opened the profile of one Mr Vasudev, "If you study photo albums of any orkut profile over a period, you will be clear about the concept of Maya...." was the teenager's simple mantra.

The teenager started his tale, "The hero of my case study is one Vasudev, who opened his orkut profile when he was in his teens. See his photo albums at that time."
Seema thought that the images were speaking of the energy of the youth of Vasudev. Most of the photos were from trekking expeditions. The images had the hero of the tale with his friends on river banks and mountain tops. Their T-Shirts had their friendship spirit written on it with the simple two words, 'Friendship Forever'
Seema let out a 'wow' and exclaimed, "The Power of Yuva (Youth)! I feel this youth if channelized in the right direction is unstoppable and can bring unthinkable rewards... "

The teenager corrected her, "Yes!... Only if they had a longer life. But in many cases, the shelf life of the power of youth is very short. Those T-Shirts with friendship written all over it had longer life than the original friendship. Those fifteen strong men had to quickly make way for one woman- the woman in his life. And they say, Woman is weak! Her Maya is really the strongest of all."
To put across his message, he showed latter years photo albums. Those group photos made way for portrait photos of his lady love. There was elements of nature even in those portrait pieces but they served only as decorative pieces or background for adding beauty to the portrait.
Seema however liked the way the husband Vasudev had captured his wife in those camera lenses, "This Maya definitely has the power to make a professional photographer of an ordinary man. But don't you think this Maya has the power to make our hero a complete man."

The teenager smiled, "You are right! But before many realize how to overcome this Maya and how a man and woman can complete each other, they would be under the pull of another Maya - a still stronger one and a longer one. That's what happened to our hero Vasudev"
There were no friends nor wife in the latter year photo albums. The center of attraction was now his son. The albums had strange names - his first step, my angel at sleep and so on. When she saw the album 'his first step', Seema felt as if she was watching a flip book, "Whatever happened to his wife? Did she grew to the size that the camera lens couldn't capture her?"
The teenager smiled at the remarks, "That's the power of this illusion. It makes one forget everything else and do anything for his dear one. Attachment is what the old man would term this illusion. First our hero is ready to take all kinds of head aches for his son. He doesn't know when the son grows up, he may give him all kinds of heart aches."

Suddenly the mother of the teenager woke up and shouted at her son, "Like the one you are giving me now! Its time to say goodbye to your new found sister. If I allow you to speak like this, you will ruin the reputation of my family..." and she started dragging her son out of the avenue with the same force with which Preetham had brought his wife to the avenue.
Seema looked confused and looked at the young teenager for an explanation for his mothers actions. The teenager boldly told the truth, "She can't face reality. Reality bites! The hero whom I have been speaking of, is none other than my elder brother whom I have seen with this bare eyes falling prey to all kinds of Maya..."

Preetham was more than happy to see the back of the young man, "Now lets listen to the original pravachan...."
Seema liked the teenager to the old man as she answered, "But the boy was speaking from experience and that's what always count... Your Old man is creating magic with words whereas my friend was using pictures. You know a picture speaks more than thousand words."

Gyan Darshan

Deepak was a young boy of thirteen years of age. He had come to the town to join a boarding school. His mother wanted the boy to get his uncle Preetham's blessing before joining the school. The mother wanted her cousin brother Preetham to guide her son in the proper path. But unfortunately, when the boy landed at Preetham's place, the house was locked. And a young girl in the neighborhood Riya informed him that his uncle wouldn't be back for the day. The boy was crestfallen. Seeing the disappointed face, Riya couldn't resist questioning him the purpose of his visit. Deepak told Riya of his mother's objective in sending him there. Riya remembered the Dharma that was preached by Preetham's mother in this respect, 'A visitor who has come to the home shouldn't be allowed to go disappointed'

So she asked Deepak to join him for a small stroll in the colony. Along the way, she decided to pass on whatever knowledge she had gained, "You are at the tender age of thirteen, the very beginning of teen-age. I believe that there is lot of confusion and excitement at this age...Elders say this is the start of young age and they have spread this young age over three stages. "
Riya definitely had good observation skills as she pointed to a balcony and a matriculation student with a book in his hand on the balcony, "Guess! Can you tell me what the boy is doing?" With a book in hand, the answer seemed plain simple to Deepak, "Studying! What else?"
Riya smiled, "Don't only look at that boy... Look around! His book is ordering him to look at it. But his eyes is feasting upon something else. He is definitely studying.... studying the girl"
And she pointed to another balcony across the road where a girl was drying her hair sitting on the balcony. Even she was giving some stealthy glances to the boy. Riya then explained her observation, "In this first stage the boys fall for the strawberry eyes and girls for the cadbury looks. Remember the first lesson, that this is nothing but attraction and never to fall for the attraction."
But Deepak was already getting attracted to young Riya.

Riya took her to a temple nearby. But instead of having a darshan of the diety present there, she asked Deepak to observe one of the lady devotees.
Unlike the earlier boy, the eyes of this devotee was not roaming. It was closed and seemed all attention was focused on the Almighty. Deepak got confused as to how to read this devotee. He didn't knew mind reading.
But Riya came up with her hypothesis, "That Kanya is around twenty or twenty one years. At this age, most of the girls have common prayers. They pray for boys who may not be so good looking. But should be good in all departments. The list is very exhaustive. They pray for understanding, caring, fun loving, adventurous and so on and on and on. To describe it mathematically, the set of such good qualities is an infinite set...."
Deepak nodded his head, "Yupps.... I get the idea... I have read such lines on matrimonial sites. Do those girls really get such guys?"
Riya dispensed his doubts, "This is what happens in the second stage.... Your brain stops functioning and your heart starts working overtime and you still crave for that all-perfect partner. But some do get lucky at this stage....."
Deepak thought this girl was very sweet and so like the lady devotee closed his eyes and prayed for something with the lord.

As they returned, they heard some swearing words coming from a house nearby. As they neared, Deepak saw a young couple. Negative emotions was written all over the girl's face. Riya started her sermon, "See that Girl! She had gone through the two stages. At fifteen, she wished for someone like Hrithik who could dance. At twenty she prayed for a maryada purushottam like Ram. Now at Twenty Six, she has ended up with that cartoon character who is slimmer than Popeye and she is definitely not his first love!"
And she concluded, "Thats life! We start wishing for the attractive, then praying for the best, but end up compromising."

But the twinkle in the boy Deepak's eyes gave the feeling that he liked something more than the wisdom that has been passed on, "Wow! Riya! You know too much! I would definitely come down next week for some more Gyan. Make me your disciple."
Riya was a smart girl who read the boys intentions, but with a blushing smile accepted him as her disciple.

The Tree Project!

Preetham had returned home early that day. He had to, especially when his wife Seema informed him that she and her mother in law were working on a joint project which she called 'The Tree Project'. He didn't know what this tree project was about. Are they cutting down the long standing coconut tree? or are they planning to plant a new tree!. But he saw no tree felled down nor any plant being grown. There was a huge tree grown, but not on the garden but on the drawing board. The Mother in law and daughter in law duo had drawn a tree, a family tree .... Preetham's family tree. They even had a consultant... an expert... a very old man helping them out on the family tree and its branches. The Consultant's figure definitely told that he was a centenarian (one who has crossed 100 years old) and Preetham only prayed that this old man didn't kick the buckets at his place.

Preetham wanted to know the objective of the project. His mother was eager to speak about the project, but Seema had already started explaining, "Its like getting to now the roots of your special traits. Its believed that characteristics pass from genes. So we are building your lineage to see as to from whom you have inherited some of those special traits." Preetham liked the idea very much and looked once again at the family tree. It started with him at the top and the duo were successful in tracing back his lineage to at least five generations back. The old man who was a distant relative of Preetham (Preetham never knew the old man ever existed until now) provided those missing links and descriptions.

Once the tree was built, it was the time to find out the source of some of Preetham's special traits. So Seema put her first question to the tree consultant, " Can you tell me, from whom has my husband has picked up his so very romantic traits?" The old man looked at the tree with his bare eyes and pointing his finger said, "I believe its from his great-grand uncle who lived near the sowparnika river some 150 years ago. He was a school teacher and taught around fifty students at school. Even at home he taught some fifteen students" Seema was impressed,"That's great. He gave tutions at home even during that time. But how does it make him romantic!" The old man expressed his view, "Fifteen students at home were his own kids, my girl!" Seema still didn't had the answer for her question, "How in the hell does it make him romantic!" The old man spoke confidently, "Gifting his wife every year continuously for fifteen years with a beautiful baby.... wouldn't it qualify him to be voted as the most romantic!!!" Seema didn't know what to say and gulped that answer without further probing.

But she quickly shoot another question hoping that this time the answer would definitely lie somewhere in the family tree, "How come my husband is so much god-fearing. From where did he get this trait?" It was easier question for the old man as he answered without looking at the tree, "Its his great grandfather's brother. When this gentleman's wife was suffering from labor pain, he had disappeared. No one knew about his whereabouts and he returned only after his wife delivered a healthy baby. But he took all the credit. To put in his words, 'The birth of a health child is a gift of the heavens to the family of the newborn. And I was praying with God for the health of the mother and the child all these months'"
Seema didn't like what she heard, "This gentleman you described is a coward who feared everything and not only God. My husband is not a coward who would run away from responsibility. When faced with adversity, he will effortlessly play the flute of confidence and put the negative emotions of fear and cowardice to sleep. And when I have such pains, I want him besides me and not in front of some deity, so that I can hold his hands very tight.... and I am sure that half of my pains would be absorbed by that touch alone...."
Preetham was really elevated on hearing his own gun-gaan from his dear wife.

When Preetham thought that there would be no further questions from his wife, his mother spoke out, "Many sons forget their mothers after their life partner sets her foot in their life or their love towards their mother gets diminished in the few months itself. But my son has been an exception. Is this example set by any of his ancestors?" The old man looked at the tree up and down once and then again. He scratched his head but his memory failed him. Then Preetham spoke out, "Mother! You will not find the answer in the family tree!" Mother believed her son was right, "Some people are very unique. Its rare to find another such gem..." Preetham quickly corrected her, "I am not self boasting!... This whatever you are talking of.... the trait of impartiality, if i can say it that.... Is all because of your daughter in law Seema!" Preetham's mother was suprised beyond words and so was Seema as she eagerly waited for the explanation. Preetham continued, "Its all left to a girl to make her boy her slave or make him a great human being who values all human relationships. Your daughter in law had made me a topper in the second category"

Seema was delighted beyond imagination. It was one of those best moments of her life when smile and tears both came together and adorned her pretty face.