Edhey Thumbi Haaduvenu

Friendship Forever 1 - Lets End It!

2012-01-22T07:23:00.000-08:00

When students gather together, they talk about everything under the sun except the studies. Then who does really talk about the courses?? Do the lecturers talk about them when they gather together ? Naa...They are also humans (some readers may doubt it) and talk like average minds do. And so did the Tall handsome lecturer from Swats class as he started the interesting conversation about Swats and Jeevs. The lecturers had gather for a seminar on 'How to make students concentrate on Studies'. The distracted tall lecturer spoke with excitement, "Gosh! Those two girls can pick up a fight over anything... and this time they did over a blog... And then they started throwing everything into the fight. Like the Pandavas dragged the poor Draupadi into the game of dice and had her nearly disrobed, so did these girls... I mean they dragged their elderly friend Prads and questioned him as to among them who was his best friend and he can say only one name... Think about his predicament."

A young lady who seemed more like a student than a lecturer seemed to be following the story more closely than the curriculum she was given, "Swats defense was that she knew Prads earlier and she was always with him when he needed her most. When a blind love for a girl which was unrequited made Prads miserable, it has her friendship that held out the umbrella. Jeevs though agreeing added that it was she who made him come back to the real self with her antics and shenanigans. Jeevs also uttered some golden lines in her support, 'Its not the amount of time you spent that's important. Its only 'how many heartbeats you are away' that matters...."

A senior teacher and the one who believed that its always the male who suffers remarked with a tinge of sadness, "Poor Prads! I can understand what his delicate brain may be going through. Now what's he gonna do....?"
A Peon entered the room to serve the lectures with tea and biscuits.To the delight of the gathered, he also served them with the latest news, "Prads had been to this top lawyer and explained his misery with words not matching his thoughts, 'I am torn between these two...err.... they r fighting over me...err... as to who should have me... You need to guide me' the lawyer completely misunderstood him, "Well... You mean your parents are separated and they are fighting for getting the legal custody of you!!! But you look like a major to me...' Prads made himself clear, "No! Its like in the movies... When two gangster friends separate and they try to gain control of the turf... Here the people involved are worse than gangsters... They are two teenage girls and my dear friends... and I am the turf... Can you help me ??? " The lawyer refused saying, "I am not a criminal lawyer."

The old lady with the spectacles though looked boring updated the gathering of what she knew about the story, "He then visited the Swamiji in our area...Swamiji offered him solutions for all kinds of problems - marital problems, female problems etc... And Prads explained his problem, 'Swamiji...Why is God doing this to me.. He has made my two good female friends fight among themselves over me... It makes me feel bad.... Because of me, these two girls are hurting each other... What should I be doing?... Margdarshan Kijiye guruji..." Swamiji boasted of himself, "Its not a new problem.. Vajpayee also had similar problems during his Political run... Jaya and Mamatha wanted him to listen to their demands.. But he listened to me and didn't his problems got solved?" Prads wasn't sure of how to answer it but listened intently to swamiji's instructions, "Take this powder... Mix it in their milk and give it to them and see their reactions..." Prads knew this was totally wrong, "I don't want some vasheekaran ideas, you old man... Give it to those silly politicians. Besides, these are not some milk drinking young girls... They belong to the Twilight era... They bay for the blood... "

When the gathering was discussing, the principal had entered and he broke the conversation in a terse voice, "Did he find any solution?" The peon answered, "It seems so! Depressed with the suggestions of swamiji and lawyer, he was returning home when he met with the drunkard. The drunkard though had lost his senses to the booze listened to the problem and answered, "Teri to waat lag gayi! You disappear from this world! That's the only solution" and then fell down crooning Delhi belly's song, "Bhaag Bhaag DK Bose"
The principal looked at the peon a bit puzzled. The peon said, "See the noticeboard and You will understand!"

To the surprise of the students, they found a flock of lecturers running towards the notice board. On the notice board was the letter from Prads addreesed to Swats and Jeevs,"Swats and Jevs..... I am disappearing from this world of yours...Anyway I have lots of earned leave to my credit. I would return only when both of you have reconciled... Don't try to find me... Try to find a way to end to your silly quarrels.. One of you need to say sorry to the other. Remember sorry doesn't mean asking for forgiveness. Its another way of saying, 'Can we save this without breaking up'. Your coming together is the only thing that's gonna make me come back in your lives... Till then... wish me happy holidays."

Love, Breakups and Zindagi

2012-01-15T06:15:00.000-08:00

Swats was not making any sense of her state of being. She was hearing voices. She couldn't make out whether she was in a railway station or whether the voice was coming from a radio. In a way, she felt as if she was separated from this real world and she heard the voice say "When two People in Love Break up,They can't be Friends as they have Hurt Each other, They can't be Enemies as once they Loved Each other, ♥ The Only thing they can be, Are the Most Familiar Strangers..."
And then as it happens on DoorDarshan, First the audio, then the video... she saw the settings... It was a wedding... the bride and the groom were at the altar... She tried to see if she was there... "This couldn't be a dream... I am not asleep. If I was I would have been in the dream..."

Rather she saw her elderly friend Prads and her batchmate Jeevs. But they were quite distance apart.... He was at the Umpire's position and she was at the side empire's position...They had been assigned tasks... And Swats saw it written on a white sheet of paper. Swats felt the paper with both her hands as well as with her tongue.It was real and it read ,'There was a pair Sukrutha and Somesha who had separated recently. Jeevs is to approach Sukrutha and Prads is to approach Somesha and then instigate them to say something of their ex partners - to see how much they still have held on of their ex partners.' Swats got confused, "Who wrote this?" and she heard someone say "shhhhhhhhh. SILENCE!!!". She obeyed with fear and observed her friends play their parts

Jeevs tried to pick up a chat with Sukrutha. But before she could speak a word, Sukrutha who wore a becoming red saree remarked to Jeevs, "Look at the gentleman in black across the table... he is hitting at you..." Jeevs knew that a girl would be hit back more when her choice is insulted than herself, "Naa!!! He is not my type of guy.Look at his eyes!!!It looks like dracula has half eaten it. Look at his nose! Reminds me of those steep road curves we get when we cross the western ghat sections." That was enough to make Sukrutha frenzy
Thats when Prads came behind Somesha and casually started the converstion "Seems that the two ladies are having an argument over you... And to me, it looks Woman in red has the upper hand... You are a truly lucky guy!!!...Isn't she hot?"
Somesha remarked, "When a girl selects you, it doesn't mean you are lucky.It only means trials and tribulations has started... And I don't want to go for a re-trial with her....Yups! She is hot and I have burned my fingers already."
Prads gave a surprised look, "You Know her....Re-trial? You mean a girl with such a angel face broke your heart... I find it hard to believe?"

Jeevs on the other hand found Sukrutha praising the boy rather, "Why do you look at the external features? If you don't like his nose, get a synthetic one... Look at his heart...Look at his thinking..." Jeevs interrupted, "Looks like you are in a mood to dedicating a song to him... woh tho hain albela.. hazaaron mein akela..."
Sentimental that girls are, Sukrutha broke down. But she turned her face away to hide the tears...
Looking at her back turned to him, Somesha said with a disgust to Prads, "Look at her! She can't even stand my sight!!! When they first fall in love they say all those sweet nothings, 'I want you always in front of me... like the eyebrows... You should protect me'... And look now... we are like cinders fallen on their eyes and they just want to get rid of us..."
Prads was a man too and felt the same way as Somesha did and expressed his sympathy, "Gosh! It would be difficult for you to forget her... But I believe, the more you have the feelings of hatred for her, the more you are going to remember her and more you are gonna harm yourself..."

Jeevs on the other hand found Sukrutha to be actually at the receiving end of the breakup as it appeared from her story, "Boys!They say I am with you whatever you do.But after the excitement of the initial love drops,they start questioning you and they forget their own talks of space,freedom and independence and so on..."
Jeevs though agreed was not in a mood to be deep serious about it, "Gosh! Isn't it the duty of the pair to keep that love alive. Learn that from Ekta kapoor. Though her telly serials run for years, she sees to that people don't lose their interest in it..."

The mention of the word telly changed the entire settings and suddenly both of Swat's friends disappeared and there appeared Senior Bollywood Actress Rekha announcing, "Welcome back to Love.. break-ups... zindagi..." Swats was not sure yet of what was going on and asked herself, "Am I watching a tv reality show?" And Rekha spoke as if she was answering Swats' queries, "Every week we put our agents behind a couple who have separated and try to find out whether love has really died or have they murdered the love that could have lived a longer life... In today's episode we saw the girl saying the boy has betrayed her sincere emotions and the boy saying that the girl showed hatred and contempt for him... who is speaking the truth? can they still come together?"

That put Swats in a thinking mood when suddenly she heard Rekha say, "We will get a expert opinion on this.., we will now call Swasthee or Swats as she calls herself and know her esteemed views..." and Swats' mobile rang.Confused Swats was about to pick the phone when the invisible voice said, "No Mobiles allowed inside"
Even though she didn't pick the phone, she heard herself answer, "Both were lying... Sukrutha to Jeevs and Somesha to Prads... The ego of both of them made them separate from each other... Same ego didn't wish them to see their partner with another. Sukrutha presented a feeling that depicted as if she was betrayed and that somesha is a cheater. Somesha presented himself as being always hated by Sukrutha so that Prads couldn't imagine Sukrutha as someone good and respectable..."
Then Actress Rekha ended the show with great lines which she would have copied from some facebook status message "Love is supposed to dignify us.. exalt us... How can it be love, if all it does is make us say bad things or lie about our partners - ex or current.. Does love make one lonely and corrupt?"

Suddenly Swats heard the sound of bells.She thought it was the church bell.But it wasn't!!! It was the exam bells and she heard the voice which earlier said "shhh" and "no mobiles" say in a stern voice"Exams katham honeki ganti nahi sunai dethi kya? give me the paper..." And when Swats looked outside the exit door of the exam hall, She saw Jeevs waiting for her. And as she looked out of the left window, she saw Prads waiting below at the parking lot.And when her friends asked her, "How was the Paper?" She answered, "Was I giving a Paper? I wrote about a show called love breakup zindagi....by the way... what exams I had today?"
Moral of the story: Never study the whole previous night of the exams... Do get some sleep

On Location

2012-01-08T19:50:00.000-08:00

Swats was waiting for this opportunity since her birth. She had seen this place many a times on small and big screen. She wanted to be there and witness herself the atmosphere of the place. Today, Prads was taking her to that place. And she was thankful to her samsung mobile set for giving her opportunity though it was not with her to receive the greetings.
Her mobile set was stolen with the sim card still in it and to retrieve the old sim number, she had to file a complaint at the local Police station and she thanked God for giving her an opportunity to visit the police station.

The duty officer was a lady in her early thirties and she had a wrong-doer in front of her. A young man probably a college going student. As Swats and Prads were attended by a head constable, they watched the duty officer interrogate the suspect, "Are Gansham! What's this guy done! Raped a minor? Defrauded pension holder? Into drugs?" Swats immediately looked at the constable to see his answer and the answer made her smile a bit, "Madam! That young brat sends lewd messages to aunties.... ", The young guy got pissed off and he remarked sternly, "She doesn't look like a aunt to me at all..." and suddenly a thud sound came and Prads who had his head down unwilling to see the confrontation asked Swats, "What was that sound? I presume its not a gun shot?" Swats smiled, "That's the soft hands of the lady inspector landing on the smooth cheeks of that college going lad. That's what we call 'One Tight Slap'"

The duty officer started using all kinds of cussing words," She is your teacher and she is married and has a young boy. And you disturb her peaceful life by sending her messages at night hours.. You son of a bitch!!!" and then another thud sound and questioned him, "Why did you do that? And to whom all you are sending such messages.." The boy answered with a slow voice, "She failed me in the exams... " Prads was really shocked on hearing it, "Earlier, kids used to ruin their own life if they got failed in exams. Now they have started ruining the life of one's who have failed them. This is a dangerous trend" The Inspector restrained herself from hitting but didn't restrain from usage of further cussing words, "Whats wrong with you.. Why can't you study and pass... If you can't study go and work in garage... You silly punk! You ************"

Prads saw that Swats was observing the interrogation rather than writing her complainant, "Finish it off.. I have to go to the temple..." Swasts smiled, "Comon... God will not go anywhere... He will be seated in his own place.. This is great entertainment.... I can't miss this one... Her vocabulary reminds me of captain haddock from tintin comics." The inspector asked the constable to read out the message and the constable found it hard to read the message as it was a hindi message written in english and to swats delight, he handed the mobile to her to read. Swats read out loud, "Sony has a show, 'Bade achche laghte hain'... Now tell me madam, bade kisko achche nahi lagthe..." The constable tried to control his laughter at the joke and let out a inaudible, 'Thats true'. But the inspector now was really pissed off, "Bade kissko achche nahi laghta!!!!" she took her lathi and started beating him, "I will land 'bade bade' bruises on you whole skin that your parents will fail to recognize you and they wud say, 'This is not the child born to us...'"

The violent turn somewhat made Prads uncomfortable, "Isn't that a man-handling?" Swats enjoyed it, "No! That's the way woman handles things when she gets pissed off..." To Prad's delight, the constable came to the boy's rescue and suggested the inspector to summon the boy's parents. And to their shock, the boy feared his dad more than the inspector, "No! Not my dad... Please! Not my dad... I swear I will never do like this again..."

The constable looked at him "And why shouldn't we call your parents? Would he thrash you like a waste? Or would he remove you from the college"
The boy still weeping, "Worse than that I fear. He would take the mobile away from me..."
Now the inspector had turned into kali and the constable feared for the young boy's life. The Inspector took the mobile she had already taken into custody and smashed into the ground and then smothered it with her feet and then handed him the mobile along with the broken sim card, "Lo! Anthim samskar karlo iska..." Saying so she asked the constable to put him in lock-up till his parents come up. And then she walked out of the station

Swats handed over the two copies of the complaint to the constable and turning to the boy, she said, "If you want the same sim reactivated, you need to file a police complainant. That's what I learned today..."

The Last New Year

2012-01-01T00:42:00.000-08:00

Swasthee or Swats called Pradyumna or Prads, her senior friend exactly when the clock struck twelve times and wished him "Happy New Year"
Prads had gone to bed with a tinge of sadness and that was clear in the reply he gave" Every year has been the same to me... and I believe this year is gonna be no change"

Swats tried to cheer him up like any true friend would do, "This yr is gonna be different cos this yr is gonna be the end of all cute gals guys... I mean everyone ....on dec 21st 2012 the world ends... So live it to the best...."
That made Prads more sad, "Yeah!!! that makes matters more worse... I have not found any girl to hold hands and welcome death and say into his eyes, 'I am ready to meet my maker... Is he?" and he admonished Swats,"You called me in the middle of the night to make me sad and show how lonely I would be when death comes knocking on my door... A Big Thanks.." and he started weeping softly.
Swats had to calm him up before he woke up the entire neighbourhood, "You don't always need a lover to hold your hand romantically. When you are at the doorsteps of death it could be your bestieeeee who knows you in and out, who fools you everyday, and is with you in whatever you do....she cud be but he best person to jump off to death with..."

Prads failed to recognize the gender swats had used while refering to the besite, "all my best friends would be sitting in front of their tube with their wife stuffing eatables into their mouth and with their kids wetting their pants. And You know I have thrown my television off the balcony some years earlier... so what option have I got..."
While swats was making the phone call, jeevs or jeevitha, another of prad's very young friend, had already decided to give him a call... a personal call and she was successful in creeping into his room without his parent's knowledge. She was by his bedside and she whispered slowly into his ears, "Prads Dear! Happy new year!!!". Prads had a shock of his lifetime and he shouted like hell as if he had seen a ghost
and that woke up the entire neighborhood. Within minutes, his parents came to the scene and his father's eyes were red with anger on seeing a young girl in his unmarried son's bedroom

Prads said to swats over phone,"Your friend Jeevs is here. It seems my end is near
i don't have to wait till 21 december 2012... and seems I would be welcoming it hands in hand with a girl"
and he caught hold of jeevs hands and held it tightly... not out of love, but out of fear from seeing his fathers angry face

The Chosen One

2011-11-30T05:38:00.000-08:00

Pradhyumna or Prads was enjoying the quiet evening and trying to put his mind to some exercise with some chess game with Jeevitha or jeevs when suddenly Swasthee or swats burst in, "I am the Chosen One...", she declared with aplomb
Jeevs didn't like Swats disturbing her brainy session with Prads and she asked her "The Choen one... Don't tell me you have won five crores... you don't have that flashback that would bring tears to the viewers... you cant win it re..."

Swats was still excited, "No... Its not Big B who has made me the chosen one... Its the real Big One... God Almighty who has selected me as the Chosen one..."
Prads looked at her closely and said, "I was searching for dark circles around the eyes...you know... signs of insomnia..."
Jeevs, "No way she can be deprived of sleep. She gets them during the classes...."
Swats shouted, "I am serious!!! He has selected me for a mission..."

Prads moved his queen and shouted checkmate and turning to swats and said lightheartedly, "and what could be the mission... get rid of corruption or make all boys say to their girls. 'Madam...I am your Adam'...."
Swats volunteered to make the chess move for Jeevs and said, "CHECKMATE.. and coming to my mission... it has nothing to do with corruption or boys... its about love... its about..."
Prads used his horse effectively and countered her move and with a deja vu feeling, "I am tired about love... or to say musically, 'not sure about love or life anymore'. So you are chosen to bring the hearts together???"

Swats allowed Jeeves to make the next move as she explained her mission more clearly, "No!!!... My mission is to break hearts... to separate couples..."
Both of them turned towards her with a certain feeling that this girl has gone mad and looked for a explanation
Swats smiled, "Dude's theory... I mean... Gods theory is like this... If best is to come from a man whether be it a poem or working for a social cause, that can be done only when he knows pain and the best form of pain comes from separation... so when he is separated from his dear ones, he will have that pain and in that pain he will do the soul search and he will realize me and the best will come out of him"
Jeevs laughed out loud as she removed Prads' queen and said to him, "She has not come from temple.. she came back from a theater" and turning to Swats, "Did your God look like Ranbir Kapoor..."

Swats got furious, "I don't have the appointment order or gadgets to prove that I am chosen one.. But don't you feel that this is a good mission... People in love tend to forget everything around them... the world needs someone to separate them... so god has selected one..."
Prads spoke out a bit harshly, "God has already made man vulnerable... You take a mans DNA and you will see that the brain or the looks or whatever physical or mental qualities or abilities he has got is from his ancestors... the only thing he can proud to be say 'belongs to me' is the ego...this ego is the one which always make him say something stupid something bad which can never be taken back...this ego would ultimately make him bring pain to others and to himself ultimately... its only a matter of time when he hurts his dear one.. Some do it within a year and some after a decade...So God interfering would be not necessary and God himself would be knowing that one"

43 DAYS LATER

2011-09-04T05:17:00.000-07:00

After 43 days,Pradyumna or prads as his friends call him, opened his eyes from the deep meditation. He had sat for meditation searching for answers along with his young friend viran.(read here) He felt that in the last 43 days, His India had suddenly changed a lot. He guessed it from his mobile forwards. Usually it was filled with lot of crude jokes or some so called inspirational quotes. But now it was just filled with anti corruption jokes and lots of support for a old man called Anna Hazare.

Prads was really thrilled and questioned himself, "Am I in india or have I entered a parallel universe?"
And then into the peaceful street a reporter entered. She introduced herself to the rolling camera, " I am Reporter Sharmistha from NBTV.."
Prads shook his head, "Another news channel has sprouted kya...?"
Viran, his young buddy replied, "NBTV... No Brains Television"

And the reported started her nonsense, "Let us see how the drama of anna hazare has affected India in the most remote places like this temple city"
And the spotlight turned to a worried parent purchasing a tricycle for his kid of six years,
"My son has seen anna hazare all over the television and decided to fast until we give him a tricycle"
The reporter questioned, "Now that must have ruined your budget for the month. What did you do? Went for some salary advance?"
The answer from the man left her surprised, "No! other parents from the neighbour hood contributed some funds... See! They wanted to stop this news from spreading to the entire neighborhood and other kids picking up the practice.So a fund was built and tricycle purchased. "

Moving ahead she found a young man in his thirties placing order for a four wheeler
When the camera got focused on him, he started speaking without waiting for the reporter to put forward the question,"We buy television to our wives so that they can watch those serials and keep their mouths shut for some hours... but now anna hazare has made them open their mouths and raise their demands and showed them ways to have it get done...agar meri biwi fast karegi tho mujhe bhi khane ko nahi milega...usa rokho... koi use rokho"
Prads looked at the reporter and her costume, "she may be covering the news very good... but the same can't be said about other things"

The reporter then caught hold of a young teenage girl who was weeping and washing the tears with her hanky,"The fasting by the old man is also affecting young teenage girls also..."
And the teenage girl said her sad story with sobs, "Today I had a date with a hottest hunk from a software company being friday night... and that too dinner at the JD's restaurant...but anna hazare called the young men of his country to support him and asked them to give some time from their weekend or take compensatory leave..guess my man decided to listen to a 70 year old man rather to a 18 year old girl..."

The reporter turned to the camera with the concluding remarks "See how the boys and girls are suffering in a small temple city because of a fasting of a old man in the distant capital city"
Prads too had to make a concluding comment, "Where do the NBTV recruit their reporters...? from some mental institution!!!"

The Quest

2011-07-23T23:46:00.000-07:00

Father of every teenager has worries and any parent wouldn't disagree with that statement. But this dad had strange worries - Last time around his son Viran had left home just because his father had refused to gift him a motorbike (read here). Now, the young fellow has joined the local mutt to do deep meditation searching for inner meanings and answers.
On the way the worried father met Pradhyumna and his two young friends Swasthee and Jeevitha. On hearing his plight, girls wanted to help him. They just loved the task of disturbing the penance of a youngster... and aren't they good in it

When they arrived, nd then they found the seventeen year old Viran in the mutt his eyes closed. Swats couldn't believe her eyes "With so many cute devotees around you, how can you keep your eyes closed.Un aankhonkee tauheen hain..."
A senior saint opened his eyes when he heard swats' sexy voice and slowly hissed, "when we are on to viagra he is into vairagya... kya kalyug hain?"
Viran answered her without even opening his eyes, "My mind is searching for answers...that google cant find for me..."

Swats found it amusing, "Like..what questions would be set for the coming answers?"
Viran smiled as he spoke very gracefully , "Its not on a micro level... its much bigger than that..."
Jeevs also had to make some witty comment, "Like which country would the united states attack next?"
Viran laughed, "You people are so hooked on to the tv world... Its got to do something spiritual..."
Prads couldn't believe it, "Like... Why we are born?... rather like why we are born as human?.. or to be specific... like why are we born as a males?"
The young man smiled, "I already have those answers.. Darwin, Adam and my biology teacher have helped me there... I am onto something bigger..."
The three waited with much breath to listen to him. And Viran opened his eyes and told his doubts,"Its like why we boys fall for girls head over heels?"

Swats and Jeevs coudn't control their laughter,"Eons may pass... you will never get the answer..."
The young man had deeper questions, "Why we boys run back into them even when they treat us as jerks? why?"
Prads was amazed at the boy's quest for answers.
And young man continued, "And we keep remembering them even when they have left us and married someone else and have a kid and not even give our name to that kid at least...why?
Swats and Jeevs looked at the changes in their dear friend Prads' face.They hoped Prads would say something to bring Viran outside...But the opposite happened as Prads announced,"I think you are right... Even I am a victim of this moha"... Turning to swats and jeevs, he said, "Girls... You carry forward without me..."
And saying that he took the seat next to Viran

All About Emotions

2011-06-12T03:11:00.000-07:00

"What has reporting got to do with emotions?" came the furious question from Swats or Swasthee, a journalist student. Seeing their elder friend Pradhyumna or Prads silent and just observing the railway track, Jeevitha or Jeevs said to Swats, "You failed the first test of journalism. Capturing the audience interest at the onset.... Let me try it..." and turning to Prads, "What do you say when our teacher tells this lady barkha dutt aspirant to give a emotional-write up like Kavi Kalidas", Prads spoke up, "Now thats something nice.... And what emotion you are trying to cover, Swats....?"
Swats was completely clueless, "Should I write about the anger of the girl whose boyfriend failed to make it to the date or about the eagerness of the harry potter fan for the release of the last installment...."

Prads felt awkward, "I don't suppose your teacher would have had those things in mind when she told about emotions...."
Jeevs knew exactly the content and coverage of emotions, "See... It should be something like a mother not shedding a tear on hearing her son's death in the kargil war, Husband and wife not having a word over the lunch after a fight and yet no one coming forward to say a sorry...or something of the sort"
Prads added his observation , "If you see the world through the eyes of a poet, there would be a thousand emotions. Look at that girl over there waiting for the train to come." As Swats and Jeevs looked at the pointed direction, they found a young girl of around twenty looking at the tracks as if she was waiting for a train. And then she glanced outside for a long time and then covered her face with both her hands and the head completely bend down. Prads expressed his opinion, " It looks like that she is bidding goodbye to this small town which has looked her grow from a small baby to a beautiful girl....Isn't that a nice emotion to write about."

Jeevs couldn't be a left behind and she started her play with words when she saw a small sandstorm, "Seems this land loves her dearly. Look at the way it is raising into the air from the ground as if it is telling her, 'Tu jaha jaha chalegi...'"
Swats stopped her midway, "Those lines seems to be sung by the coolies over there... Look at the way they are looking at her... When she goes away today, they will definitely drown their sorrows in beer bottles..."
Prads reprimanded her on her remarks, "Your teacher wanted to look through the eyes of poet... and not through the eyes of a critic"

Jeevs seemed to be more involved than Swats "Look at the langa-dhavani.... The way she has worn it tells me she has never worn it before... The very emotion of a girl leaving her mother's place to go to her husband's place could be seen in those eyes... The dress shows her association with this small town..."
Again the guessing mind of Swats woke up, "What if she is waiting for her boyfriend and they have planned to elope and run away and get married... ?"
Prads didn't like these words, "Reserve your what if's for your management classes... The girls demeanour doesn't indicate anything romantic at all. There is no iota of tension on her face... It could be she may be leaving for a distant college or she is leaving the place after completing her studies..."

And the train approached and the girl got onto her feet and ran towards the approaching train with too much anxiety...
Swats smiled, "Guys! She seems to be eager to get out of the place... oh... you want me to say it poetically... like I eagerly wait for the history lecture to get over..."
Now Prads doubted his earlier pondering s and started his maybes, "Maybe she was waiting for someone... someone she has not seen for a long time..."
And a very healthy man with a very round face about thirty five years got down from the train with two heavy suitcases. The girl ran down to him and helped him with the suitcases. She even carried one on her head..
Jeevs was dumbstuck, "Gosh... What's happening here? What kind of emotion is this? Compassion?"

Just then a coolie spitted at the sight, "This girl!She is a bitch! The day she joined as a coolie, she has been taking away some nice customers under our very nose..."
Prads and Jeevs shouted in unison, "A girl coolieeee!!!!!!"
Swats smiled and teased them, "These days girls are everywhere... Girls at signals as Traffic police directing the vehicles...Girls as bus conductors handing over tickets... Girls at Petrol pumps filling the gas for your vehicles... And now at railway stations carrying off your loads... Yo! Girl Power... This makes a great story... a great emotional story"

What Goes Into Getting A Yes

2011-06-05T00:04:00.000-07:00

"Two-thousand five hundred short", shouted Jeevs. Jeevs or Jeevitha was disheartened at the funds collected for the summer tour planned for her batch of first years. She poured her heart out to her class-mate Swasthee or Swats and their senior friend Pradhyumna or Prads over a cup of coffee. And her story of plight was abruptly interrupted by Surendra, colleague of Prads.

Surendra requested for some help. Prads innocently asked, "Go ahead. Ask me.. Is it some project you have been doing...or do you want some money?" Surendra shook his head, "No re!... I have been rejected once again..." Prads was not able to understand his friend completely and confusingly asked, "You are looking for a job change?" Girls are quick in grasping things and so was Swats as she put it nicely, "They say face is the mirror of the mind... I don't know about that... but here Suri's face looks like a noticeboard to me and the noticeboard reads 'I have been again rejected by a girl'"

Suri asked the young girls, "Whats wrong with me? Is it my looks???" Jeevs looked at Swats and Swats teased Suri, "If looks could kill.. we would have been in the ICU by now, with you standing in front of us. I think beauty is in the eyes of the beholder... ", Jeevs was more critical, "Its boys who always look for the beauty... I have not seen a male poet or a writer who doesn't describe the heroine's figure and anatomy when it comes to her introduction... And if the girls look for the same in a boy, how can you men object to that...."

Prads saw that Suri was saddened by the comment and he tried to divert the topic from looks, "But girls above 25 look much more than looks. They look for security etc...." Suri got back into the conversation, "Yeah... And this girl was twenty six......"
Swats found that a bit absurd, "All those things like job, security comes before the ladki-dekho program... In the event of ladki-dekho, it all depends on how the boy presents himself..."
Suri found it unacceptable, "Its not a job interview!! Here there are elders to do that job for me..." Jeevs found it absurd, "Shit! 'Elders to do that job for me?' Would you say the same thing to your wife on the first night..."
Swats decided to cool Jeevs, "Jeevs! Its not that Suri can't present himself.... Its his respect for elders that stops himself from talking about himself in front of them... Remember his favorite book is Ramayana..."

Prads found that teenagers were hurting his friend and they were not aware of it, "Suri! Girls these days expect more from the boys.She may have wanted to tell you her vision of what she wants from her husband and whats her future ambitions....."
Innocent Suri summed his thoughts, "On seeing her, I was ready to fulfill all her aspirations. I didn't think for a second if those aspirations would clash with my ideals."
Jeevs laughed out loud, "Even in bollywood, they have stopped using such lines... Come out of the east-man color movies of the seventies.."
Swats was more polite in answering, "Even your close friend Prads couldn't read your mind when you first told him that you got rejected. Then how can you expect the girl, a complete stranger to believe that you would place the world at her feet and fulfill all her dreams..."

Suri was able to comprehend Swats words, "Hmmm... I need to change my mindset completely... How I'd love to have someone who could give me a crash course for this ladki-dekho program..."
Jeevs now rose for the occasion with enthusiasm, "I can train you in a week... All it would cost is just Rupees two thousand five hundred only...And I will make Girls see you in an avataar that they can't resist."

The Golden Balloon

2011-05-29T05:16:00.000-07:00

However busy one is, one needs to take time out to celebrate his good friend's birthday. Yups! It was Swats birthday and wasn't she delighted to see her elder friend Prads waiting for her outside the campus waiting for the classes to get over.
The birthday girl made her way out of the campus along with Jeevitha (Jeevs).

She asked Prads, what every birthday girl would normally ask, "Where is my birthday gift?" Prads smiled, "Tell me what do you want and I will get it for you. But don't ask me for the moon or Rahul Dravid. " Just then a colorful van whizzed passed them up and the van contained all types of balloons and Swats,like Sita Mata spoke, "Wow! what a colorful balloon. I have never seen such a golden balloon. Pradhyumna! I want that golden balloon as my gift..."

Prads got into action and jump started his bike just to be stopped by Jeevs as she spoke some philosophical nonsense, "Its all Maya...Illusion. Can't you see! Like Sita fell for the maya of the golden deer, so is this great lady here... falling for the maya of the golden baloon. She sent her husband Lord Ram and rest is history... "
Swats shouted at her friend Jeevs, "He is not Lord Ram and you are not Lucky Singh either... " Swats didn't complain about her being compared to Sita because she knew Sita was very beautiful. Swats turned to Prads, "What are you waiting for! Its normal for Jeevs to get jealous on seeing a boy like you doing anything for me...."

Prads went behind the Golden balloon not wanting to be sandwiched between these two girls. As he went around the turn some yards away and disappeared from their eyesight, they heard a thud sound and a shriek from Prads.
Swats got a lump in her throat as Jeevs joked, "Seems like that he has been wasted"
Swats gave a frantic call, "Start your vehicle...lets go find him now..."
Jeevs laughed, "Its hardly that distance. Go walking and find for yourself. Nautanki math kar...."

Swats shows her golden feet,"I am wearing golden heels re.. Those balloons had a matching color. That's why I insisted them... I can't run, baby!..."
Jeevs thought Swats was acting too smart and she spoke in the 'ramayana spirit' "I am not leaving you alone in this college ashram..."
Swats wanted to bash her, "Seems... you are possessed by your dead granny's spirit. I know there are many ravans here. They have just one head, but they look as though they have twenty eyes. But I can take care of myself..."

Jeevs refused to leave the place nor allowed her vehicle to be touched by Swats. Swats lost her cool and shouted, "If you don't do something now to help my friend out, I will throw these heels at your face"
Jeevs laughed, "If you can remove the heels to do a act of violence like hitting me why can't you remove it and run down the street and find for yourself what happened to Prads?"
Without waiting for Swats to answer, "I will tell you why you will not do like that. You have lost the power to make proper decisions. That has happened because your Buddhi(thinking) has become brasth (corrupt). And your buddhi became brasth because you got krodh (angry). And you got angry, because you had kaam (desire). And you got Kaam because of Sangham (Proximity)...."
It was the height of puranic overdose and without thinking further, Swats took her heels and flung it at Jeevs who was had stepped two steps back. Jeevs ducked and escaped from being hit. But Poor Prads with bruised feet who had made it to the campus gate was hit by the heels in his right eye"

A crowd gathered to see what was happening and the college principal came down asking for an explanation. Prads didn't know what to say and very stupidly handed the baloon to Swats and said, " MANY MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY"

The Swayamvar

2011-05-08T05:16:00.000-07:00

Swats or Swasthee got bored waiting for the pooja at the temple and asked her elder friend Pradhyumna or Prad, who had forced her to come there to tell her a pucca time-pass story. Prads thought that a mythological story would suit the situation. But she wanted something futuristic. So Prads smiled and decides to convert the mythological story he had selected into a story of Swats herself from the pages of her future life,
*********************
"It was Swats' 24th birthday and her father has arranged for her swamayamvar. Who's who of India were there. IPL superstars. Bollywood heroes. Indian Idol singers. Even the Gods in the heaven wanted to attend the swayamvar after hearing about her beauty. But sage Narad, the heavenly wanderer of the seven worlds told them that the girl had already selected a simple human soul as her life partner and the garland would be put around his necks
Her selection looked like a mixture of Harry Potter and Abhishek... only difference is he didn't had a wand and he was not a flop show. And his name was Rahul.But the Gods became jealous and Lord Varun said "He may have cast his spells, but we too have some tricks in our bags..." and Lord Vayu added "and he may be lucky till now. But not any more."
The four gods decide to make her choice very difficult by participating n the Swayamvar by taking on Rahul's appearance. When Swasthee came to the stage with the garland in her hands, she found five rahuls to her surprise. And she was not Draupadi to select five men as her husbands.Swayamvars usually had a MC who would introduce the eligible bridegrooms. For this swayamvar, Goddess Saraswathi was herself the MC. And Swats looked towards her for help. Saraswathi had a tough task on her hand. Being a Goddess, she cant allow the Gods lie to be caught because of her and at the same time, being a woman, she didn't want to do injustice to Swats.

The four gods are Agni, Vayu, Indra and Varuna. Saraswathi introduced the first guy, I mean, the first Lord, Lord Agni "This guy is Rahul....Rahul Number 1...He is from the City of Gods i.e Kerala and a doctor by profession. When he keeps his stethoscope on young girls heart, their heart beats stop... And yes, he loves idlis....."
Saraswathi was stressing on the word idli and Swats immediately ordered idlis. The white idlis when it went into mouth of the fire god, it automatically became Black.
Swats said, "Are you eating idlis or black coal?" And she said without thinking she was talking to a God, "You are fired..."

Next Rahul was the cool Lord Varun, the lord of rains. "This is Rahul... Rahul number 2... doesn't he look really cool?"
Swats listened carefully and read between the lines and guessed that this guy was also a impostor and said, "You look cool with a pretty face.But you could be fool with a dirty mind.How to know your mind is beautiful?... my psychiatrist friend once said that a person with a good mind would have really nice handwriting. Would you write a prem-pathr addressed to me?"
The rain-god didn't foresee the trick and fell for it. Swats ordered paper and pen and as soon Lord Varun touched the paper,it became wet.
Swats smiled, "I knew kids who wetted their pants with fear...I muss say dude you sweat buckets...."

Now Goddess Saraswathi came to the third Rahul.. Lord Vayu... The Air god., "Here is Rahul... Rahul number three.... is he your rahul? The one whose name you want to write in every breath of yours.... "
Swats guessed it and without shyness declared, "Gosh! I am sure you are mine and I want to feel you in my arms before I garland you."
Lord Vayu was not prepared for this when Swats suddenly embraced her in front of everyone and.... did she feel anything???. She felt nothing...only emptiness because air has no substance, "Wow! You are so light weight....Damn! You just got dissolved in ma arms.Don't you think you are a bit too romantic? I need someone realistic......."

Next in line was Lord Indra, God of the heavens. Goddess Saraswathi herself didn't like Indra. Indra was known for roving eyes and earlier had been known for trapping wives of rishis when they were not at home,"This guy is Rahul... Rahul number four... He may have seen many girls, but once his eyes fell on you, he has not seen any other girls.. Bring any apsara before him and he will not be tempted..."
Swats got the message, "You mean he has his indriyas under his control. So all the apsaras of the heaven like Rambha, Menaka and Thilothamma won't have any effect on him.." she deliberately missed one apsara.
So Indra spoke out without even thinking, "You missed my favorite one... Urvashi..."
Swats gracefully told him, "O Lord! You might get many other. But I need a one woman man"
All the gods made their exit after praising Swats for her intelligence and giving her their blessings...
Swats then looked at the real Rahul and said...."I always knew you are the one. From the time I saw this shyness of yours I fell for u. People could copy your looks but not your innocence..."
*****************
Suddenly the prayer bells rang and everyone was called for pooja and Swats had only one wish, "Oh God! Make this story come true in the future...at least some parts..."

(Adapted from Damayanthi Swayamvar appearing in the Mahabharatha)

Till Death do us apart... Can it?

2011-05-01T04:15:00.000-07:00

"Some people never grow up.. As a kid, they have this ability of conjuring false stories around them.. And they keep holding on to it, even after they have grown up" ,said Pradhyumna to his young friend Swasthee. Swats was surprised and she queried, "Whom are you refering to..."
Prads didn't had to answer. All he did was point his finger at the cafe's entrance. There was Spandana, Swats good friend. Though she was intelligent, it seemed that she just told hard to believe real life experiences. And that day also she had a tale to tell.

Swats tried to make the environment a bit romantic and broached up a topic, "I love the atmosphere at the cafe. There are so many beautiful pairs.They seem to be made for each other..."
Prads rebuked the statement, "There is no such thing as 'made for each other'.All of them are 'mad for each other'. And you just can't say by looking at them that they are made for each other. You have to see their entire life as to how they live their life for each other"
Spandana agreed on that one, "That reminds me of my uncle Sudeep and his wife Ragini..."

Prads just smiled and whispered to Swats, "Shatabdhi express suro hogayii..." And no one dared to stop Spandana, "My aunt Ragini and uncle Sudeep came to the big bad city some five years back to settle down after they got married. Uncle Sudeep had got a job in the RTO. They were looking for a home to be called their own." As if to irritate Prads, Spandana broke into a song, "Do deewane sheher mein... abudhana dhoondthe hain." Prads chose to remain silent after observing her very long polished nails.
Spandana's story suddenly turned mysterious after the song, "At the first house,my uncle experienced something very strange. He felt as if he was being smocked by some invisible forces. He felt it hard to breath.My uncle felt some extreme heat inside the building. The broker got them out of the apartment and into the open air..."
Prads had to comment, "May be... he got the premonition of his wife choking him to death on his failure to gift her on their first wedding anniversary"

Spandana was totally absorbed in the story, "A minute after they walked out of the apartment, the whole apartment went up in flames. The broker was shocked and thanked my uncle for saving his life and also commented, 'You are gifted and able to foresee the danger...' But my uncle thought otherwise and said that it was just a coincidence."
Prads smiled at the way she was building up the story, "And you too are gifted...."

Spandana continued her 'real' story, "If a strange thing happens once, it should happen again. So it did...My aunt and uncle were showed another apartment which was still at the construction stage...And this time my uncle felt something sharp and heavy fall on his head and that too from great heights. There was no injury marks, but my uncle just couldn't explain the pain he was going through. They took him to a side tea stall. Before even they could take a sip of their tea, they heard a deafening sound. They looked across the road and saw that a huge pane of glass which was being lifted by a crane to be fixed on the eleventh floor fell onto the ground crushing some bystanders"
Prads. criticized Spandana's story, "Are you are just telling the story to entertain us? or does it really have anything to do with the statement 'Made for each other'?"

Spandana cleared her thought, "Listen completely!!! My Uncle thought that this was far more than premonition. His mind started giving him crazy ideas. He got the feeling that maybe death was after him.If this went on, then his life would be hell and so would be the life of his dear wife ragini who has to bear with it all."
Prads knew the next part, "And so he decided to make the sacrifice and leave his wife... Love triangle hain kya? I mean... tumhare aunt ka koi purana boyfirend tha..."
Spandana, "No! For her uncle was the world.. But my uncle refused and left her and started staying alone.And then one day he got the news that his wife has met with an accident and was in a critical condition. He immediately run to the hospital. There he saw a blackish apparition that no one else present there were able to see...It was death himself... And it talked to my uncle..."

Prads couldn't control himself laughing, "Spandana! Thank you very much. Though I am thirty two, many say I just look like sixteen years. You must have taken them seriously"
Spandana was more focused on the climax of her story "Death like any typical bollywood villain had to tell my uncle his scheme, 'You are such a fool... I was always after your wife... but because of your selfless love, your soul was able to foresee the danger and save her life every time I came close to her... but your mind ditched you completely by depicting the picture that you could bring her some harm... and you believed it and deserted your wife making my job very easy...Why can't u be like that hero who said 'Ek baar jo maine commitment kar diâ...uske baad toh main khud ki bhi nahin sunta!' You shouldn't have listened to yourself"
Prads laughed and slowly whispered to Swats, "The movie 'Wanted' released just a year ago...as far as I know"
Spandana didn't hear it as she had completely lost hold of the real word "Just then doctor came in and with a dull face showered the bad news to my uncle that Ragini was showing unexpected changes in her health conditions and it was impossible to treat her. At that time my uncle began to experience some changes in health and he got suddenly ill and started sweating profusely as if his blood pressure rose...My Uncle maintained his pose and said to the doctor, "Gosh! Please put me on observation... by observing me, you will know what dangers await her in advance and accordingly you can treat her. As you have no other alternative, you need to agree on this one"
Prads started loving the crazy story, "And the rational doctor believed it and started treating Ragini by observing changes in your uncle . Must be first such case in medical history ..."
Spandana smiled, "Yes... and then they saved her... Death put his tail between his legs and departed from the scene..."
Swats put an end to the story ,"And they lived happily till death did them apart...
err I mean.. It can't..."

Prads paid the bill and prepared to leave, "Spandana, I don't know what you will become in life. But one thing is for sure.. U will be a great mother who will put her kids to bed very easily with some very 'real life experiences'"

Sajjanre Jhoot Math Bolo...

2011-04-24T03:51:00.000-07:00

"Don't wait for things to happen.. make them happen"
Swats believed in the quote and she wanted to bring love into the life of her good friend Pradhyumn or Prads. She was trying her best though providence didn't seem to support her.The girl she had in her mind was her senior Spandana. Their first meeting was disastrous (Read here). But Swats was not to be dejected by such incidents . So she whisked away Prads once again and this time to spandana's home to meet her family.

Prads opened the heavy gates to her home and kept his left foot first. And then a frantic young man came running out of the house and fled past them, all the time yelling like a madman, "I thought I was going to see a angel. But there is a devil inside which feeds on human parts.." Swats felt a little odd and sensed that it was very bad timing. Looking at the young man who was happy to see the open gates, Prads crooned humorously (from the eagles hotel california) pointing at the house, "You can check out any time you want, but you can never leave..."

It definitely was not a Ghost House as they found worried parents on the Sofa and a full-bindas girl who has come of marriagble age, Spandana, in front of the computer. Prads who was neither young nor old was able to read the plight of the parents, "Another proposal rejected by your girl?" Before they could answer, Angry voice of Spandana filled the entire house, "I didn't reject him.... You will never believe as to what happened here before you guys moved in... " and she narrated the story

"When I was told that a boy called Sajjan was coming to see me, I was confused. As a young girl, I also dreamed of love and marriage. But I also dream of being independent and being self sufficient. So I turned to the net for help. And exactly on the strike of twelve, a fairy god mother appeared....on my google chat window and after hearing my story handed me the first edition of Pinocchio and like our family priest, advised me, 'Light a lamp in front of this book and read this story 12 times before next day morning and see the results' I didn't question her and did as I was instructed to do...

Next day, the bridegroom appeared and he failed to sweep me off my feet. I kept my mouth shut and eyes fixed on the clock hoping to see his back at the earliest. But my good parents vacated the room allowing us much unwanted privacy to speak our hearts out. And it seemed, whenever he opened his mouth, he said only things in his praise and that too, lies, 'I did my Ph.d In Economics from Win-Cheaters University and now working for the logistics department for a health-care facility in States. Though I am working abroad for a long time, I have not picked up any bad habits like smoking and drinking.' Suddenly Sajjan's nose began to shrink. And I began to laugh out aloud realizing that fairy god mother was working her spell. The spell was a newer version and with some modification - whenever the guy lies, his nose would shrink rather than grow.

Seeing me smile, the modern day Pinocchio started making confessions,'Hmm... I do smoke but not more than 2 smokes a day... I do drink but only when there is a occasion to do so..." The nose shrank further and that had me in complete splits. Cupid struck the boy as he admitted, "You have a beautiful smile. I loved those dimples. I have never seen a girl with such a beautiful smile..." And I laughed more not for his silly romantic lines but for his fast shrinking nose. I wanted to see them disappear

So I put forward my feelings, "I am not expecting a perfect boy with no vices whatsoever. All I want from my boy is not take the name of his old girlfriends in front of me and to be at home before the sun sets and be faithful to me..." And the boy dropped to his knees and proclaimed and it looked to be taken directly from his curriculum vitae, 'If I get appointed as your husband, I promise to serve you with utmost faith and love and so on... ' and I went 'Wow' as I saw his nose nearing to its extinction from his face.

I had to reject the proposal and did it in a cool manner,"Don't take me wrong. But I feel you are desperate and isliye lying all the way. I want someone who is more truthful and one who speaks his hearts out without being afraid....I hope you are not hurt' Sajjan was really hurt yet lied, 'No! Its okay. Your life and your choice.'...."
And before Spandana could complete the story, Prads interrupted with a stern voice, "And his nose completely disappeared. He realized this as he went to the washroom to wash his REAL tears. The frightened guy just let out shrieks and ran out of the house...Rite???"

Spandana was dipped in the pleasure she was deriving from the story, "Yups! Exactly!"
Spandana's mother had prepared a cake for the occasion and Spandana wanted to celebrate and she started with the outer cream. That's when Prads bluntly said, "Do you think I would digest this stupid story of yours? Why it couldn't be that you got tired of his lies and just landed a punch on his face?"
Spandanda looked at him with the cream filled hand which stopped midway to her mouth, "No! I didn't do anything like that...."
Prads laughed and said, "Look! your nose has already started shrinking"
Spandanda placed her cream filled hands on her nose and she looked no different than a buffoon from the local circus.

Is this called 'Falling in Love' ?

2011-04-17T03:08:00.000-07:00

Swasthee or Swats had promised her friend Spandana that she would come down to pick her up. So even if it was eight o clock she was there at the station. Very courageous. Any girl would be when she has a elderly friend like Pradhyumna or Prads besides her. And when the train finally arrived, Swats had a wise comment to be made which was definitely picked from somewhere,"Now I know what does IST mean... Indian Stretchable Time..." As soon as the train arrived, Prads was made the coolie and the luggage got shifted from the train to the bus. They still had some sixty kilometers to covered by the bus.

Spandana looked still energetic and instead of taking a little nap, she took up another book and started reading it.Definitely the book was not some paper back novel.Rather it had such heavy words like finance and commerce that made Swats jaw drop and eyes feel sleepy. She turned towards Prads and saw him selecting some songs on his music player.

Girls sometimes get strange ideas and what is even strange is that the Lord Almighty says yes to it. Looking once at Prads and then at Spandana, Swats started dreaming of prads falling in love with Spandana.And like the witch in the old siticom bewitched, she twitched her nose. And it seemed to work though not as Swats would have liked it. Prads felt that music could be better enjoyed with lights switched off and asked the driver of the bus to do ao.

When the lights got switched, Spandana's moods also got switched. Now anger was written all over her face as she shouted at the conductor, "Abhe Andhe! Can't you see... I am reading...#@^*&%~ "
Prads was amazed by the language of Spandana. Swats looked at Prads' dumb-stuck face and expressed to herself, "Don't tell me that he is falling for her selection of abusive words"

Prads was a gentleman and said very gently "Madam! It is not at all healthy to read in a moving bus... and besides tat, I thought you must be really tired from the train journey... You should take some rest"
But Spandana was not the type who liked being told what was wrong and what was right, "Even in computers, I don't ever click the help button..."
Swats immediately gave a angelic smile and thought, "Dialogue maar rahi hain... is she trying to impress my handsome friend"
Spandana continued, "I know what's best for me... Keep your advice in your own pockets...Mind it, Idiot!!!!"

Prads who didn't raise his voice till now lost his cool, "Gosh! Why am I unnecessarily getting into a brawl with you, egoistic girl! Read a novel or do whatever you wish... I don't mind at all!!! Burn in hell!!!"
Swats was disappointed, "In the first rendezvous itself, they are cursing each other. Even those MLAs in the parliament are slightly better. How will love bloom in such a atmosphere. Oh God! I thought you said yes to my wish.."

Then she heard a voice in her mind.She was not sure it was her atma-sakshi(inner conscience) or the almighty himself answering her. But She felt it was God's voice because she heard a male voice answer her, "Haven't u seen those romantic bollywood movie.When somebody hates someone they think more of them... more than they would have had they loved them. And in the first rendezvous there should always be a war of words. Now they go home and yearn to see each other so that they can curse once again and would be waiting for the next time...This yearning would make them definitely come together once again and then see for yourself what would happen!!!"

Swats didn't like the waiting game but she couldn't do anything, "Damn You! God! You leave me with no choice."

She deserves better

2011-04-02T09:20:00.000-07:00

Pradhyumna's parents were at Karthika's place discussing as to how the marriage proposal was to be finalized. Swasthee, being Prad's good friend should have been present there. But she was at the local beach with Prad's best buddy Surendra.

Surendra felt betrayed by his best friend Pradhyumna. He found Pradhyumna guilty of stealing his girl Ksrthika. Swasthee thought surendra may be suffering from a severe heartache and may need some consolation.

But Surendra was a strong person and said with a angelic face, "She got what she deserves..."
Swats still pricked him, "But don't tell me you are not mad at your best buddy"
Surendra said. "I think she deserved some one better than ma and Prads is the best choice..."
Swats was surprised by the words. At the same time she felt sad that her task was cut short.She loved the task of consoling muscular men who wept buckets in front of her.

Surendra carried forward the conversation, "A panchathantra story helped me to come out of this." Swats may have been transformed from a playful child to a beautiful girl a long time back but she was still a child in her heart and wanted to listen to the story. Surendra sat down for his story telling session,"There was a sage living near the banks of a river. Once he found a small rat and took some special care of it. The care turned into liking and he got the rat converted into a cute baby girl. The sage brought it up like his own child and gave it all the love and education. Soon, it turned to a beautiful girl and it was the time for its marriage. That's when sage decided that she had to get the best"

Swats was enjoying this story where the girl was the center of the attention, "Girls should be given all the attention. Did the sage arrange a swayamvara for her?"
Surendra shook his head, "More than that! The sage decided that the strongest one in the world should get the hands of his adopted girl. So he asked Adithya to make his presence felt there"
Swats good a bit confused, "Adithya chopra? maker of dilwala dulhaniya le jayenge... how is he powerful? He only makes young girls weak by making them dream a lot."
Surendra continued, "Adithya, the maker of days and nights. The largest of the stars, the sun himself. But the rat-girl refused vehemently saying 'he is too hot to handle'...."
Swats smiled, "She's right. Being hot is the quality of a girl not of a boy... she very well knew that..."

Surendra continued, "Adithya, the sun god thanked his stars and advised the sage on the powerful one he knew, 'It is the Megh-Raj, (Lord of clouds) who is the strongest... before him I am nothing... when he shows up on the horizon that too in his darkest form, he makes me go into hiding like Bush did to Osama..."
So Megh-Raj was summoned immediately. Megh-Raj came down and the rat girl's face showed her dislike, "He is too dark, Daddy!"
Swats broke into a song, "hum kaale hain tho kya hua... dil waala hain... Megh-Raj must have said something like that na..."
Surendra smiled a bit, "No! He is not a nautanki like you. Rather he was happy on the proposal getting quashed and advised the sage, "Dear learned one. I am not the strongest. When the winds come,I am nowhere to be seen... "

Surendra allowed the cool breeze to brush through his hairs before continuing the story, "But the girl refused the wind lord too saying, 'He is too chanchal...He doesn't stay at one place... how can I make him dance to my tune all the time... NO!... papa... No!. The wind lord looked at the girl and suggested the bride's father, "I think you have misjudged me. There is someone stronger than me. That is Parbath Singh (The Mountain Prince).When a mountain shows up on my path, I just bow down to him. Only poets say 'hum chatton ko heela saktha hain' I definitely cant."
Swats didn't disturb the flow of the story and was eagerly waiting to know the var the rat-girl had selected.
Surendra started the parbhat singh's tale, "Parbhat singh came on to the stage. The rat girl instantly took a dislike to him,"Father, look at him! His belly is showing up.If this is the state now, just think what would happen ten years from now. How can I go to parties with him without getting embarrased."

Swats found the girl a bit too choosy, "If she goes on rejecting offers like this, she may end up being a kuvari..."
Surendra was nearing the end of the story, "Parbhat singh was sad, but he decided to help the old sage and dispensed his advice, "She is right...I am big and fat and i am also not the strongest. I should be humble enough to accept this. A creature which is much much smaller than me makes me cry a lot.He makes thousand holes inside me and digs mud out of me... in a way he is taking the life out of me". The sage without even thinking spoke, "Who is that guy?" and sprinkling some water onto the air, he made the creature appear in front of him. And there was no bounds for girls joys as the creature appeared before her. The girl liked him immediately and instantly choose him as her husband, "Small, Short and simple. Nice eyes.. Nice teeth.. I love him" It was a male rat!!! The sage learned his lesson and with a sigh declared, "Whatever one does, one can't change the destiny. He will get only what he deserves. You deserve a rat and you got it."

Swats was not at all happy on hearing the climax of the story and she chased Surendra all aroung the place cursing him and shouting out loud, "How dare you address my good friend prads as a rat?"

I want to live....

2011-03-24T07:44:00.000-07:00

Prads was traveling along with Swats to the place of Karthika, the new girl in his life. The public transport vehicle they were traveling in was much like a ghost vehicle with the driver at the wheels and the conductor at the other end and there were hardly ten passengers including Prads and Swats.
There was no music playing inside the vehicle.Yet Prads was lost in his own world. From the small coastal town, he went to the big bad city to the girl who had said goodbye to him. Swats realized this from his sober face and immediately got up and instructed the conductor to bring the vehicle to stop.

As Swats got down and the bus prepared to move,a speeding lorry came from the corner and just smashed the bus from the behind...reducing it to smithereens. Swats was left speechless by the site of the destruction. She just prayed that nothing would have happened to her good friend Prads.

But at the moment of collision, All thoughts came running to his mind. His life got replayed in front of him... specially the moments with the girl from the big bad city... the meeting, the exhange, the breakup and etc and etc and he yelled out "Gowthami...."
From heavens above and on the newly constructed four lane to the earth was coming, a white sedan with Yamadhoothas(Agents of death). They were driving smoothly and they were not aware of the vishnu doothas(guardian angels) who were just behind them in the bLUE maruthi omni. Yamadhootas didn't seem to take the warning, "objects appearing in the mirror may be closer than they appear" very seriously. But after some time, they realized that vishnudoothas were gaining speed. Yama dhootha's didn't want to lose a prey this time around and stepped on the gas and the chase ensued. Though they didn't had a advanced vehicle, the vishnu doothas had their lords name in their favor. One "jai shri raam" and their maruthi moved like a lighting and they touched the base. Before the yamadhoothas could even lay their fingers on Prads, vishnudoothas had formed a vyuha around the young man with their semi automatic weapons pointed at the yamadhootas

One of the yamadhootas spoke out, "Comon!!! Why this time around?.This guy is a not a ardent devotee of the almighty. He is just a wastrel.He wastes his time thinking of a girl who doesn't even care for his existence..."
Vishnudoothas spoked out, "That is selflessness,a good quality... loving someone without expecting to be loved back. And our lord is present in all good qualities" Swats who was nearby swung into action and shouted out, "That's not selflessness.. that's stupidity... yearning for something that cannot be achieved"
Yamadhootas loved it and asked her, "You should have been with us when we went to pick the souls of Savithri's husband, markendeya and ajamila.Gosh... its time Yama, recruited such bright youngsters.. directly from the campus"

Yamadhootas said very bluntly to the vishnudoothas, "Whatever it is... We were just instructed not to touch a guy who remembers god during his final breaths... here he has not done that na... so how come you are obstructing our job?"
Vishnudoothas smiled and said, "Naa... you have wrongly misinterpreted our lord's words.Our lord hari is everywhere.. and when a human acknowledges it, it is like remembering God... This guy Prads saw God in his girl Gowthami...and that way he has remembered our lord"
Swats could not control herself laughing out aloud at this statement and pointing finger at the vishnudootha who made that statement she commented, "And this guy must have seen Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi last night and must have fallen in love with the song... tujh mein rab diktha hain... yaara mein kya karoon..."

Yamadhoothas loved it and looked at their new 'recruit' for more guidance and to help them out.Swats gave her opinion in favour of the yamadhoothas, "If that is the case, no one in the world can be taken... Everyone is living for someone. A mother sees God in her new born baby. For a loving husband, his wife is the goddess, A devoted son would serve his parents and treat them at par with Gods. And I am one who believes in Acharya devobava... If what you say of seeing god in someone as the criteria for not touching a soul, then Japan should have been left untouched..." and then Swats thought practically and continued, "If you really stick to that dogma, What would happen to the world? It would become frozen with no deaths hardly happening..." Vishnudoothas were speechless and looked at each others faces.
Suddenly Prads rose up from his slumber and shouted at Swats,"Are you hell bent on seeing me dead... TEEK HAIN... MERI MAA... I will do as you say."
Everybody in the bus turned to Prads who suddenly had brought the bus to a halt...
Swats was embarrassed as everyone in the bus was looking at them, "Were you seeing a bad dream?"
Prads looked at her and replied, "No! Was just realizing that there's no escaping from a good friend like you..."

Angry Young Woman

2011-02-14T02:15:00.000-08:00

Unintentionally Prads had become the cause for Surendra's misery. His girl fell for Prads' charisma and prads's gud friend Swats was doing the damage control exercise. She tried to get the new girl Karthika out of Surendra's mind, "She is so fickle-minded... if she can so easily change her mind, think of what will happen to you, if she had met Prads after the marriage.. Every thing happens for good, baba"

Surendra fell for it very easily but put forward his fear, "But she looks like an angel. How can I let her go. And mother says, girls would easily forget everything once they get married..."
Swats felt like laughing, "Your mother still reads you bedtime stories. You should listen to the old elvis pressly song. He had advised boys so beautifully, 'she looks like a angel, she walks like a angel, she talks like a angel. But I got wise. She was a devil in disguise."
Sweet words of Swats made Surendra forget the lessons his mother had taught him.

Just then Prads entered and he was very mad and yells at Surendra, "That girl Karthika has gone mad. She came to my house and asked my mother for my hand. My mother first thought the girl was asking her son's hand to push some vehicle which had got stuck... She has left me confused!!!"
Swats suddenly turned to Prads, "What! A girl had come to your doorsteps and standing on her toes she had asked for you as her life partner and you have sent her away dejected.. Great! what kind of a fool you are?:"
Surendra couldn't believe what he was hearing, " You are two tongued... Gosh! All girls are confusing,,,"

Prads agreed with him, "Agreed ! After many days I got in touch with the girl from the big bad city and she messages me back, 'May I know who is this'"
Swats felt like slapping her friend Prads, "What! You tried to open a closed chapter....You very well know that you should stop looking backward and start moving forward" Prads answered her very slowly, "I know when to stop. I know when to let things go. I know when to move on. But “I know” is different from 'I can'",
Swats got really mad and she fired her anger at Surendra, "And you Mr Surendra! Listen! Don't do the mistake made by Prads... This girl Kathika is a closed chapter for you...Forget her!!!"
Surendra felf very strange, "Swasthee! First make up your mind, whom do you want to scold! Me or Prads!"

Swats felt very tired, "I think all boys are alike! All boys need to be put before the firing squad and shot at..." Leaving the sentence unfinished she starts departing from the place."
Surendra couldn't understand what was happening in Swats mind and remarked to Prads, "She is so wrong... naa...?"
Prads thinks about it and says, "No!She is very strong..." saying so, he proceeds to stop her and bowing down his head, "Tell me, my majesty! what should I be doing next? Proposing to karthika..."
Surendra left another shriek which no one would care to, :"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

Conditions Apply

2011-02-06T03:21:00.000-08:00

The old man at the reception counter in the hotel looked with curiosity at the man in his thirties sitting with two girls in the late teens.It was Prads and his two good friends Swats and Jeevs.
Prads was called to the hotel by his friend Surendra who said it was urgent. But Surendra had not yet arrived. Prads kept looking at the entrance and a beautiful lady in the late twenties arrived and marched straight towards Prads table. The old man at the reception counter just thought "Lucky Bustard..." and continued with his work.
The young lady extended her hand and made her introduction, "Hi... I am Karthika... Mom told me I can meet you here,,,,"

Prads was surprised and quickly guessed that this girl had come to meet Surendra and had mistaken him for Surendra. Without waiting for Prads to make his introduction, Karthika continued, "My mother must have told you about me. Still before you give your opinion on the alliance...I need to tell you about some conditions"
Swats and Jeevs were loving it and widening their eyes, cried out, "Marriage Alliance!"
Karthika was curious about the teenagers, "Who are these two girls... Mom told me you didn't had any sisters"
Jeevs answered, "We are his bodyguards. In this Gor kali yug, it is difficult for a single handsome bachelor to roam the streets freely. So we are here for his security. But you can talk... we will not interfere"

Swats made the introduction with just two words "Good Friends." Karthika didn't question them further and looking directly into Prad's eyes, put forth her condition, "I don't want to have kids for at least next three years..."
Prads' jaws dropped down and he again tried to interrupt the girl. Swats coughed a little,hinting Prads not to stop the fun. She tried to give a glimpse of Prad's dreams to Karthika, "You know... My Good Friend was just talking about how he would like to gift his wife with a baby girl - a miniature version of herself on their first wedding anniversary... Am I right, Prads"
Prads with a smiling face nodded his head, "Completely... Definitely...." and in a filmy tone added, "I want to make my mom and dad, grandparents at the earliest"

Karthika tried to talk some sense into him, "Hmm... Its our life... We need to set our life and get our priorities right and then only we can think of starting a family...Don't you agree"
Jeevs didn't want to be left out of the fun, "You need a year and more for setting priorities. I believe you can do it before the dosa we ordered comes"
Swats also discouraged Karthika's view, "You know my grandparents had ten children. They never bothered about how to take care of them or give them the best. My granny used to tell me that grandpa always said, "God is there... He will show a way""

Karthika was literally fuming with anger, "Mr Prospective Bridegroom!!! I have not come for a group discussion here with some silly teenagers. Is my condition very clear to you???"
Prads found her conditions somewhat unethical as he reasoned out, "Why are you marrying anyway? If you put such a condition, wouldn't it be wrong. Think about it ethically. I feel that such a condition would make one look like selfish. It seems the one making such a condition wants just the fun out of the marriage and not the responsibility arising out of it. Remember a quote from Kahlil Gibran, 'Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.' So why interrupt such a natural process. Its my view and I would like to stick to it. I am not asking you to agree with it. But I don't want to argue any further..."

Karthika was taken aback when the polite Prads ended his thought with such a statement.
Prads made it clear that he was not being impolite, "I don't want to argue any more because here comes the man of the moment. Your prospective bridegroom!"
Prads friend Surendra made his entrance and extended his hand, "Sorry! Got stuck in traffic.. "
Karthika looked at him for a moment and then turned towards Prads, "But I like you... I like a man who sticks to his viewpoint strongly... however silly and absurd it might be. That's what I want in a man." Saying so, she walked away without even giving Surendra, another look.
Swats immediately quizzed Jeevs, "What was the song in Sangam that Raj Kumar croons when his best friend steals his girl?"
Surendra himself started singing that song very emotionally and the girls gave him the chorus, "Dost Dost Na Raha... Pyar Pyar Na Raha..."

Heal the heart and make it a better place.

2011-01-31T05:36:00.000-08:00

Swats is sitting on the beach with Prads and enjoying the Sunset. She also had more company in the form of Prad's friend Surendra, A middle aged lecturer,tall but very lean. Surendra proudly announces 'Ab tak chappan!' Prads describes his friends slogan to the confused Swats, "Don't worry! He is not telling his murder count. All he wants to say is that he has so far seen that many girls...Marriage proposals, to be precise. But no one has said yes to him... but still he goes on and on and on..." Swats felt that Prads was mocking at his friend. At that point, the Surendra sings "yeh hosla kaise jhuke...:" from the movie dor. Swats felt as if she was watching Popeye. She smiled at Surendar and turning to Prads, "At least he is not sticking to something which is not achievable like you... " and turning to Surendra, "How do you do that? I mean how are you so positive"

Surendra in a very soothing voice explains his secret, "Because I know that the future is beautiful... All I have to do is keep my hope floating" Swats wishes "Gosh!!! If only I knew the future of Prads... I could have convinced him...." Surendra takes his spectacles and gives it to Swats who is taken by surprise, "Wear this and you will be able to get some picture of his future?"
For some it would be difficult to believe in miracles... but for Swats it has become a norm.

And she put on the specs and the sea in front of her disappeared.Instead of that she saw a garden and a young girl of six years old skipping in the garden along with a kitten. Swats without taking her eye off the child questioned Surendra, "You told me I would be able to see the future... All I am able is to see a young girl playing with a kitten!!!... is this Pogo Channel?... Is this specs like DTH?... Direct to home now made as Direct to eyes....DTE!!!"
Surendra laughs at the joke, "See her properly and try to recognize her..."
Swats was able to guess the features, "Gosh! Same nose! Same eyes! She looks like Prads... You mean! uski bachchi..." She was more curious and looked at the benches nearby "And Where is the mother? Where is Prad's future wife?"

Just then a man came near to the girl and hugged her. His hairstyle resembled Akshay Khanna's and his stomach seemed to have grown a lot. He called the girl very sweetly "Swasthee... Come to Pa". Swats was thrilled to hear her name and a smile came on her lips and tears in her eyes. But she was angry at what Prads had done to himself, "Gosh! whatever happened to Prads in the future? Look at him in the present. He is so athletic " Prads was completely unaware of the happening. He was watching the sunset and was totally immersed in it. Surendra tried to answer her question, "May be that's what happens when a man gets lots of love and happiness in life"

Swats herself had forgotten the question and was more curious of the girl in Prad's future "where is the mother of the girl?" It seems the young girl heard her and she too started crying "I want my mother. I want her before the moon comes on the sky" Prads comforted the gal "Have patience, Swasthee... She will come now.... You know your mother is like that.... She makes one wait..."
The young girl suddenly asked "Is my mother your first love?"
Prads answered with a twinkle in his eye "No! I was in such a stage when love and pain became synonyms to me... But when I felt that pain was beyond bearable, your mother made her entry" and suddenly the young girl ran towards the garden entrance shouting gleefully, "Mummy!!! Mummy!!!" Before Swats could get a clear view of the mother... the vision gets blurred and suddenly it went blank. After some time,the usual Doordarshan multi-colored interruption signal appeared in front of her eyes and then the words in block letters SORRY FOR THE INTERRUPTION"

Swats was very mad at Surendra "What the hell! I want to SEE the girl in Prads life and I want to see her NOW!!! " Surendra shrugged his shoulders, "But you cannot."
Swats was very near to break his neck,"And may I know why?"
Surender smiled and answered, "Had one been able to see his girl he would get in his life... I wouldn't be here.... I would have been at home cooking for my wife... and the count would have been just one"
Swats got very frustrated and just started walking away.Surendra stopped her and comforted her, "Its not the exact future you saw.. Its the future you want for him that you saw." and after a pause, he added, "Don't worry about Prads. He will come out of the pain or whatever he is going through.. But you be there with him...No matter who broke his heart, or how long it takes to heal, he'll never get through it without his friends.... Remember that"

Cupid Strikes - The Inception Way

2011-01-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

Swasthee or Swats really wanted her elder friend Prads to fall in love. She even had the ideal girl selected for him - her good friend Jeevs. But she didn't like what was happening in front of her - Prads and Jeevs were gazing at the computer screen and studying the share market basics and there didn't seem to be any chemistry between them whatsoever. She looked at the heavens above for some miracle and suddenly, down dropped a handsome hunk with a bow and a arrow in his hand. He definitely looked to have come from the outer world. Swats wanted his introduction, "Err... You definitely don't seem to be from this world. Don't tell me you are from Pandora..."
The guy shrugged his shoulders and with surprise exclaimed, "Even I have to give a introduction!! Kya Gor Kalyug Hain? Doesn't this bow and arrows made of flowers suggest you something??? I am the Love God, Manmatha!!! I was able to read your beautiful mind and its small desire for your friend. So I just told to myself, 'Lets make her day'. Lets not waste time over here. Where is your good friend and the girl. I will make him fall in love very quickly..."

Swats pointed her finger at Prads and Jeevs. Manmatha's face showed some disappointment," This is definitely not a suitable place for romance. Yups there are beautiful curves... but they are on the television screen and that too not of individuals but of corporates showing their profit growths. I can see lots of figures but disappointingly they are from the annual reports and balance sheets. Everyone has just money in their mind. Here only brain is working. Love needs a place where heart is put into motion.... I need to summon my team..."
Swats immediately displayed her knowledge of mythology, "You mean... your beautiful wife.. Rati Devi...Right?"
Manmatha smiled at her, "Wrong... She has lots of household chores to attend... I have taken the team of Cobb's after I saw them in Nolan's Inception."
And in the next instance, The gorgeous Architect Ariadne appeared who was immediately put to work by Manmatha, "Change this place to a one which is more suitable for romance. Study the wavelengths of his heart..."

Swats really enjoyed the events that happened in front of the eyes. Before she could even blink her eyes, she found herself standing in the middle of a fifty feet road with shops on both the sides. It was evening with a hour to go for the sun to set and add to it the cool breeze. The weather was quite romantic indeed. She found Prads and Jeevs ordering a samosa in a nearby eating joint. Manmatha invited Swats for a coffee in the self-service restaurant opposite to the eating joint.
Manmatha loved the excitement on Swats face and hissed, "There's more to come" and he took out his love bow and pointing it towards the heaven, uttered a mantra. Swats expected the arrow of the cupid to appear. But rather a white gentleman popped up and Manmatha introduced him, "This is Earnes, the forger. He can prepare a identity." Swats surely didn't understand even a word of what Manmatha said. Manmatha instructed the forger, "All you need to do is to find out as to what kind of girl would Prads fall for and give Jeevs that identity." It didn't take the forger much time as within a minute Jeevs appearance changed. Her Churidhar made way for a jeans and full sleeves brown shirt. Her hair got trimmed till the neck and a small white purse-like bag appeared in her hand.
Jeevs who experienced the change looked around and in a very filmy fashion shouted, "Oh God! Mere Kapde...... Kisne badla?"

Swats totally loved the happenings and looked towards love God for more action. He took out the arrow and instead of shooting it, used it like a wizards wand and chanted the mantra "Expecto Patronum". Swats expected another handsome gentleman. But to her displeasure, the fat chemist Yusuf appeared. Manmatha sipped his coffee and instructed, "Use your knowledge of sedatives and mix something in the milkshake he has ordered so that he can succumb to the charms of that girl."
It took the waiter hella lot of time to get the milkshake. The same was served to Prads with the sedative. He drank it very slowly and Swats felt that he was doing so to spend more time with Jeevs. Was he already under its effect? It looked so from his amorous eyes.

He kept the glass down and clearing his throat spoke gently, "Tell me Gowthami. Did you like the books?"
Jeevs got mad and turning around shouted, "Foul Play! I am not Gowthami!!"
And in the very next moment, they were back to square one watching the sensex come crumbling down just like Swats hopes.
She looked at Manmatha for a explanation. He put his face down and out of the blue appeared another of his team member, Arthur, the researcher. He spoke, "You have completely forgotten me. You have not done homework on this guy. Now let me tell you why the exercise failed. Prads is still in love with the girl who had told him to his face that he didn't have any place in her life, not even as a friend. But he still carries feelings for her. And these feelings don't die easily because he feeds them with her memories. That eating joint, that fifty feet road, the samosa, the white bag - everything is taken from his memory which has a strong association with her. He is struggling with her memories that has manifested here and sabotaged your efforts."
Swats got the lesson from this and she spoke with some wisdom, "I get it... Its easy to fall in love... but not so easy to fall out of love..."
Manmatha agreed, "Yups! Seems like a hopeless case to me"

The Cardinal Sins

2010-12-24T18:38:00.000-08:00

Pradyumna, Swasthee and Jeevitha were sitting idle at the local park on that saturday evening. When one has nothing worth to talk about, he should gossip about the things happening around him. And following that rule, Swasthee broke the silence, "Did you hear about that naughty brat of nine years who lives at the 9th cross, was slapped by a complete stranger at this very park"
Jeevs thought what nonsense is Swats talking. But she added to the entertainment, "Did you hear about the break-in into that teenager Bhawar's house. The thief didn't take anything...He just broke the television..."
Prads wasn't the one to be left behind. He added, "Gosh! This is nothing. My Neighbor, the middle aged lady Mrs Shanthi's heels got broken and she fell and hurt her legs very badly. She is blaming her Mother-in-law"
Girls thought that Prads was definitely much better than them

Just then a weird-looking guy with spectacles who was overhearing the conversation appeared before them and confessed "It was me who is behind all the three incidents.
I am punishing people for the ar-shad vairis. Six villains of mankind" Swats felt as if this guy just walked out of B-Grade hollywood thriller movie, and inquired more about the incidents, "Ar-shad vairis? You mean Kama, Krodha, Moha, lobha, mada, matsara...Right?"
The guy was happy that the young lady knew what he was doing, "Absolutely. And the young boy was guilty of the sin of Kama."
The weirdo's words shocked them as he explained his stand, "Kama... Desire...The boy had a plastic ball... he desired for the rubber ball...he got it... and then he desired for the covering ball... His desires was just increasing. So I gave him a good thrashing and brought it to control..."
Swats couldn't stop laughing, "I thought Kama was what Emraan Hasmi does with his heroines in the movies?"
Jeevs was angry rather and said, "Baccche bhagwaan ke samaan hothe hain(Children are angels sent by God).. unko kaam se kya matlab (How can they be guilty of such a sin like Lust)..."

Swats wanted to know more on the teenager who was their classmate.The crazy guy was loving the attention the girls gave him," Moha... excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures?" Prads questioned him, "And what could be that?"
The man spoke calmly "IPL...Indian Premier League." The crazy guy loved to see the surprised look on the cute faces which was asking him for explanations. He did it like a statesman, "The cricket fever had taken the boy completely over... The boy forgot everything... his studies... his family...his friends... his girlfriend...and sat in front of the television... So It was my duty to save him before it was too late. So I broke the television..."
Jeevs was thrilled and invited him to her college, "Would you come down to our college and take a look at the laptops and mobiles of our college boys and what they do with it..."
Swats added, "Yeah... He would definitely have a field day..."

Prads was more curious of the crime committed by his neighbor, the married lady
The madman answered him without taking his eyes off the girls, "Krodh... She gets very angry at her husband and scolds him all the time...."
Swats didn't digest the explanation, "Woh tho har biwi ka janam sidh hak hain...(It is the birthright of all wives)... and don't they end up together at the end of the day..."
Jeevs remembered something she had read long back, "Do you know the basic difference between war and marriage. In marriage you get a chance to sleep with your enemy"

Jeevs got curious as to if there were any other victims. The crazy guy smiled, "No... But I want to make you my next victim. And let me tell your crime also before you question me. You are guilty of Matsara... Jealousy...You always envy Swats and her closeness with Prads. That brings a lot of negative emotions"
That made Jeevs loose her cool. She answered more aggressively, "Its confirmed that you are a madman. Who wouldn't love to have a great friend like Prads? I don't envy her but do love to be in her place and enjoy that closeness." and Jeevs was sure that it was waste trying to put some sense into the madman who had got all his interpretation of the cardinal sins completely wrong, "Anyway! Tell me How do you intend to punish me?"
The crazy guy took his penknife, "I am gonna disfigure the beautiful face of...." Before he could complete his sentence, Jeevs raised her fist ready to take on her opponent. The crazy guy laughed out loud, "What am I gonna get by attacking you. Will it remove the jealousy from your mind. No! I need to attack the object of jealousy. " And saying so he turned towards Prads.

The minute his back was turned, the girls pounced upon him and brought him down and the knife was now in the safe hands of Jeevs. But she threw it away and spoke for herself and Prads, "Why do we need Knives when we have such long nails?" Prads couldn't see any further and closed his eyes.

Even I cannot describe the assault on the poor guy. The last I heard was that the police had taken the guy into custody and they say he was traumatized by the assault and was sent to some institution and may take months before he completely recovers.

Swats in a dilemma

2010-11-28T03:15:00.000-08:00

"Secrets are to be revealed, lies are to be told and promises are to be broken". This was the advice given by Jeevs to her classmate Swats. Swats' elderly friend Prads entered at the correct time and reprimanded her for such a irresponsible act. Jeevs who had the hots for Prads was more than happy to clear the area for Prads, "The arena is yours. I will take the back seat. Lets see how will you help her our..."

Prads began his sermon with some great lines, "Promises should be made from the heart.. And if it is done so, when it is broken, a heart would also break." Swats immediately retorted, "The whole trouble is caused by this silly heart. If the promise is not broken...then my heart would break... So I am in a emotional dilemma" and then she explained her position, "When leaving my hometown, Papa dearest took a promise from me that I wouldn't fall in love until my studies are completed. But... its natural na that what you try to avoid is the thing that ultimately happens to you..." That brought a smile on Prads face, "Congrats! And who is that Lucky Guy!" Swats got angry and shouted at him, "Prads! You are elder to me and you shouldn't be congratulating me. You should talk me out of this.."

Prads got into his role quickly, "Swats!... Its not the age to fall in love!" and pointing at Jeevs he added, "When you are seeing dreams about a guy, someone else would be studying and she would outperform you in academics... "
Jeevs gave a mischievous smile and consoled Swats, "Don't worry... I would be also dreaming... And take a wild guess as to whom would I be wandering with in my dream world"
Swats ignored her and argued, "Prads! I am twenty... If not now, then when should I be falling in love?"

Prads was much elder and knew how to put some sense into her brains , "See..It is not like the earlier days.... Then, If boys didn't study, they would be sent to garage.... if girls didn't study, they would be given in marriage... This is new generation... Love comes later, ambitions and dreams come first."
Jeevs wanted to interrupt him and she did it with full smiles, "If someone is willing, I am ready to enter into a marriage now...One can continue the studies later also. Instead of coming in that public transportation system, you get a guy who will drop you daily to college and also someone to do your records and take care of the laundry too. What do you say Swats?"
Swats still had a serious face, "Prads! It is not just the age to have ambitions and dreams. It is the age when we yearn to have someone close to our hearts who can know our wants even before we can say it.." and she got poetic and continued,"Its the age when we know what is like to be in a relationship. It's the age when we know when to let emotions loose and when to control. It's the age when we respect parents and love them but also tell them when they are wrong"

Prads immediately jumped into action,"You yourself have given the answer! If you have that confidence, then tell your father that you are not doing anything wrong.. Tell him with whom you have fallen in love with... May be he will approve... By the way what is the name of that boy?"
Swats, a bit shy-fully, "Sinchan... Before she cud complete, "Strange name... is he from the north east...?" Swats continues, "Sinchan... and Bob the builder"
Prads expressed with a shock, "What!Two guys?" Jeevs commented, "It is always advisable to have a Stepney na..."
Swats explains the reason, "I am not able to make up my mind..."

Prads thought this was stupid and casually asked, "What do they do? Where are these two guys from?..." Swats replied, "One is a good for nothing who always hits at girls and the other is a mason... " Prads didn't like the answers, "Really... Great choices..." And Jeevs added to Swats answers, "And they are from Toonpur"
Prads shrugged his shoulders with confusion, "Where on the earth is this place...? Let me use google earth on the laptop.." Jeevs answered, "To know that place, you need to have a DTH with Television Set..." Swats laughed, "Bechara! He never watches TV... They are cartoon characters... " and so saying the girls giggled and started running away.

Jeevs turned around and giving a cute smile, commented, "And you too make a nice cartoon character."

Love Vs Friendship

2010-11-21T06:18:00.000-08:00

Though Monsoon Season was over, the Rains had not stopped its display of show and force on the coastal city. Trapped in their hostel were the two girls, Jeevs and Swats. Swats wanted to meet her dear friend Pradhyumn cutely called Prads.

Jeevs who had the hots for Prads was able to read this and commented on the friendship which Swats also referred to as a platonic relationship, "You are missing Prads! So am I! So how does it make you different from me." Swats gave a cool retort, " Well! I am not so selfish like you cupid struck girl! You want no one else to miss him and you want him all for yourself..You want him to take you to a different world! Uff!" Jeevs agreed and started singing the romantic single from a Aamir Khan Movie,"O mere sapnon ke saudaagar,Mujhe aisi jagah le jaa, Main chaahti hoo, mere humsafar Mujhe pariyon ki duniyaan dikhaa, Pyaar hi pyaar ho jis jagah,Mujhe aisa jahaan dikhaa"

Jeevs was full of smiles as she continued her argument, "What is love without selfishness! But mine is just a one-sided love. So not worth talking about.I still have some questions to you. Prads is a 32 year old boy! What do you think is important for him in life now? A friendship to see that time is killed or is it some romance to heal a lonely heart."
Swats wanted to prove that love is worse than friendship and came up with a nice quote she read somewhere "I sometimes feel love and death are similar. One takes the heart away and another the beats..." and continued her sermon on friendship "When in love,you always fear of hurting the other and think twice. But in friendship, there is no restrictions on your emotions... Do what you feel you want to, think of the results later. When the mind is set so free, wouldn't the heart heal by itself"

Jeevs was fully prepared with her set of arguments as she continued, "How long do you think you can be her best friend? Once a girl enters his life as a wife, would you think she would allow you to continue as a best friend... Isn't a wife, a husband's best friend?"
Swats gave a angelic smile as she answered gracefully, "Marne ke darr se koi jeena toh nahi chodta na (For the fear of death, No one stops living their life... do they?) Just because of the fear that I might not be as important to him later as I am now, why should I stop being his friend?"

Even the Rain Gods seemed to pleased by her answer and it paused its show of force. Swats was immediately out of her room and on her honda pleasure vehicle. Before departing Swats spoke her heart out on her relationship with Prads, "I don't love him... I don't need him.... I don't want him... But I love the feel I have when I am with him..."

The Blame Game!

2010-11-12T07:41:00.000-08:00

Prads was surprised to find commotion reigning at Swats classroom. The reason was their college project. Only two days were remaining, and there was still a lot of work to do and the team members were blaming each other. Prads did what elders usually enjoy to do at such a time,that is, giving advice, "Stop playing the blame game!. Just someone come forward and take the charge and lead others. Find a solution like Jambavanth the bear did. One of you should lead like Hanuman the monkey-god did. Don't keep on cursing like those silly apes did..." Jeevs, Swats classmate knew that Prads was in a story telling mood and asked everyone to take their seats.

Prads liked telling stories and he began thus, "In Ramayan, Sugreeva had given the difficult project of finding Sita Devi to his Vanar Sena. He also had given them deadline. One such expedition had reached the sea coast searching for Sita and were informed by a bird that Sita was in the Lanka Island. All the monkeys were now racking their brain as to how to cross the sea. When they saw that the task was next to impossible, they remembered their leader's warning of burning them alive if they came back with no results. So the frustrated apes started playing the blame game...."

Prads starting modulating his voice to suit the characters he was going to speak about, "A young monkey whose marriage was to happen in a day or two started crying, 'We are all gonna die... And our leader Sugriva is responsible for our fate... He got united with his wife and now he wants all the husbands in the world to be united with their wives. What about the to-be-husbands? Will he show mercy on me and spare me'" Jeevs who had the hots for Prads, giggled "Yups! I will convince him to spare my dear monkey"

Prads ignored her and continued, "Another young monkey had a different view, 'Its not Sugreeva. Its our dear friend Hanumantha. It was he who brought about the strategic alliance between Monkey-King Sugreeva and Lord Ram. Look where the alliance has landed us... Point of no return!' Another ape put its thinking cap and uttered like a wise old man, 'No re...It was the bird Jatayu. Instead of just dying after being attacked by Raayan, he held on to his breath and then waited for Lord Ram and after telling him how Devi Sita was forced to become the first Indian woman ever to fly overseas, he told Lord Ram in a musical fashion, 'Take my breath away...' Couldn't he just silently pass off... "'

No one was willing to interrupt the story teller. Prads continued, " A Male chauvinist pig... I mean...monkey spoke out, 'Its all because of that lady Kaikeya who used her beauty and took those two harsh boons from her husband Dasharath. MIND YOU! Root cause of all sorrow is WOMAN...' Suddenly a monkey who had a soft corner for ladies interrupted, "Na! Na! Its the old man Dasharath. Even in his old age, when he had four grown up married sons, he was passion filled and fell for the tricks of his wife. He could have simply said, 'Over my dead body!'"

Suddenly one of the listener spoke against the story, "Are you trying to please the girls here with your fun filled story or are you trying to prove something."

Prads smiled and came to the point, "A old bear in the team, Jambavanth instead of finding whom to blame focused on who or what could rescue them at this difficult time and found that only Hanuman had the ability. Only Hanuman could take such a leap and reach Lanka and return within the given time. So he used all his mind in convincing him to cross the sea and bring news of Sita. That's what I wanted to tell all of you. Instead of finding reasons as to who is responsible for the delay, why don't you focus on what needs to be done and how it should be done within the limited time. Find that someone in your team who can take the charge and help you out!"

All eyes in the classroom fell on Swats and Swats looked helplessly at Prads,"Yeh mujhe kaha pasadiya, Prads..." and she said her favorite dialogue, "with friends like you, do I need enemies".

Mock Interview

2010-10-30T09:55:00.000-07:00

Prads was a bit off mood. It seemed someone was forcing him to do something. Swats wanted to know what was eating his head.Prads said his parents were forcing him for a ladki dekho program and he hated it as it made him uncomfortable. Swats tried to give some comfort, "Well... Buss itni si baat... lets have a mock ladki dekho program here now... in this classroom..." Prads, "And who would be the girl...? "

Before Swats could open her mouth, her class mate who had hots for Prads and named Jeevitha a.k.a Jeevs volunteered, "Main Hoon Na!" The stage was set.... and Prads entered the room like a boy who has come to see a girl. Jeeves started quite romantically, "I was waiting for the first sixteen years of my life for some Prince Charming to steal my heart. The next three years, I kept guessing who it could be... Now I can't bear anymore... Please take me from here." Like a director, Swats announced, "You are supposed to make the atmosphere uncomfortable so that Prads is prepared to handle a worst case scenario..." Jeevs hated it but still said bitterly but without putting herself completely into the act and started with a quote from her favorite TV character Ally McBeal, "There is no sin in loving men... only pain. I hate boys... since my childhood... Whenever I see boys, I feel like pricking them and killing them with my kitchen knife"
Prads commented with a smile, "Hmm.. Why take such pain. If you smile just once, We boys would die immediately..." Swats was suprized by this statement of Prads and wondered whether he was trying to impress Jeevs.

Jeevitha turning towards Swats, "Mummy! Mujhe yeh ladka bahuth pasand hain...Abhi shaadi karva dona... Please!!!"(I like this guy very much. Get me married immediately na.) Swats got strict, "Stick to the act. Prads! Tell her about your passion and ambitions." Prads like a statesman, "I like watching movies. All languages, Hindi, English, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Korean, French, Bengali...." Jeevs exclaimed with a surprise, "Wow! You know too many languages... Do you understand the language of my heart also?" Swats coughed loudly, but Jeevs was fully focused on Prads. Prads answered her looking directly into her eyes, "I don't know all the languages. I watch the movies with subtitles...But to interpret what your eyes are telling, I definitely don't need subtitles..."

Jeevs was really swept off her feet, but keeping Swats in mind, she furthered another negative view in front of him, "But I hate movies. I feel sleepy while watching them..." Prads was quick to reply, "Well! Elders had truly said, 'Opposites attract'. And what use is my huge shoulders? When I see a movie, You can sleep with your head rested against my shoulders." Jeeves wanted immediately to do so, but she forwarded one more argument, "But I don't watch Television also. I feel its better reading a novel than watching television. Watching television is like spraying black paint on the eyes..." Prads smiled, "Even I don't watch Television..." Jeevs smiled and reminded him, "Then your earlier statement doesn't hold good, 'Opposites attract'... remember..."

Prads didn't so easily give up any argument, "Common things and little differences.. both are important for a relationship.If It's the things in common that make relationships enjoyable, then it's the little differences that make them interesting. Who wants the company of the television, when I have you? Instead of wasting our evening watching those mushy serials and planned reality shows, we can go for a romantic walk..." Jeevs was now really fully in love. She looked at Prads once and then at swats and said "Mujhse aur acting nahi hotha!" (I cant act any more!) and running towards Prads, she landed a kiss on his cheek.

Prads got brains

2010-10-24T04:00:00.000-07:00

Prads had three hectic days of work at office and it was culminating the next day with a presentation and he explained the stressful situation to his young friend Swats, "Gosh! My Brain has completely worn out... I need to get a new one for tomorrow's presentation..." Swats like Dhaan-veer Karn offered her brain even without being asked for, "You can take mine.. Anyway it will not be used tomorrow morning... That's for sure." Prads laughed at her offer and was also curious, "And why would your brain remain complete idle tomorrow morning? Are you bunking classes and watching latest bollywood Flick?" Swats shook her head and answered, "Tomorrow we have exams and I always keep my brain in the refrigerator before I leave for the exams. Otherwise I would get too much doubts regarding the answers"

Prads just casually remarked, "Yeah! If it was possible, I would have definitely tried your small brain." But somewhere up in the heavens above, Goddess Lakshmi took it seriously and came down to fulfill her child Prads' wishes and immediately flung into action, "So...Be it!!... ", she announced. Prads tried to interrupt the process, "Wait, Goddess! But, would her small brain fit into this big head...wouldn't it malfunction? " Goddess Laxmi smiled , "Size hardly matters here. Girls brain works more continuously than a men's, even when one sleeps.... "
Prads exclaimed with a shock, "Gosh! Then my head may get heated up. Is there some kind of internal fan like in the computer system to keep the cool ...." Goddess got confused and then came up with a small bottle in her right hand. Prads got it wrong, "I am a teetotaler. Even under the harshest of the conditions, I don't touch...." Laxmi shouted, "This is not some cheap alcohol... Its navarathan thel... thanda thanda cool cool..." For a moment, Prads thought that lady in front of him was not Goddess Laxmi, but someone who has jumped out of a TV commercial.

But he threw his disbelief to the side, "Is there any cons I need to know, before I use a GIRL's brain..." Goddess Laxmi said, "Hmm... Sometimes Girls will do something stupid which the brain nor the logic can explain. So be prepared for such eventuality..." Prads ignored the warning, "Anyway... I hope in a day nothing would happen..." Laxmi smiled, "I can't assure you about it. Even me in my human form Sita who was so dear to her husband Ram, I did something stupid. Remember, in Panchavati I forced him and then dear brother in law to run for miles behind a silly golden dear..." That argument forced him to think against taking the brain of Swats.

Thats when Swats jumped in and requested Lakshmi, "Why don't you show him the positive side also?" Goddess Laxmi put the pros in front of Prads which had him more confused, "Girls make proper decisions after considering all options.. Haven't you seen how they make their choice while shopping?" Prads teased the Goddess herself on this one, "Yeah! They look at all that the shop keeper has to offer and then buy the one they had seen first... Uff... Really quick decision making ability, they have"
That hurt Goddess Laxmi and she prepared to move away from there. Prads quickly fell at her feet and asked for her forgiveness and agreed for the brain transplant, "Anyway... I hope there would be no harm in changing for a day... You can continue the transplant..."

Laxmi laughed, "You know why you were asking so many questions before agreeing for the brain?... " Swats laughed very loudly even before she heard the answer from the Goddess and exclaimed, "Wow! this is very unlike me...Laughing out so loud!" Prads still was not able to comprehend what was going on and just like a silly young girl looked at Goddess Lakshmi as she explained, "You already have the brain of a young girl who questions anything before using it..."

Swats for the president

2010-10-11T21:08:00.000-07:00

Swats was sad and her face was down. Prads inquired very gently, "what happened?" She said with tears in eyes, "I want to stand for the College President But some oppose it arguing that I am girl from the himalayas and alien to this coastal culture and so cant stand ..." Prads didn't hear any further, he just took hold of her hand like a typical bollywood hero and went along with her to the college campus and very aggressively demanded an answer from all present, " Kya kammi hain isme? What is she lacking?" One of the girls was immediately attracted by the husky voice. She was already impressed by Prads earlier.

One of her classmates and a local answered equally aggressively, "She is not one of us. She is not from the coast. She doesn't have love for our culture... " Even before he could complete, Prads started answering, "Love! Doesn't she have love for this institution. Isn't that enough? She knows everything about this college and its people... " and suddenly his eyes fell upon a old sweeper and with too much confidence continued, "She even knows that sweeper over there?" Swats immediately interrupted him, "Err... To be honest, I don't know her... " The local laughed out loudly. But his joy was short lived as Swats continued, " I don't know her because she joined today. The earlier was Seethamma and she worked for 14 years and later returned to join with her sons Luv and Kush..." Prads tried to make a further impact, "She may be 18 years old but she has the maturity of a 30 year old.... " The girl in the crowd shouted, "Thats why I say, 'She is too old for you and I am just perfect for you.'"

The local was the not the one to be silenced so easily, "But when we have the majority of the students from the local, why do we need an outsider as our college president?" Prads was very preachy that days and continued, "An outsider? Hasn't she already made a place in your hearts?" To Swats embarrassment, she found majority of the boys nodding their head in agreement and saying in unison, a big YES. Prads tried to improvise it, "Hasn't she made a impact on the minds of her teachers. Can they forget her?" One of the lecturers was too quick to react, "No Way! She has got only 60% attendance for my class..."

The local tried to put forward some stronger arguments, "But can she fulfill our dreams. Would our demands be ever met?" Prads was very dramatic and looked very much out of a Karan Johar movie, "Look at that face..." and immediately Swats put on a innocent face. Prads continued, "Doesn't that face look quite aggressive to take on the college council..." Prads immediately changed the facial expression and quickly tried to put up a aggressive expression by hitting hard on the lower lips with her upper teeth. Immediately a artist in the group took of his tools and started drawing as Prads continued his pep talk, "That White teeth over red lips symbols victory of good over bad... of satvik guna over tamasik guna ..." and looked at the young local who was now feeling very tired.

Moving like a television show host, he picked up the picture from the artists hand and holding it high, "Doesn't the picture tell the story...", It was a picture of swats teeth hitting hard on the lower lips and Prads proudly announced, "And this would be her election symbol..."
The amorous girl popped up a question to Prads, "Doesn't my lips tell you anything... Read them for me, please!!!" Prads slowly moved towards the girl and it looked he was making an advance. He came quite close to her and said, "Yes... your sweet lips is telling something... it wants to cry out loud that..." The girl got quite excited. But it all fell flat as Prads completed his sentence, "VOTE FOR SWATS!" and the whole crowd jeered along with him.

A Lesson from Mahabharatha

2010-10-02T23:30:00.000-07:00

Every Saturday, Swats would come to meet Prads and make him commit to the contract by taking her to a new place. But this Saturday, she wasn't there. Prads felt her absence and when he inquired her, she told that she was in college working on some news report and invited him to her college. Within a hour, he was there and found Swats addressing her classmates on the news report she was preparing, "In this modern age, even for a small misunderstanding or a small difference, quarrels erupts between brothers, and murders and suicides happen. Why can't men of our times be like Ram and his brothers or like the five Pandavas..."
Prads interrupted her flow, "There is an incident also in Mahabharatha when Arjun killed his elder brother Yudhistr..."Swats loved stories and that too from Prads mouth and she immediately handed over the stage to Prads

A girl in the audience sitting next to Swats immediately got a crush on Prads and Swats sensed it. Prads started his story "On the 17th day of the war, Yudhistr was humiliatingly defeated by Karna and was forced to retreat to his camp, wounded. His mind was full of anger and hatred. Arjun left the battlefield in the middle and came down to see his elder brother along with Lord Krishna. But Yudhistra was under the wrong impression that Arjun had killed Karna and brought his severed head as a token. Yudhistr was not only disappointed but also angered on hearing that Arjun just came to check upon him leaving Bheem Brother to deal with Karna"
The girl told to Swats, "Ask him to tell some romantic story na instead of this war stories. His soft lips and small eyes and round nose will suit such a story..."
Swats reminded her, "He is narrating a story, not enacting one.. Stop your imagination running wild..."

Prads was immersed in the story himself, " Yudhistr started abusing his younger brother and his valor and also his weapon, the mighty bow, the Gandiva, "Just throw away Gandiva and go away from the battlefield. If you cant kill Karna, I will get it done through Bheem... " Arjun had made a secret vow that if anyone insults his war weapon Gandiva, he would separate their head from the body. So he took his sword and rushed towards Yudhistr..."
The cupid struck girl expressed her feelings in a very soft tone that was audible only to Swats, "Like I feel rushing into your arms, now..."

Prads may have welcomed her had he listened to her sweet words. But he continued with the story, "He raised the sword and prepared to severe Yudhistr's head from his shoulders. Lord Krishna came to the rescue of Yudhistr and stopped the sword in mid-flight. Arjun told Krishna of his vow and that he had no other go except to kill his brother." But clever Lord had a way-out, "There is a better way to kill a elder person than by severing his head. That is with words. Harsh words and choicest of expletives. This way you would have kept your vow..." and then Prads described of how Arjun abused his brother using expletives, "Arjuna demolished Yudhistra's character and also said that for him only Bheemsena is his brother"
The girl commented to Swats. "Really sweet guy, Prads! He doesn't know what expletives are. His vocabulary is very poor. He should get some training from me. Or asked the bank executive who tried to sell some of his financial products to me."

Prads conintued the story, "Arjun after completing his outburst and describing his brother as incapable, drew his sword again, this time to kill himself. Lord Krishna asked for explanation. Arjun with tears in his eyes, 'How can I live after abusing my dear elder brother' Krishna reminded him of how suicide was the greatest sin, 'It is not appropriate to punish this body which is a punya kshethra for doing sadhana.. Body is the greatest instrument you will ever own. There is a better way... Self praise is very much equivalent to suicide ' and asked Arjun to praise himself from the bottom of his heart. Arjun does so and boasted of how is the strongest of all the Pandavas and where they would be without him and how he alone killed many warriors. When his suicide was complete, Yudhistr drew his sword.
The girl smiled and commented to Swats, "This seems like a contagious disease. Its like in Facebook, when one changes the profile pic or status message, others follow suit."

Prads came to the last parts of his story," Yudhistr was completely down after his brother showed him his real worth. Lord Krishna signaled Arjuna and Arjuna fell upon Yudhistr's feet and asked for forgiveness. Thus the situation returned to normalcy."
Then Prads ended by saying "In today's society, we commit this murder and suicide on a daily basis. Berating elders and boasting about our self in front of them has become a habit for today's generation...Do we realize the evils of the two....?"
The girl stood up, "You can teach my children good moral values..." Swats was surprised, "But, You are not married!" The girl smiled, "Neither is he... rite?"

Swats Has A Story

2010-09-25T19:58:00.000-07:00

Prads took part in this local theater form called Yakshagana on weekends. The stories were usually taken from the mythologies. Somehow Swats had began to like the same and she scripted one such play for Prads and his team. The original director of the play, a man in his sixties was made to sit and enjoy this modern version of Prahlad story scripted by Swats.

The curtain opened and the characters and the settings was introduced in a song. It was Demon Hirayankashapu's palace and he had passed the order that everyone should regard him as almighty and not Lord Vishnu. No person had raised their voice except his own son Prahlad. Prahlad was in Gurukul and the cabinet was called to decide how to finish him if he doesn't stop praying Lord Vishnu.

Each of the ministers voiced their opinions, 'Let a crowd of elephants trample him" , "Let poisonous serpents be allowed to run over his young body", "Throw him down the mountains".
But a girl minister played by swats smilingly said, ""Let a young girl enter his Gurukul and make his head turn...Let him fall in love with the girl truly, madly and deeply. After a year, we will call her back and you will see how slowly but surely he would die a bitter death while he is still alive and even Lord Vishnu can't help him. Then he will lose his faith in the Almighty." The demon found the idea acceptable and he put it into action immediately.

The next scene was after a year and Prahlad played by Prads had returned to the palace and looked completely dejected. The demon inquired him of his state and Prahlad like a true Devdas uttered in a musical fashion, "Dad... My heart is broken to pieces. It wouldn't have been so broken even if a thousand elephants had walked over it. My senses seems to be completely malfunctioning...Even the poisonous snakes wouldn't have had this effect...I feel like I am falling down a deep cliff and no one to catch me below..."

The demon was happy and was sure that now his son would lose his faith in almighty. At this opportune moment, his sister entered and said, "Prahlad.. Would you sit with me in the burning pyre..." Prahlad said, "What is this fire compared to the one that is burning inside me from her separation... " And he volunteered to sit alone in the pyre and the fire was totally powerless in doing any harm to Prahlad.
The demon was surprised and asked him how is that possible. Prahlad said, "That's simple. Its called Love... I am not here... Only my body is here. My soul and mind is somewhere far away.." The actor Prads paused for a moment as if to say his soul and mind wandered into some place far away.

Demon was not happy with this one and demanded, "Love can't be that powerful.. If it is so, she should have been here with you. Why would she leave you?" Like a bollywood feel good movie, the girl made the entry at that time, when it was neither day nor night, that is at dusk. She stood at the doorway neither knowing whether to enter or not to enter.She had come there forgetting the lajja of a girl and yet she didn't had the courage of a boy to say the thing... Prads forgot for a moment about his character and said, "Can this happen in real life also" and then came back into the character.

Demon was confused and remembered his real goal, "I will never understand this thing called Love. Coming to the point! Would you now regard me as God. That's what I want to hear from you..."
Prahlad replied negatively, "No!"
Demon asked him, "Then you still say Vishnu is the God..."
Prahlad laughed, "I strongly believe that LOVE IS GOD"

Renouncing the world

2010-09-18T17:18:00.000-07:00

Swats was looking for a change... no... not for a change in the weather or something.She wanted a new crush... She was tired of falling for cricketers and television stars. And she found a real one that Saturday evening in the temple as she saw a handsome young boy walking towards the shrine in a very traditional dress. Prads read her desires and announced, "That's Viran, he is doing his second year intermediate, a year younger to you..." and then he added with a smile on his face, "Age is just a number... Thodi upar ya thodi neeche...kee farak padega... come on, let me introduce this princess to him..."

Prads then called the young man by his name and inquired him in his lingo, "So! Whats up, dude?" and a unexpected answer came from young Viran, "I am renouncing this world and becoming a sanyasi..." Prads with a smile continued, "Just when I found a girl who was ready to renounce this world to become your dasi..." Swats didn't like the use of word dasi to describe her. She would have been happy with the word girl friend. But the answer from the young man was not in sync with his age or looks "I am tired of girls. Girls mean worries. If you don't have a girlfriend, You are worried. If you have a girlfriend, you are worried of losing her. If you have a silly girlfriend, you are worried of whether she would end up in making you a laughing stock. If you have a cute girlfriend, you would definitely be worried of someone stealing her from you..."
This angered Swats very much and she shouted, "Girls are not the hub of worries. They are source of inspirations. Any art form has not grown without being inspired by women... Movies, Dance, Plays..." Prads added, "And even Blogs"

Just then a sexy chic in a becoming dress came to the shrine and the head of young Viran swayed in that direction without his knowledge. Swats coughed a little and gave a naughty smile mocking at the young man's behavior. The young man with a divine smile corrected her, "Its not like what you think...I was just appreciating her beauty and not getting attracted by her beauty. I was looking at a God's creation. See... God is present in everything... even in girls. Some separate God from the girls and look at them with lustful eyes... I am not like them..." These words were not going to fool Swats and she sarcastically remarked, "You sure have all the traits of becoming a Godman. Presenting a vice as a virtue!!! Great going."

Then Prads questioned him, "Where do you plan to get your salvation? Some went to himalayas and came back with new thoughts and theories. Some went to Kashi believing that if a person dies there, he never returns back to planet earth. Some went to temple town udupi....Where are you going?" The young man smiled and said, "GOA.." Swats sarcastically commented to Prads, "At least I am meeting one person who knows that there is more to Goa then beaches..." Viran negated her beliefs, "I am going to the beaches itself... " and he added, "If in such a place, one can keep his poise and calm, he is sure to attain salvation.... "

Just then a loud voice reached the trio from far behind, "I will show you the path to salvation, you silly fool!!!" The young man turned in the direction of that loud voice and exclaimed, "Father!!!" The young man's father approached and explained Prads the situation, "This boy is hardly eighteen and he wants a Bajaj Pulsar Bike. Says It is better to lead a life of a ascetic then to have a college life without a bike." And turning to his son Viran, he warned, "I want you back at home by seven in the evening. Otherwise, from tomorrow onwards, I will stop your bus fare reimbursement also and you have to commute to the college in that jam packed auto rickshaw along with those school kids... " That really made tears flow down Viran's cheeks.
Swats felt sorry for the young man and consoled him, "If you wish, I can drop you to college daily...." and after a pause added, "in my Hero Honda pleasure...."

Married Life - A Blissful One ?

2010-09-11T19:09:00.000-07:00

That was the end of the weekend and as promised Prads had spent time with his young friend Swats. And wasn't he really tired giving company to a young girl in her shopping. Swats sweetly advised, "Had you married some nice girl, you would have had her welcoming you with a hot cup of coffee and a smile on her lips." Prads laughed at her advice, "Do you really think marriage is just a bed of roses that a husband after office directly goes to his wife's arms"
Then suddenly a car stopped in front of them and a known face waved at Prads and Prads and welcomed him into the car.It was Venkatesh, his old friend and a family man. Though Prads was not much interested to take the ride, Swats forced him in and so they thought they would reach home at the earliest.Aren't they going to be disappointed?

Venkatesh just requested that he needed to stop at a dress renting store for a krishna costume for his son. So they walked in to find a tailoring cum dress renting shop where a male tailor with just a bermuda welcomed them. Whatever variety of dresses he displayed, Venkatesh just had four words for him,'It is too long'. When the tailor asked the age of the baby, Venkatesh proudly said,"One and half years old'
Swats was surprised, "And you want to put him in a fancy dress competition?"
Venkatesh smiled, "Its socializing at the earliest." and he added , "You know lord Krishna killed Putini even before he was a week old!!!" That silenced Swats.
And they were out of there only after a good thirty minutes. Swats just noted down in her diary. When inquired by Prads, she slowly hissed, "First time I am seeing a man taking ample time for selecting a dress and that too for his one and half year old baby. Need to remember this day na!"

She thought the car would move to its destination without any further stops. Swats was proved wrong. The car stopped at a medical store and Venkatesh gave a simple explanation, "In this age, the working married girl has to take a lot of care of her health. And the spouse should be supportive."
Swats really found this husband supportive.He had even forgot the names of the medicines he had to buy for his wife.He gave a call and his supportive wife didn't even pick the call. Swats said, "Must be busy seeing some weekend serial. Wait till the advertisement break comes. She will call you back." As predicted, the return call came after ten minutes and the purchase of medicines and other necessities was made.

Then the vehicle moved at a higher speed and Swats asked a wrong question, "So how are you planning to spend the Sunday?" Venkatesh smiled once and suddenly exclaimed, "Oh God! I have a wedding to attend and I have not yet purchased the gift!!!" and he called his wife and asked him what the next day's bridegroom had presented them on their wedding. This all made Swats laugh, "It doesn't look like gifting. It looks like paying back..." The car had stopped at a gift center and again some more time for gift selection. Venkatesh couldn't just purchase the gift. He had to explain it to his dear wife and get her approval before the purchase is made.

After the purchase was made, and they had travelled some five minutes, Prads spoke, "You had purchased for your child, wife and for tomorrows bridegroom. Aren't you getting something for yourself." Suddenly the car halted not by choice of the driver but by itself and Venkatesh announced to their horror, "I had forgotten to put petrol in the vehicle. It was running on reserve till now...It was continuously warning me but I was occupied by other thoughts" and then he smiled and looking at both Prads and swats, "The petrol pump is just five minutes from here. If you both don't mind, can you?... I mean..."
And then Prads and Swats found them self pushing the car towards the petrol pump.
Prads sarcastically remarked to Swats, "Now say that thing once again about Married Life being blissful!!!"
THE END

More on Prads

2010-09-04T21:09:00.000-07:00

Swats seemed to be a bit disturbed. Being a journalism student, she wanted to excel in interviewing people. But her lecturer had ridiculed her saying she can't be a good interviewer, if she keeps giggling and laughing and showing her real emotions at regular intervals while interviewing people. Prads comforted her, "She doesn't know you that well. You are much better than Barkha dutt and others.Come on... go ahead and interview me...let me evaluate your skills"

Swats was on her foot with a imaginary mike and a tape and she shot her first question, "Whats your greatest desire?" Prads replied from his heart and without thinking twice, "To be a father of a child... that too a girl child..."
Swats couldn't control her laughter on hearing this desire.
Prads with a stern face reminded her, "Never ever laugh at others' dreams!"

Swats tried to put up a serious face. But all she could do was to stop the noise of her laughter from being heard. She was still laughing as she put another question, "What makes you want to have a girl child?"
Prads still very serious about his desire continued, "Whenever I see a little girl of age around four to ten, I feel like I am watching Goddess Devi herself.My hands come together by themselves and my mind feels like chanting 'Sarve maangala mangalya shive...'"

Swats laughed again aloud at the innocent replies, "Next time take the Aarthi and the bell also with you. You can offer immediate pooja also na..."
Prads said, "See! You fail again.. You shouldn't mock at someone's emotions"
Swats got serious and threw up another intelligent question, "So how do you feel when you see a young girl of around 23-24 years"

Prads said, "I went to meet a good friend in the big bad city sometime back... Whenever I remember her, I am not drawn back to that time... But some 18 years back... I remember her telling me about her adventures as a 6 year old and I imagine them in my mind whenever she pops up in my memory. She as a small girl running around her grandma's house whistling and inviting the wrath of the elders. She playing with precious stones which is used by her grandpa in his astrology profession and thus angering him. A girl playing in the field with her own set box of games and all alone..."
Swats stopped in the midway,"Oh... Oh... this is something quite different. But do you view every girl like this?"

Prads replied, "Generally the girls I know." Prads then guided her, "Now that you have got my interview, lets see how will you finish it"
Looking at the imaginary camera, Swats put an end to the show, "You have seen a special person today. I wont be surprised, if on the first night, his wife finds a decorated baby cradle rather than a flower spread cushion and her man saying, 'Baby! The cradle is specially for you!'"
This mischievous comment made Prads pick up a stick and chase Swats all around the place.

Kshamaya Dharithri Naari

2010-08-28T19:07:00.000-07:00

Prads also has a favorite pass time,taking part in theater plays, a local form called yakshagana where most of the tales are based on mythology. To one such practice session, he had invited his good friend, Swats.

She was thrilled on getting the invitation and was there on time. There were just five persons who were sitting just below the stage and seemed to be musicians. One had a harmonium and another had a drum like instrument. Third one, a old man was without any instrument and so she sat next to him. But as the actors including Prads came on the stage, the old man started singing in a very high pitch that scared the shit out of her. He was explaining the story. The play was based on Sri Rama's adventures in the chitrakoot jungle just before Devi Sita is kidnapped. Swats said, "You can name the play as 'Welcome to the Jungle'"

The story begins with the Old man singing a song explaining how cold it was at Chitrakoot, "It was so cold that Lord Shiva took the Ganges out of his hair locks and threw it to the earth and asked the moon to step out of his hairs and then flung it to the skies above. Then he opened his third eye and took the fire out of it and placed it in front of him and warmed himself." And that's when Lakshman decides to build a small cottage for his Brother and Bhabhi. Swats was unhappy because Prads had no much dialogue to deliver till now.

She was more surprised to find that even Lakshman's dialogue was handled by the old man in a song form, "Brother. Take this small cottage from me. It has a Yajna shala for you and Devi Sita to perform your nitya karmas(Daily homages to Gods). Here is the bhojana shala for you and Devi Sita to serve the ascetics who visit our cottage. Here is the antha pura (bed room) for you and Devi Sita... " The song was long as there seemed to separate rooms for separate purposes. As the old man turned to look at Swats as he finished his song, she asked, "Do you call this cottage. It looks like a penthouse to me... It reminded of the one I had saved as my wallpaper...."

The story moved and Lucky took his brother and Sita Devi and explored the backside of the cottage and the singer again picked up the notes, "And the scene took away Lord Ram's breath... There was a small waterfall and a small pond and the smell of the flowers filled the air everywhere.. And to please the eyes, the pond was filled with ducks and some migrating birds..."
That brought a smile on Swats small face and she said, "Wow! A swimming pool. This way, it seems she is not on vana-vas but on a honeymoon. With a husband all for herself and a brother in law to do all the household chores, what she can ask for more?

At last Prads got some lines as Ram and Swats attention was now on the stage as Lord Ram got very emotional, "Brother! When I see you, I feel I am looking at my Dad!..." Swats was disappointed by these words of Prads, "Gosh! He looks more like Ranbir Kapoor to me and you say he reminds you of old man Dasharath... !" Prads laughed a bit and continued, "You have done whatever a father would have done for me if he was alive and if I was in Ayodhya... But... " There was some pause and it was clear Lord Ram didn't want to take this penthouse

The Old man turned to Swats, "I had written all the dialogues and songs. This is the good part in the play. Lord Ram can't take the cottage as he had promised his step mom that he would lead a ascetics life and he also knows How his brother Bharath had taken a vow to lead a ascetics life until Ram returns to Ayodhya..."
There was a surprise waiting for the old man. As Prads got lost in some thoughts and he was transformed to the moment he had hurt his good friend, the girl from the big bad city. It was nearly two weeks since he had last talked to her and he was missing her badly. Everything came rushing to his mind and he forgot the original dialogues, "But I don't want all these luxury...." and then he completely went off the track, "All I want is her back in my life...."
The person playing Lakshman's character got confused and slowly hissed, "Abhe! Your Priye is still not kidnapped....!" Prads immediately corrected him, "No! I don't want her back as a lover! I want her back as my friend." The Lakshman character looked at the singer and master mind of the play. He was clueless. Swats knew what was happening and to divert Prads attention put on a song immediately. The song she selected was Colonial Cousins' Krishna Nee Begane Baro. It failed to bring back Prads to his senses. He just changed the lyrics and started singing, "Come back as my Soul mate and save my life. Come back as my friend and fight with me...Come back as anything you want to be...."

The old man seriously didn't knew what was happening and looked at Swats for answer. She answered him back in a song manner and that too in a high pitched voice
"Does he really have to say sorry.... I heard Kshamaya dharithri Naari**..."

** Rough translation- while forgiving, woman is like mother earth.

Please Forgive Me

2010-08-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

Pradyumn or Prads was on to his way to the temple town to see his uncle. Though he said it was a personal visit, Swats or Swasthee, his young friend insisted on accompanying him. Prads face said that something was not right. Swats was good at making people talk and in few minutes, she had Prads talking

Prads was out with the truth which send her to a shock, "A message intended to be sent to you was sent to my good friend in the big bad city. It was about her and her would be in a very very derogatory manner. And in reply she had just two words GET LOST"
Swats said, "Every week you are giving me a shock. Hope I don't end with a heart attack before I complete my teenage"

After a hour, they were at his uncles place and poured his heart out and confessed his mistake. His uncle, an aged man in his early seventies had a simple question on hearing the story, which put Prads' mind into turmoil, "Do you realize it is a mistake because she came to know about it or are you fully aware of the mistake.That you should never have spoken ill well or bad about someone behind his or her back"
Prads explained to his uncle of what he did after he realized his folly, "Well... I feel I have... I couldn't sleep till 3.30 till the next morning..."
His uncle was a bit harsh, "Then you haven't. You shouldn't have got a wink of sleep even..."

Swats didn't knew any comforting words to say to Prads nor did she want to interfere. She decided to remain silent
Seeing tears flow down his cheeks, Prads uncle consoled him, "Now that you have committed a mistake, you shud bow before it with reverence. Its like a God that has taught you a lesson... Lucky you... Most humans do what you have done... But Mother nature has shown to you that it is very bad and how a person could be hurt by it... So be thankful for the mistake."

Prads only wanted forgiveness from the girl, "But will the girl forgive me...?"
Prads uncle was taking a w holistic view, ""Its not important whether she forgives you. Its whether you are really sorry for it. If you are, Mother Nature will forgive you. She is benevolent. Don't restrict it to one person. Expand your soul... If you are really sorry, whatever is good for you will happen."

Prads felt like a heavy burden has been removed from his back.

Let the time freeze

2010-08-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

Prads, the 32 year old boy has returned from the big bad city and abiding to the agreement he had signed with the 18 year old woman Swats, he is at the beach with her watching the sun slowly set. But he was not in a talking mood and had his music player on. Swats wanted to know more about his visit to the big bad city and his online friend whom he had gone to see for the first time. Prad's gloomy face was telling some story and Swats expected a sad song on his ipod like, "Tune saathi paaya apna... jag mein is jag mein... Aisi hi sada raho milke... sang mein har rang mein.." But she was surprised as she heard the ramayana tale being told in a prose and poetry fashion (Harikathe).

Swats takes one look at Prads and comments, "Don't tell me she gifted you this?" Prads replies with a smile, "No re.. She has given me a memorable 45 minutes.. I am just thanking God for that one by listening to his tale.. " Swats found this quite strange and was not able to digest it , "Err... There is a better way to celebrate.. Throw me a party... It will earn you more Punya... I don't eat much... I am a simple girl who will be satisfied with Samosa and Veg burger"

Prads was not completely listening. He gets up and slowly walks towards the setting sun, "Don't you feel to catch the sun before it disappears... Don't you want this sun setting scene to remain like that for some more time...?"
Swats found it a little philosophical, "Yeah...I would really love... It will give me more time with you... And I would really love him to come late in the morning also... so that I can complete the assignments"
Prads got more emotional, "That's how i felt when I had those 45 minutes with her.. I asked the God to freeze the time.. I wanted the day to be like that movie Groundhog Day...Repeating itself over and over and over..."

Looking at his face, Swats felt that something was not quite right. There was a mixed emotion on Prad's face. Prads looked at Swats and said, "But all I can be... is her friend... a good friend..."
Swats was shocked on hearing this and didn't knew how to react. Prads had to shake her up, "If you stay glued like that, the waves will come and take you... Yeah! I will be saved the trouble of showing a new place every week as per our contract... But I just don't want to lose a good friend now.. Say something... "
Still swats was speechless. Prads explained further, "The girl seems to be in a relationship and me going there had just attracted troubles for her and some nice warnings from her mother. She had asked her boy to be there. Even he didn't make it. Have I unnecessarily created troubles for her?"

Swats had nothing to say. She was more like Abhimanyu who knew how to enter the chakravyuh but not the exit route. Swats would have found it easy to guide on how to fall in love. But when it came to pulling her dear friend out of the love thing, She found herself not helping him. She just shrugged her shoulders "I just don't know what to say? The problem with love is that you can love whoever you want, but so can they?" But for Prads, it was not easy to forget and he remembered tum bin movie's dialogue, "Yeah... I should have stopped loving her when she first told me about it.. Par Yeh Dil bhi kitna stupid hai na... Logic hi nahian Samjtha"

Swasthee took a deep breath and tried to comfort her friend, "It's not about loving. it's just about knowing..that you never loved her to have her..you just loved her without reasons"
Leaving Swats alone at the beach, Prads walked away hoping to become what his girl wanted him to be... a good friend... Can he be one?
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If you see the post count, It will say this is the 200th Post.

Wake Up, Prads!

2010-08-08T01:34:00.000-07:00

A living story is born when living wisdom incarnates in the subtle matter of a human consciousness - Robert Svoboda
One such living story is of Hanuman and Jambavan. When one expedition of Vanar Sena who were searching for Sita came across the wide sea, they got filled with despair and lost hope as to how to cross this sea. Only one man... err... monkey was capable of this task. That was Hanuman. But the great Hanuman though having the capacity lacked the confidence of doing this task. And that confidence was filled by the senior member of the expedition team, a bear... Mr Jambavan..

This was the story that was being narrated by a Grandpa to his Grandson in a Public Transportation System moving from the coastal town to the nearby temple city. The story was also heard by the teen Swasthee or Swats who was seated in the adjacent seat. But her dear friend Pradyumn or Prads who was keeping his promise of showing a new place each week in and around his coastal town to Swats, was lost in some song that was being played on his Ipod. Swats just took the Ipod and listened to the song played of The Smiths, "There's a place for anyone who has the will to chase one...I think I found mine... Yes I do think I have found mine..."

Swats remembered of how her old friend's heart beats for some girl living in a far off big bad city, "Thinking is not enough. You should take the leap to that big bad city where the girl resides and show your heart, like Hanumantha took the leap to Lanka and showed the ring to Sita. Then she will get confidence in you..."
The kid who was listening to his grandpa's story had his head swayed towards Swats. The old man got his attention back, "Jambavan, the wise bear encouraged Hanuman, 'When young, you had swallowed the sun from a distance of 16000 miles considering it to be a sweet fruit'"

Swats took the cue from the old man's words and started her own sermon, "Remember Prads! You may be reaching middle age, but remember the confidence you had as a teenager when it came to opening your heart to a girl. Bring those years back!" A smile landed on Prads face as he recollected his High School days, "In the exam hall that day, I saw this junior of me terrified by the Mathematics question paper. Don't remember what took over me. RAW, the Indian Intelligence Agency would have recruited me had they seen me at work then. Forgetting my Kannada paper, I helped the cute girl pass her maths paper. Though I got just pass marks in my Kannada Paper, its the only exam day I remember till now... "

The young kid whose concentration was on Swats laughed a little and the old man felt that the young man was laughing at his story, "You shouldn't laugh like that. A man should laugh in such a way that he himself shouldn't be able to hear his voice. Learn some nice manners." Boy got confused and advised his grandpa, "I am not a man. I am a small kid. Stick to the story, Grandpa. "
The old man continued with further encouraging words of Jambavanth, "'O Valiant One! You were unhurt even after being hit with the thunderbolt by Lord Indra. All it was capable was damaging your left cheek bone earning you a great name HANUMAN."
Swats got some more material for motivating Prads, "See even in the path of love, there would be some inevitable blows. But it shouldn't break him down from expressing his love. I don't know what's pulling you back from expressing yourself"

Prads put forth his apprehensions, "But I don't know whether she feels in the same way as I feel for her.... How can I..."
Swats had a great line for him, "If that's the case, then with a guitar in your hand, croon to her like elvis presley did 'If You love me, let me know. If not, please gently let me go'"
Seeing that it didn't made much impact, Swats continued with some quote she remembered, "Time goes by so fast, people go in and out of your life.You must never miss the opportunity to tell these people how much they mean to you. What are you waiting for. Wake Up and Arise and Tell her how you feel." That really filled with enthusiasm and he immediately got up from his seat. Swats warned him, "Wow! Now don't try to get down from the moving bus. Wait for the bus to Stop." But nothing can stop him as he took his Cell phone and got a ticket to the big bad city booked.
Swats was really filled with happiness, "Hmm... If that girl sees you now, she would say 'You have the confidence like that of Hanuman' and that would be a victory."

At the same time, the old man had finished his story and looked at his grandson for his feedback. But his grandson concentration was elsewhere and he was hissing into Swats ears, "I hope she doesn't add, 'and also you look like Hanuman' that would be a tragedy...."

Don't give me a choice.

2010-08-01T06:07:00.000-07:00

It was Friendship Day and Goddess Laxmi was enjoying watching a new and a beautiful friendship develop between a 32 year old boy Pradyumn or Prads as Goddess addressed him and the 18 year old woman Swasthee or Swats as she liked to call her. Goddess Laxmi was unhappy with her husband, the creator of all our destinies, Lord Vishnu for not providing the much required life partner for Pradyumn. Pradyumn was strictly following a ek-naari vrath that too for some unseen girl in some distance place.

Goddess Laxmi wanted to do something about it and seeing her husband sleeping comfortably on the shesh-nag, decided to appear before Prads and give him a wish. Gods are never late in putting the decision to action. Next minute Goddess was in front of Prads and Swats and expressed her decision to make Prads life one filled with love. But she had a choice for Prads and that too a tough one, "You will have the love of your life. But you can either have her as a nagging and quarelling wife who will be there with you till the last of your breath. Or you can have her as a loving and caring wife who after a period of two years would breathe her last..."

Swats knew that Prads wouldn't give it much thought and would go for the second option, "You silly boys! Always want girls to be ever smiling and going ga-ga over you. Give the wish some thought! Whatever looks so simple is always complicated! If your girl is nagging and quarelling, yet she is with you till the last of the breath, it means that she has lots of love in her heart though not expressed through words. " Prads opposed the idea, "Come on! I want a life not only filled with love, but also with peace and calmness... Mann ki shanthi! that's what I also want... even if I get it for a small time... I am going for the..."

Swats again interrupted him, "See! For two years you would have love and calmness. But you would also have a child or children. And after two years, to look after them, you would definitely go for another girl!!! Then life can go anyway."
Prats didn't agree with her, "Two years spent in heaven is much better than a lifetime in hell. What would I gain by having a nagging and quarreling wife?"
Swats was remembered of her history classes, "Remember what Aristotle said, 'By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher'"

Swats gave a final blow, "The way you are selecting the wish shows you are very selfish. You want the love of your life to live only another two years so that you can have a love filled and calm life. " That completely put Prads to silence as Swats completed, "Lord Shiva drank that dangerous poison and kept it in his throat for the entire life so that the rest of the world can live peacefully. And you can't do that for even one person and that too for the person you say you love dearly." Prads understood what Swats was implying, "Love means not being selfish and living the life for the other."

Goddess Laxmi was enjoying this little conversation and was smiling the way Swats put forth her arguments. Swats asked Prads to focus on Goddess, "You should read the offer document properly. Whenever a boon or curse is given by the God, it is not for our benefit, it is just to take the life forward as they have planned for us." Goddess Laxmi was really impressed by Swats thoughts, "Wow! Such a wisdom in the young age! Good! With a friend like you, Prads is really blessed! But unfortunately I have to proceed to Vaikunta (Her Husband's abode). So the boon stands cancelled."

Prads looked very confusingly at Swats and Swats explained to him beautifully, "We should never get the love of our life through a wish. We should earn them,"
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Happy Friendship Day to all my readers...

The Begining 1: Let the Gods do the introduction

2010-07-24T07:40:00.000-07:00

What do immortal Gods Chat about? They talk about mortals like us just as we do about them. That's what Lord Vishnu and his beloved, Goddess Lakshmi were doing. They were chatting about a mortal. Lord Vishnu described him as "Dejected but not defeated. That's Pradyumn"

And below on the planet earth, the mortal Pradyumn, a young man in his early thirties was looking for something in the local park when everyone were enjoying the rare cool breeze. Lord Vishnu explained, "Even in his life, he is searching hard for a heart to love him... He is thirty two and still without luck..." Laxmi found the statement a bit weird, "Oh Great One! You yourself make hearts meet and don't you know about where that heart is?" and she remembered some romantic hindi lines, "Jab tumne dil kiya, dil ki do tukde kiya. Ek par Radha, Ek par shaam likha. Don't you know where the Radha of this Shyam is?"
Vishnu remembered her, his rules, "Yups... I know. But Waqt se pehle kismat se jyada na kisiko mila hain naa kisiko milega.

Goddess Lakshmi was not to be silenced that easily, "But you must have something planned for him in the immediate future.. Don't you? " Lord Vishnu loved to explain his plans, " I am going to make him taste some platonic relationship." Goddess Lakshmi didn't had the word platonic in her vocabulary and Lord Vishnu continued explaining to her, "Its a a true and pure friendship where one of the mates happens to be from the other sex. No Romance.. No Passion... No Intimacy..." Goddess Lakshmi found it hard to swallow, "A guy and a girl can be just friends... but at one point or another, they'll fall for each other may be temporarily, may be at the wrong time, may be too late or maybe forever" Lord Vishnu couldn't help her to believe it, "All you have to do is wait and watch the platonic relationship this 32 year old boy would have with that 18 year old woman".

Goddess Lakshmi looked at the direction at which her beau's finger was pointed and saw a gorgeous young lady with short hair and long legs making her move towards Pradhyumna. She was interrupted by her husband's sweet voice, "Before the story starts, let me tell you about Pradyumn. I like to call him as Prads. Prads didn't have much success both in his career or in his life though he has reached the pinnacle of young age. But now he is strictly following Ek-Naari-Vrath. The Mortals call it as one-sided love. He is a 32 year old small boy and all innocent."

Devi Lakshmi waited for the girls description, but Lord Vishnu came up with something different, "Do you know what is common between Rahul Dravid, the cricketer, sohee park, a south Asian actor and sinchan, a cartoon character. " Lakshmi Devi was a bit irritated by this sudden diversion, "This is not quiz time!!"
Vishnu gave the answer, "All of these have been the crushes of this young woman. She is studious though she most of the time bunks the classes. She is filled with wisdom though for most of the time she would be cracking silly one liners. She is Swasthee and you can call her Swats..."

At that moment, the sweet voice of Swats filled the heaven as she slowly sneaked from behind and asked in a polite manner, "Can I help you in any manner?" Prads gave a 'mind-your-business' look, but somehow he found himself explaining his loss , "I have lost my most valuable possession." Swats giggled and took a red diary from her behind, "Is this what you are looking for?" Prads just grabbed it from her. Swats continued her questions, "What is it? Bhagavad geetha?" Prads thanked her and said," No! Its my personal dairy...my companion"
Prads wished her goodbye and took her leave. He had hardly kept four steps when Swats called his name and brought him to a standstill. She ran to him and extended her hand "My name is Swasthee. You can call me Swats. I want to your friend..." Prads gave a surprising look and his hand looked like it it was glued to the pocket. With a mischievous smile, Swats said one more time, "I would like to make a friendship with a boy of 32 year old who is strictly following a ek-naari vrath and that too for a girl whom he has not yet meet and who leaves in a far off place..."
Prads was taken aback and said angrily, "You read my diary? and you expect me to be friend with you?"

Swats doesn't know to take a No and the naughty lady continued, "You know I am a journalist student and rite now working with a publication company for my project. I believe your ek-naari-vrath wala story would sell like hotcakes." Prads was being blackmailed and without further raising his voice, he extended his hand of friendship. Prads found her hand grip very hard. The playful Swats didn't release the hand before expressing her another desire, "I am new to this coastal city. I come from a mountainous terrain. I would like to see a new place in your city every week. I hope as a friend, you will fulfill this wish of mine.." She very well knew that there was NO WAY OUT for Prads.

Goddess Laxmi was enjoying every moment and expressed her hearts desire to her hubby, "How I wish to be like that girl Swats."
Thus began a unique relationship between a 32 year old boy and a 18 year old woman

Forever Love 5: Hum rahen na rahe

2010-07-15T21:50:00.000-07:00

For Seema, where she kept her foot, there should be a pavement. But Preetham found it hard to say yes to her latest wish. That was visiting the haunted house on the top of the hillock. but he didn't know how to say NO to his dear wife.He found it strange when she said that it had to do with her research in the subject forever love, "It's the house where a girl died of a terminal illness.Her boy remained there till his end not marrying anyone and always was lonely... It is said that even now the ghost of the boy enjoys the moments he had with her in that house"
Seema brought her young baby Prerana along with her. When Preetham looked at her questioning her decision to take their child along, she answered, "Don't you see those horror movies on HBO? Its with the children that the ghosts make the first contact"

They reached the place sometime around the evening. There didn't seem to be visibility of human life anywhere nearby. Environmentalists would be happy to find the rich growth of the greenery over there. Preetham checked his mobile to find if there was signal and to his surprise, he found it was showing good netwrok connectivity.Clever baby Prerana pointed to the top of the ghost house to find a mobile tower there.

As they entered the house, Seema slowly put her child Prerana down.It reminded preetham of movie scenes where the Cops unleash their sniffer dog to catch the thugs. He hated his wife using his kid like that.But the happy girl Prerana moved towards a dark room and after some seconds, Preetham and Seema heard their baby's laughter echo the entire house. When they went inside, they found her with a cute cat with a right mixture of colors on its body. And Seema was full smiles, but it was shortlived when Preetham spoke in a strange tone as if to give a signal that he was possessed. "My dear girl found it full wet one afternoon and asked me whether she can give sharan(Asylum) to it and I never knew how to say NO to her... That's when she named me a SHARANagatvatsal(One of lords names)..." That gave a creepy feeling to the Seema and at that moment itself, she decided to end her research

As she moved out and lifted her baby Prerana, Prerana saw the swing in the garden and pointed towards it and when Seema rejected,Prerana started crying at the top of her lungs forcing her mother's feet move towards the swing. Seema felt as it was outside the house, she had nothing to fear and sat along with her child and asked her dear husband to give them the push.As they were enjoying the swing, Preetham remarked which was very unlike of him and in a very strange and rough tone, "There on the horizon, a rainbow came on the August evening and she asked me to give the swing such a push that she could land on it...For her rainbow is a staircase to the heaven." Though the thought was romantic, Seema felt creepy once again and immediately got down in the fear of the push her 'possessed' husband was talking about.

She wanted to reach the car at the earliest and had put her research in the back of her brain. But as they were climbing down the hillock, Prerana's eyes fell on the small pound and the in minutes she was crying wanting to play in the water. Seema had to oblige and when they reached the pond, she asked her husband to hold her baby's one hand while she holds the another as the baby puts her legs in the water.As Prerana touched the cool water and giggled,Preetham started again, "This pond attracted some migrating birds and she always wished to fly along with those migrating birds to know where they came from... And one day she did fly away from my life to the place where she came from... the Heavens above..."

Seema had enough and lifted her baby and just pushed her husband into the pond. The coldness of the water seemed to have done the trick and the husband asked his wife to give him a hand. She rejected asking him for his identification. The husband or someone else trespassing into his soul uttered, "You wanted to know about forever love and I wanted to tell you. Look around you... The cat... the pond... the swing... all tell tales of our forever love... We never thought we were making memories... we thought we were having fun. But as time passed together, the bond became stronger and so you have your forever love...." The possessed husband looked at the kid and slowly started moving towards Prerana singing "Hum hain iss pal yahan, Jaane ho kal kahan...Hum miley na miley, Hum rahey na rahey...Rahegi sadaa yahan, Pyar ki ye dastan..Sunenge sadaa jise,Yeh Zameen asmaan.**" Seema forwarded her hand and the contact of the hand seemed to have did the trick and hubby immediately came to his normal self

But while returning to home, the atmosphere in the car was very silent. Slowly, Preetham who was at the wheels whistled that Rehmaan tune slowly, "Hum hain iss pal yahan, Jaane ho kal kahan, Hum miley na miley, Hum rahey na rahey..." and then looking at the surprised face of Seema, laughed out loudly and his daughter joined him in the laughter. A moment of forever love was made.
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Authors Note
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Yes, love is forever, but not other things in life,like this blog which has to end. I would like to end the Preetham-Seema Series here itself and by the way this was the 50th episode in the series. I hope my readers have liked it.

(** Translation of the song for non hindi readers
We are here at this moment, who knows where we will be tomorrow...
Whether we meet or not, Whether we live or not...
This love story will live on forever....
and will be heard forever on earth and in heaven)

Forever Love 4: With or Without You

2010-07-09T09:10:00.000-07:00

"Dear Son, Do as I say. Get some young nubile girls aged between 4 and 10 and offer them your honors... Goddess Durga will be pleased and you will get a Kanya soon!", said Surendar's Mother. For Surendar, these words resembled lines from some B-Grade thriller where the villain is advised to do sacrifice of young girls to obtain long life. But his mother removed his ignorance, "This is Kannika Pooja. You don't kill young girls and drink their blood. Rather you see Goddess in them and respect them and fall on their feet. This will help you to get a good girl" Surendar didn't want to speak about ill-well about the customs his mother believed and just said okay.

And on the given day that is Friday, the three girls were waiting in the temple to be respected and for him to be fallen at their feet. But the temple priest told Surendar that he had to do it one by one and so the roll call started. Also present in the temple to witness this special occasion was Manya, his colleague, Seema his boss's wife and Riya, twelve year old neighbor of Seema.

First on the stage came a four year old girl with chubby cheeks and radiant smile. Surendar followed the priests instructions without questioning and applied kumkum to the baby girl's forehead, presented her new dress and fell at her feet. The Baby Girl smiled and slowly kept her left hand over his head. Seeing this, the priest asked this young goddess to bless the young man with a lovely wife who wouldn't spin him around like a top. The girl got shy and came running down the dias.
Thats when Young Riya got the idea and she folded her small umbrella and made it her play microphone and asked Manya to start the camera in her mobile. And like a reporter, she stopped the baby girl and questioned, "Dear Goddess Number 1, why did you get shy when you heard the word Wife? What is that you understand about marriage?" The girl said in her own silly half baked language, "Marriage means a chance to wear brand new sari with lots of bangles and necklaces and a man standing right to you as a bodyguard"

While Riya was interviewing, the second girl had already taken her seat and without pandit's guidance, Surendar had completed the formalities. The girl looked more like a young kali to Surendar with a straight face and he didn't want to joke with her and ask for her blessings. He prostrated and heard the Pandit say, "Girl! Bless him so that he gets a nice girl and a lot of babies in the coming years" Suddenly a curve appeared on the straight face and even this girl got shy and came down the dias.
Riya was ready and put a hard hitting question to the young girl which even Barkha Dutt wouldn't have asked, "What went into your mind when the pandit said babies. Do you know how to make the babies?"
The girl's face glowed with more smiles as she answered, "Sure! Its easy! Our English Sir had taught us this trick. Take the Y from BABy and add IES to make BABies."

Surendar was not giving attention to what was happening in the intervew. In front of him sat the third girl, aged around 10 and who looked quite intellectual. Even Pandit studied it from her face and when it came to take blessings, he asked her to repeat after him, "Sheegrameya Kalyana Prapthi Rasthu..." The girl got furious and refused and got down immediately.
Riya holding her prop mike questioned the girl, "Why are you angry? Did you get what the priest was saying..."
The girl said with a straight face, "Aham Samskritam Jaanami.. I know sanskrit. The priest asked me to tell him, 'he will get kalyani at the earliest'. Kalyani is my elder sister. I don't want her to be snatched away from me by a man. If he wants a sister, let him ask his mother!"

The whole episode had left Surendar a very tired man. But still he stopped to be questioned by the young reporter, "Do you believe the pooja will give you the desired results?"
Surendar explained his postion, "Desired results? I have not begged the God to throw some girl in my arms. Nor even for some girl making me coffee filled with sweetness and love for every day in the rest of my life. I just want that girl whom I can love forever whether she is by my side or invisible. All I want is to have some nice memories that will never make me forget her till the last of my breath...."
Manya found this behaviour of Surendar strange where he wanted to give his love irrespective of whether it is reciprocated or not and so interrupted the interview program with a quote she remembered, "Although memories with someone will bring you smile, remember Mr Surendar, it hurts too much from inside"

Riya like a true professional didn't like Manya interfering in her interview program and looking at the camera, closed her interview program, "So You have met a person who wants love all his life with or without her presence. Camera-woman Manya ke saath, this is ace reporter Riya from Mangaladevi Temple..."

Forever Love 3: Selfless Love

2010-07-04T19:58:00.000-07:00

When does a human gives his brain some work in the modern days.. ? When the telephone lines are down and the power is blacked out. Thats what seema was doing in the balcony that day. She was giving the concept of forever love a thought. She thought,'Would it be possible for a spouse to love his wife even if the other partner is not ready to or not in a position to reciprocate.' Then suddenly she heard a ashiraravani, "Why not! There r lots of examples'" Seema looked puzzled and like basanthi from sholay remarked , 'Yun ki! yeh kaun bola'
Then a pushpak viman appeared on the sky with the heavenly sage Narad in it...Seema rubbed her eyes in disbelief and asked Narad, "Wow! Earlier You used to travel through the clouds on foot, rite?. Now a aerial car!!... You got promoted?"
Narad directly came to the point, "I am here to show you a living example. Take my hand and come into the chariot' Seema hesitated and Narad commented, "Don't worry, I am a pucca bachelor.Not like the sages on the ground... And I am definitely not ravan in disguise"

Seema stepped into the aerial car and within minutes she was in the US of A and in front of a research scientist Acharya's house. Seema observed the activities from the comforts of the plane. At the ground level, the sun had dawned and the husband was on his toes.He picked up the newspapers and also switched on the geysers. Within minutes the porch and the lawn was cleanly swept and also coffee was prepared. And the wife was enjoying her sleep or so it looked to Seema. Seema immediately cried out, "This is not selfless love!!! He is just another joru ka ghulam!!"
Lord Narad calmed her down, "Shanthi! ... Shanthi!" Seema looked confused, "You should cry Narayan! Narayan! rite... so now who is this shanthi?" But suddenly her focus turned to the earth where the wife slowly pointed her finger at something... It was a bowl... The next deeds by Mr Acharya brought tears to Seema's eyes... She realised that Acharya's wife was completely paralysed and she couldn't do any work of hers by herself
Narad then explained her, "Theirs was a love marriage. They were not just life partners but also research partners trying to come with some kind of artificial blood. But fate had other plans and one fine morning the wife never got up to wish him good morning and from that day she remained in the bed, completely paralyzed.
So it is all up to the husband now to take care of her...." Seema saw the husband taking assent of his wife for the donation he wanted to make for a cancer fund.
Narad read the expression on Seema's face and explained why it was happening "There are reasons.. As a human being, he believes in doing his karma without expecting fruits... And As a husband, she is his source and inspiration even now.... that's why he consults her on every matter" Seema remembers a kannada Song, 'NINNA NOVVU NANAGIRALLI... NEMMADI SAVI NINAGIRALLI... SADA KAYUVE" (Let all your pain be mine... let peace and happiness be your... I wil always be there for you...forever and ever"

Before Seema gets too emotional, Narad announces "Lets go to a place near your hometown and zoom they are in the coastal town where a lady Sowjanya, 40 plus something is looking after a business while her husband is idle sitting at home reading sum philosophical books and getting mad at some caller. When she comes home, he starts cursing her and finds faults with all her actions. She silently digests the same and cooks food and serves food and goes to sleep without even raising a voice."
Seema is irritated,"This is not selfless love... this is exploitation" Narad didn't made the mistake of saying shanthi again, "Narayan! If you knew the past, you wouldn't say this. When she got married, she was only gaun ki unpadh ladki. But the good husband gave her the education and the nuances of the trade. One day some misfortune fell upon the business and the husband broke down completely and never recovered. The dutiful wife picked up the broken parts and built the empire back with whatever her husband had taught her. But the husband never came back to his earlier stage. He was filled with venom against everyone and most of the time took it out against his wife. Now the wife knew what her duty was and she stuck to it and gave her family all she can"
When seema saw sowjanya looking innocently at her husband, she thought as if sowjanya was saying, "Tujhse naaraz nahin hairaan hoon' but she heard sowjanya say softly to her husband, "You told me you didn't want me to change... but you have changed so much..." and tears flowed from her eyes

Before Seema could get emotionally involved, Narad turned his small plane towards the home when Seema asked, "Why does your Lord does this to such lovely couples? If he has love and affection for his creation, then is he inflicting pain upon them."
Narad got a bid angry, "You are pointing fingers at my Lord Narayan!!!Concentrate and understand this truth: There is no purpose or meaning in God's play. Keep mum and endure your life as it comes and give selfless love; This is the way to peace.**"
(**The last four lines are from a kannada poem collection by DVG)

Forever Love 2: Defining forever....

2010-06-25T16:56:00.000-07:00

What every karma(work) one performs in their previous birth will see the results in the present and in future too if not fulfilled. As such life's got a past and future but no end. Live your life according to this very spiritual thought. - DVG (A kannada poet)

Seema was there under the constructing flyover taking some shelter from the relentless rain. At the same time her thoughts were on her new obsession - the forever love thing. 'Now how to defne forever... Is it for this lifetime... or even for the past and future lives...'- that was her doubt. Thats when a tangewala (the horse ridden carriage) came near asking her if she wanted a ride. She just popped in and the old man who had the controls asked him, "where does the lady want to go?" Seema laughed, "I would have loved to go to my future lives... but you can't do that... so take me to my home at..." Before she could complete, the old man gave a divine smile and said, "Let lady's wishes be fulfilled" and like a lightning, the carriage moved and suddenly the rains made way for sunshine. After some minutes, the old man announced, "your destination is reached"

She looked out.It was not her home. Rather it looked like a princely town of some 16th century. She looked at him with confusion. He replied,"This is your next life... 16th century chola kingdom... one of its provinces... You r the daughter of a governor.... and there you are" Seema was filled with pride, "I look just as beautiful as Aishwarya did in Jodha Akbar.."
And as they watched, The daughter of the governor was being saved from some bandits by a man on a black horse. The man on the horse looked like her husband. Seema couldn't control her laughter "He cant hold the handles of the bike properly nor can he cut the carrots with the knife without trembling... and here he is riding the horse and also fighting with a sword'. In the fight, the warrior fought with his life for the pride of the heroine. The bollywood movies have taught the girls that they must fall in love with the man who saves their life and pride. But here, nothing of that sort happened. The eyes meet and the hearts seemed to talk. But then the pair turned and moved away as if nothing had happened at all.
Seema had two confusing thoughts, "If this is my next life, how am I in 16th century and not 22nd or 23rd century? and why didn't romance blossom between the pair?"
The old man answered the first question, "Whoever said to you, time is linear? You will placed in the life and the time as per your Karma. As for your next question, the answer lies within you. I will give you one more chance"

Saying so, the old man took her to one more of her future lives announcing, "This time it would be in the 22nd century".Seema expected nice gadgets, extravagant cars and skyscrapers touching the sky and so on. But to her complete surprise, she found a picturesque village on a river side with the sound of a steam engine filling the air. She looked at the old man for an explanation and he said," In this time, God decided to take some pages out of the literature and bring it to reality... So we have a Gotham city in America, Hogwarts school in England and Malgudi in India"
So Seema had landed in Malgudi. In this life, she was a young girl roaming in Langa-Dhaavani and a intermediate dropout who for most of the time helped her mother with the day to day household chores. Her romance was with a postman and whenever she heard the cycle bell sound, she came running like Gopikas come running on hearing Shri Krishna's flute. But she was not unable to convey her heart to him or to her parents who were looking for a better alliance for her.Seema was totally confused, "what the hell is happening in my future lives.. Why I m not getting the love''

The old man thought it was the time to clarify her doubts, "You have a great love in your present life... the one that will be with you for eternity... But you instead of having respect for the same, doubted whether it would last for the lifetime..."
Seema received the clarification, "And it is disturbing my future lives and so I am not able to be with the one I should be in future lives." She still had a doubt, "You are saying all these lives run parallel... this is more complex"
The old man said, "Take it anyway you think... but if you sow a bad thought, the results would be bad... never doubt your love is temporary... always feel that it is for eternity. Make your love so strong that it is like a tree whose roots are deep in the earth but whose branches extend into heaven"

Forever Love 1: The Fountain of Love

2010-06-17T04:57:00.000-07:00

Seema was pondering over what the sales girl had told her. When the sales girl declared lifetime warranty for the washing machine she was selling, Seema put a question with intention of teasing the sales girl, "Mine or the machines's. "
The sales girl's answer was still ringing in her ears, "You can't have lifetime warranty for anything.. not even your dear husband's love for you nor even your love for him'

Sitting alone in the garden, she was lost in these thoughts, when she heard the voices of children. It was Riya her young neighbor of twelve years old and Deepak, a thirteen year old boy. They were playing sum treasure hunt game. Seema caught the words like treasure, search and map and some fountain and that excited her. The kids revealed that they were searching for a fountain from where if one drinks, he would know the secret of forever love.
She decided to make herself a party in the search and the kids didn't refuse it when she saw her take out her Maruthi Alto. She spread the long sheet over the steering wheel only to find that it was not a map but clues for whereabouts of the fountain.
The map had some clues that need to be solved to reach the destination.

First clue was simple which Seema read out, "A place where you can see Pooja, Tulasi and Deepa'...". Even before she could completely read it out, Deepak cried out in excitement,"Turn left at the next corner.. We are going to our colony... All these pretty gals stay there..." Riya wanted to smash his head for not getting such a simple clue, "It is referring to the temple... And there is a temple straight ahead on that hillock. We need to move straight" They reached the destination, it was not just a temple. It was a temple complex with many deities being worshiped...

Seema opened the map and read out the next clue, "Go to the area where it is very dark and the water flows continously." Deepak couldn't remain silent and had to open his stupid mouth, "Must be that toilet at the south of this temple... I heard people say Electricity doesn't work there and the flush is always broken." Riya wanted to kick his butt, but when she saw the sanctum sanctorum, she remained silent. Seema closed her eyes for prayers, but Riya had her eyes open and saw the second answer.
In the dark sanctum sanctorum there stood a huge Ganesha Statue and the architecture was such that the Statue stood just beneath a small water fall with water falling on Ganesha's head continuously. They had their second answer

Seema opened the map and read the third clue, "Picture the scene before you with your real eyes and you will have the answers." Deepak read the clues again and removed his sunglasses trying to see if he could find the answer.Riya looked at Deepak wanting to know whether he had the answer. Deepak spoke like he was enlightened, "I feel like sitting under that fall and singing 'Thande Thande Paani se nahana chahiye... Gaana aaye ya na aaya gaana chahiye'" Riya got furious but she remained silent as she saw Seema focusing on the answer. Thats when they heard a guide explain the tourists, "The water has never stopped or reduced its force. It has flowed continuously since years and will do so for years"
And then the priest came out and explained the significance to them all, "Like that water stream, we all should be... we should pour all our love unconditionally.... a mother to her children, a brother to his sister and a wife to her husband... never looking for anything in return... that is forever love"
And Seema says to the kids "And this itself is the fountain of love" and so saying they took the theertham from the priest and drank it.

A Manly Manya

2010-05-29T04:23:00.000-07:00

After his girl ditched him or so, Surender was singing depressing songs like My love is gone and so on. But the security guard at the office informed his colleague Manya that he was into more worse things. The guard talked about the occult cult that surendar had joined which met at the Mukhyaprana temple. That made Manya want to check out the cult. But security guard informed that the organisation was a taliban-like and entry was restricted to men.So Manya said with a smile, "MAKE ME A MAN"
The dresser and make up artist in the guard suddenly came to life and in minutes Manya looked like a beautiful man but guard was not satisfied as he looked at her from head to toe, "There doesn't seem to be a balance" And with a pillow upon which he rested during his nite duties, woh kami bhi poori hogayi. Now she looked like a big stomach wala marwadi businessMAN
Then as she entered she found the speaker addressing the crowd, "Its better to die at the hands of a cruel murderer than to be in the dreams of a lustful woman" Manya looked at the speaker and commented to the Guard, "With that goats beard and wild hair where birds can nest and those shabby clothes, he can't be in any girl's dreams" The speaker went on to introduce new members and came to Surendar and asked him how women had ruined his life. Manya quickly understood what the cult stood for and what was its objectives.

Surender, "I am deeply madly truly in love with this girl.. But she is not expressing herself..."
The Speaker spoke to the entire audience with bitterness against the girls, "That's the problem with girls.. All that we do in our life is for girls. Young boys iron their clothes so that girls can fall into their traps. But girls never even by mistake speak their hearts out...they just play around as if our heart is a toy for them..."
Manya had to speak her heart out and she did but with a modulated voice, "Arre yaar.. See the logic... Girls don't first speak their heart out. Boys need to express strongly and confidently... Have you done it... Mr Surender"

Surendar failed to recognize his colleague Manya, "I have already spoken my heart out... Laid my proposal before her...She has not yet come with a Yes or No..."
The speaker intervened and gave the message to the whole crowd, "If she says Yes, you will die from happiness.. If she says No, you will die from heartbreak.. It will not make a difference... does it?"
Manya felt like throwing her sandal at the speaker, but tried to impress upon her colleague in a manly voice, "All the problems in the world can be traced to saying YES too quickly or NO too late... She needs time and she needs to have trust..."

Surender was liking more of Manya's thoughts, "But she has put me through so many tests and tribulations. Cant I know the results now?"
The speaker filled in, "Even The CAT or CET exams has less rounds of test... She may test you before marriage... After marriage she will put you to more tests... Mind you, All Boys! This is gonna be a never ending saga with the girls"
Manya explained a girls thoughts, "She is putting her entire life in your trust. She is leaving her home to become one with you. She wants to know what level you love her and bear with her. Tomorrow if something goes wrong after she comes to you, she has no where to go.. Think... Boy! If you love her truly, madly and deeply as you declared earlier, you will be able to think from her angle...":

Now that really made Surendar think. This was a threatening move for the cult and suddenly the speaker asked his new members to raise their right hand and take their vows. Surendar didn't raise his hand as he found more weight in Manya's words than the speaker's, "I prefer to follow in the path shown by that young boy..."
Manya decided to put an end to the drama as she took the pillow and gave it to the security guard, "This looks best when your head is rested on it" and removed the false mustache and also dropped her hair down though they were not so long. As the crowd looked at her, she declared, "It may take hundred men to make a camp, but it takes one woman to make a happy home. All the good boys, here. Give it a thought!"
When a girl speaks, boys listen. So as Manya walked out along with the security guard and Surendar, she had a small crowd of boys following her.

No One for the Evening Walk!

2010-05-23T04:48:00.000-07:00

"Oh My God!" came the shriek from Preetham's house. It was Seema's voice. Her Mother in law came running towards her room. When she enquired as to what happened, Seema replied with concern, "Look at your son's belly! Fat has started accumulating." But dear husband Preetham tried to ignore it, "Come on... You know what they say in the west... It is just a sign of prosperity." Seema became more vociferous, "Prosperity! My Foot! It is a sign of laziness" and she tapped gently on the stomach. Her child Prerana followed her mother's example and in few minutes the baby was practising tabla.

Seema also had the solution "This problem needs to be nipped in the bud.You spend too much time lazing in front ot the computer." and then she issued directions, " Now that there is less work at office, You can come down early and we will go for a evening walk from 5.30 to 6.30" Preetham's mother immediately objected, "Not that time! Its the time when most of the ladies venture out of their dens and start using their strongest weapon... the tongue... Buri Nazar pad sakthi hain...on my dear son... I will not allow it..."
Preetham smiled which irritated Seema more and she said, "Well! Dear MIL, I have a idea to protect your son from bad and roving eyes.We will dress him in a burkha covered from top to bottom with openings only near the eyes... Howzthat!!!"

Seeing her MIL's eyes becoming red with anger, Seema immediately went for a time change, "I hope you wouldn't object for the evening timing of 6.30 to 7.30" This time, instead of the mother, the son himself objected to it, "Its the twilight time... Its the time for the mind to focus on God....It would not be right for me to go for walk during that time..."Seema was getting crazy hearing all kinds of excuses, "Hmm... If you so can't live without your God, you should have married him." Mother in law gave a shocked look and Seema thought that her MIL was shouting 'Sacrilege' in her mind but MIL politely advised,"How about visiting that Ganesh temple? It will serve twin purposes - Walking as well as Darshan of the almighty" Seema congragulated her Mother in law,"You are great! If we go to the temple, Your Son will not come out of the temple without having that delicious prasadam (appam) dipped in shuddh ghee"

Seeing her DIL put her head down, Mother in law gave another suggestion and tried to finish off the discussion, "I think no one would object for 7.30 to 8.30." Seema was silent from which it was clear that she didn't consent to the time.Preetham himself talked for her, "If ladies went for walk during that time, television networks all around India would lose a big chunk of advertising revenue.For the sake of Indian's economy, It is better ladies stayed inside their homes during that time "

Seema smiled, "Then we are left with no option except go for a walk after the dinner... i.e 9.30 to 10.30"
Preetham agreed, "And that would be a romantic one too... With no one on the streets and with moon light following us and stars spread across the sky.... It reminds me of Raj Kumar and Nargis walking down the lane and singing Pyar hua iqraar hua"
Seema' s mother in law interrupted the romantic moment, "Hello! You both are forgetting that there is another member in your small family... Prerana, your baby... who will put her to sleep"
Prerana decided to speak for herself and slowly she crawled towards her grandma
Seeing this, Seema mischievously commented supporting her daughter's move, "Why else then do we have old ladies at home for?"

Some Serious Discussion on Love

2010-05-18T09:16:00.000-07:00

Lots of noise made Preetham's mother come out of the pooja room. As she looked towards the bed room, she found Preetham and Seema trying to console their weeping baby girl Prerana. And then she turned her eyes towards the living room to find Riya, her thirteen year old neighbor enjoying a harry potter movie on the idiot box with Deepak, fourteen year old nephew of Preetham. The old lady switched off the telly much to the disappointment of the kids and shooed them off to the garden. She also joined them and advised, "Don't waste your evening in the front of the idiot box. Do some thing creative or talk something productive"

Deepak looked around and saw a young man standing near a gate and watch a girl come down that lane and exclaimed, "Isn't that surprising. There are more than billion people in this world and only one is meant special for you. What is that about this thing called love and what's going through that young man's mind?"
Riya gave a smile and remembered something which she had heard or read, "Every boy wishes his love to be like a volleyball. When he says MINE, he wants everyone to back off, and the girl like the ball in the game should be... his.. That's the feeling that boy over there is going through" Granny was very angry at Deepak for corrupting the young girl with such questions, "You could have observed those kittens playing with their mummy or that young kid trying to learn the bicycle. But you choose to study that cupid struck guy?m You worth-for-nothing!"

Deepak was not listening as he had more questions, "But is this love? Waiting for someone get down from the bus and watch them keep those gentle steps towards their home?" Riya was enjoying sharing her knowledge, "It may not be. It may be just lust. Lust and love are not the one and the same. Lust may be the beginning of the love. But it may last for Eternity. May be that's the reason Love begins with L and ends with E." The old lady was surprised on hearing such great thoughts from such small brain, "The convent school you go to has a head master who is a priest and most of the teachers are sisters. Where did you learn all these, young girl?"

Riya just gave another of her sweet smile instead of answering the question. There was another surprise waiting for the old lady. Suddenly, out of the blue, Deepak announced, "I think I am falling in Love with you, Riya?" But Riya took it lightly as she gently questioned, "And may i know as to what is that in me that you love?" Deepak answered confidently, "You are so cute..." Riya thrashed it, "That's just attraction, not love..." Deepak continued "and you are intelligent..." Riya negated that one too, "That's just admiration and will not last long..." But Deepak didn't stop, "When you walk alone on the street, I want to give you a lift on my bicycle.." Riya was ready with the answer, "That's just compassion and nothing else.." Deepak laughed, "And why don't I have that compassion for this old lady here?"

That angered Preetham's mother and she ran inside the house probably to get something to smack the young boy. While she was gone, Riya explained in simple words, "Love has no reasons whatsoever...It just happens" As Deepak was pondering on the lines, Granny came with a big cane and seeing that Deepak started running away. The Old Lady was successful in driving the young boy. But she saw Riya looking furiously at her which prompted her to ask, "What's wrong with You? Why are you looking at me like that?" Riya answered a bit harshly, "You drove away my prospective husband!!!!

Boys say NO too!

2010-05-08T17:23:00.000-07:00

Preetham was early to home that friday evening. It was not unusual of him. But instead of finding his wife Seema welcoming him, he found a young lady waiting for his wife Seema and watching the movie Wake Up Sid. The scene being played was the one where Ayesha rejects Sid's proposal in a cool manner, "I think this will hurt you... But You are immature and childish..You are just a kid... You are the wrong profile for me..."
Preetham tried to start the conversation taking this topic, "The girls can so easily be cruel when it comes to rejecting a boy's proposal... " The lady turned towards Preetham and answered sternly without even introducing herself, "Its not only the fairer sex that rejects. You Guys do that too and that hurts too..."
Preetham was not willing to agree easily, "Its only ladies who reject proposals without any emotions. Men have a sensitive mind that very well understands a woman's heart"

That really pissed off the lady, but she maintained her composure,"I need to put my own life story to make you understand. But I do feel You are just arguing for the sake of argument..." But the lady started her story, "In DDLJ, Simran met her first love in a train. But I was not that lucky. My first love happened in a public transport system and that too a jam packed bus. He used to commute in the same bus and I used to hold the books for him. He gave me a look that told me he desired me. But some days later, he stopped handing me the books for custody and he didn't cross the foot board too. I made up my mind and declared my love..." And then the lady sarcastically remarked, "the guy with the sensitive mind rejected giving a sensible reason, 'You are my best friend's sister. I don't want to hurt my friend'" Preetham found a positive note, "I think you are lucky... He seemed a gay who liked your brother more than you."

That brought a smile on the lady's face as she told her further rejected proposals, "Then I went for graduation. Till then, I thought cell phone was meant for communication. Then I learn t that in the hands of youngsters, its real use is giving missed calls, messaging sweet nothings and playing pranks. I too played mischief with this good looking, studious guy. And without myself knowing, I fell in love once again. Strange was the guy as he told me that he needed a day's time to think about it. I never even in my dreams thought that he would send his mother to me. She brought the religion issue and begged me to forget her son. I replied her 'Like a kangaroo, carry your son everywhere in the pouch'. Some guys, no matter how old they are, they always remain mamma's boys" Preetham remembered how his wife teased him using that word.

Not waiting for Preetham to react, the lady continued "But this heart never gives up. A hope is always there. And When I meet this guy online, he gave me the feeling two hearts can be one, even if lips don't lock themselves together or there is no holding of hands together. That's when I came to know that mind is a more erotic organ. I proposed to him, 'I don't want to be friends.. I have already been in love.. So, Marry Me' But he ridiculed about it and I decided to make him feel my absence for some days. But that ego proved costly as he tried to do something stupid like taking his own life in my absence. Later he realized that relationships are just illusions and life is not just about love. He has not forgotten me, But he doesn't want to be further attached to me. A good boy was snatched from me...."

Preetham had lots of questions to ask on this one, but he tried to console her, "When GOD takes away somethng from ur hand, dont think he is punishing u..he is merely emptying ur hand for u to receive something better!!" But the girl was getting emotional and his wife made her entry and questioned her husband seeing the girl's eyes wet, "What have you done to my good friend?" The lady excused herself, "Nothing. I was revisiting the memory lane and it brought tears." Seema immediately introduced her friend to her husband, "By the way, She is Simran, she writes for the local magazine...." Simran remembered the purpose of her visit, "I was doing a article on Platonic relationship with men and I came to talk on this one..." and she continued, "I have come to the conclusion, Its kind of difficult to have a platonic relationship with men. All of them would have some kind of interest in the woman they befriend..." and after a pause she continued, "Even Happily married men too. What do you say?"

We will not let you go!

2010-05-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

Manya is asked by her senior Preetham to do a exit interview of Surendar. Manya is thrilled to do this pleasing task of asking a employee as to why he wants to become a ex employee. But her senior Preetham had given the task with the condition that she should involve some senior member. Manya did the unexpected and took the aged security guard with her. Preetham had failed to give the parameters that defined senior member.

Manya didn't take much time to come to the question, "Why do you want to leave this esteemed organization?" Surendar with a glee on his face replied, "I am planning to get married!" The security guard checked the application papers of Surendar and then answered the inquiring question of Manya, "I was just checking the gender. Usually girls come up with this answer na" Surendar with a blunt face retorted, "I am leaving because I want to be with my Girlfriend and she is in a far-off metro"

Manya like a HR executive tried to understand him, "But why do you want to leave your hometown?" Surendar replied in a filmy style, "When people in love are willing to leave this world for their dear ones, Why can't I leave my hometown?" and he also added, "This place doesn't provide opportunities for her to come up in her career" Manya couldn't digest the answer, "Mixing career with romance is like..." As she was searching for the words, the old security guard said, "Like water with whiskey"
But Surendar had his heart set on shifting the base, "But my boss wouldn't sit besides me when I am sick...I cannot take my finance head with me to the movies or the temple on the weekends... Its the family that comes first na." The security guard was laughing, "You are becoming too emotional! No one should take decisions by becoming emotional."

Surendar wanted to show some logical reasons, "She can't adjust to this hot weather and the beat of this small town." Manya answered that one quickly, "With global warming reaching every nook and corner of the world, no metro would be spared. And then coming to the beat... I think she would be more concerned with the beat of your heart rather than the beat of the town." The old man also commented, "Her town may keep her cool. But the real cool is in the mind. If you want to get your body cooled off, there are so many ways - Get an AC, Switch on the fans, Open the doors of refreigerator or still better ' ja kar nalli ke neeche beth ja'!!!"

But that hurt Surendar. Seeing it, the old man got serious and quoted, "A girl who cares for her guy like a child and a guy who respects the girl like his mom are the only kind of people whose love will be the purest and most sincere one." Manya smiled at that one and added her thoughts, "And it is difficult for a child to adjust to a new location... So the mom should come down here na"
That confused Surendar and he looked up to the two to help him out. So Manya did the unexpected. She opened the laptop and logged on the net. Surendar thought she was googling for the solution. But then she finished her online task and declared, "There! We should take the help of our colleagues not only in coding and decoding our programs, but also in decoding life's problems.I have mailed your predicament to all the company employees. They will help you out" That sentence made Surendar put both his hands on his head, "You made my love story public,you silly girl!!!" That's when Preetham entered and asked Surendar, "So any change in your decision" Surendar surprised everyone with the answer, "Yeah.. I thought of quitting after a month. Now I have decided to quit in a week"

Why... I Love My Husband

2010-04-24T20:05:00.000-07:00

Preetham and Seema along with their four month old baby Prerana were on their way to a function in a small village. En route, a villager stopped them and asked them to take an alternate route, "There is a Chudail (a she-giant) some distance ahead on this road who feeds on good husbands" Preetham gets jitters but Seema gives him courage and speaks like Superstar SRK, "Main Hoon Na! You Just control the wheels"

But they run directly into her. The Chudail had set up a road block ahead. The Chudail was more than fifteen feet tall and looked more like a female version of Shrek. As Seema watched, the Chudail who went by the name Sundari just picked up Preetham by his collar like we humans pick up the cockroaches by their mustaches. Prerana looked with awe at the Chudail and then questioningly at her mother as if asking her, "Whatever happened to 'Main Hoon Na'" Seema reminds herself of all those sati-savithri movies where the wives plead and beg for their husband's lives and gets into the act.

The Chudail melted a little and said, "I will put him down if you say me what is that you like in him the most" Seema didn't know how to answer it. She was reminded of her mothers advice, 'Never ever praise husbands. It goes into their heads'. She thought she would bluff and walk away with it, "What else! His Good Looks! Even If I see a Hrithik Roshan movie, I see my husband in Hrithik Roshan"
The Chudail couldn't digest the answer, "This face here can't even launch a toilet paper! And you are comparing Hrithik Roshan with him!"
Seema got furious, "Mind Your Tongue! Lady... "

The Chudail reminded her, "I am controlling my tongue. Otherwise it would have tasted your husband by now... Don't waste my time... Answer quickly... "
Seema this time tried to be a bit realistic but not honest," His intelligence... He is in a good job.. He fulfills all my wishes and keeps me happy..."
The Chudail smiled, "This is economic basics. Because of women like you, the economics is working. Otherwise What do men need! They will wear the same four shirts and pants and one set of shoes the whole year around. I mean.. your husband is doing what all others do... This is a common trait.... Stop playing around!"

Prerana tugged at her mother and Seema felt her daughter was shouting at her, "Get my father! Get him Now! Say the truth!" She looked at her daughter and then at her husband, dangling between the two fingers of the chudail a well fifteen feet above the ground. From where she stood, to her, it looked like her husband was preparing for a bungee-jump. She came out with the truth, "Its his caring nature. I love it when he kisses me good bye as he leaves for work in the morning. I love it when he calls from the office to check whether I had my lunch on time. I love it when he expresses his fears to me and doesn't allow his male masochistic ego come in the way. I love every little thing he does. He never makes me feel that we both are two different souls."

On hearing this, there's a transformation in the chudail and within minutes she has became a nubile young beauty and she explains that how she was cursed in her previous life for not understanding her good husband. Now she was liberated from the curse as she understood the traits in her husband of previous life. Saying so she started walking from the scene. Preetham got into the car and before starting the vehicle, checked the young beauty from his rear view mirror. Seema caught him in the act and warned, "If you do that again!... I will myself feed you to some other giant"

The Awakening Philosophy

2010-04-17T21:10:00.000-07:00

Better to get up late and be wide awake than to get up early and be asleep all day
But good husband Preetham didn’t believe in these words of truth.So that Morning, The good husband was not behaving like one and was trying to wake his wife from her good sleep. She was irritated and just cried for help. And that’s when the phone rang. Preetham was surprised because his wife had just cried for help and not dialed any helpline number. It was the young friend of Seema who had saved her from her huband and his preachings in the past (Read The Mobile Philosophy and The Orkut Philosophy). Seema put the call on the speaker mode and expressed her relief, “Like Krishna who came to Draupadi’s help when she was dragged from her antha pura by Dushashana, You have come to my help.” The young man heard Seema’s plight of how her husband wanted her to be disciplined and how he was beginning with the first exercise of waking up early.

Young man decided to speak it out with Preetham himself, “Sir, Have you heard about the Sleep Philosophy….” Preetham laughed, “Seems it’s the only philosophy that lazy people like you learn very fast. Waiting to hear it….” The young man ignored the offence, “The sleep like any process has stages… to be precise three stages... and that too both way... One is when you go to sleep and another when you wake up. When you go to sleep, in the first stage, you will feel the body disappearing that is you will forget that you have a body…but during this stage, the mind continues to exist giving you thoughts like ‘what I should message my girlfriend next morning’. After some juggling even the mind vanishes….”
That’s when the Boy’s mother made her entry, “Even if the mind is clear, you will pollute it…” The boy looked for an explanation. Mother gave one, “Like you did to the newly wedded girl in the neighbour by asking her, ‘What’s the last thing you take off before going to sleep?’ And how do you expect her to answer” The young man innocently replied, “Of course, a simple answer like ‘my feet off the ground’. What do you expect her to answer?” Now this embarrased the mother and she preferred to hear his sleep philosophy.

He continued. “After the mind too vanishes, tell me what is left?” Preetham didn’t had a answer though he was very religious. With a radiant smile, the young man said, “The Soul. And the soul would be in a chat session with the almighty…” Just then a *ping* came from the young man’s lappie and mother announced, “It seems your almighty or god has come to the chat session... ", after checking she exclaimed, "Oops! It's a goddess! Doesn’t your girl friend have exams?” The young man quickly corrected her, “Mom! She wants to chat with me and relieve herself from exam related stress… And she is just a good friend and not a girl friend.Please!!!! Let me concentrate on the talk”

The young man focused on the third stage of sleep, “This stage is the real seat when the soul gets its nourishment. It gets enlightened. The soul free of its ego becomes one with the Supreme... But then the traffic for this chat session is so huge the Almighty cannot afford much time for each soul. That’s when he sends back or gets them ready for wake up…” Seema was left expressionless on hearing this beautiful description for the state of sleep, “And I thought sleep was just roaming around the spaces of the mind without doing much and it is just like the way we spent time testing various items in the shopping mall and end up purchasing nothing…”

The young boy said, “As we return to the stage when mind is alive, we are in the state of dreaming. That’s when the soul communicates with the ego and because of our ego, we see some strange symbols and apparitions which we can’t make any sense. These are actually messages for our improvement…” The mother had to intervene, “If we see only strange things and apparitions, why do you take the name of that girl from the college, ‘Paaro’ in the dreams? Is God telling you, “Jao… Bachche.. use patao”

The boy ignored his mother and focused on his philosophy , “And then…the body awakens… and with great difficulty you lift it out of the bed… But now question is… Do you want to wake up someone from the deep sleep? Wouldn’t that mean that you are interrupting the interactive chat session that person is having with the almighty? Would you like to be the cause of disruption for such a meeting and earn the wrath of God?” These questions made Preetham ponder and seeing the opportunity, Seema jumped in, “Nahiiiiiiiiiiiiii… Being a very devoted wife, I can’t see my husband committing such a sin… No chance at all….” Saying so she gently pushed him out of the room and slammed the door and went back to sleep after thanking the young man for saving her once again

Forgetting Something

2010-04-10T03:03:00.000-07:00

Preetham seemed to be disturbed and was so not able to focus on work properly. Manya was able to read it and questioned her boss as to what was bugging him. Like a amnesiac patient, Preetham replied, "There is a anniversary that I need to celebrate this day. But I am not able to remember as to what or whose anniversary it is? Whatsoever pressure I apply to the mind, its not helping me remember"

The big boss, the CEO of the company who heard the conversation as he was passing by, stopped to give a quick advise to Preetham, "Check your facebook or orkut account na. It will remind you if it is any of your friend's birthday anniversary." Preetham obeyed his boss's commands with pleasure, "Such a nice boss! He himself is encouraging the use of orkut and facebook at workplace. Har Kissiko nahi miltha aisi BOSS zindagi mein." Manya was not impressed that Preetham was using the networking sites for such purpose, "What a age! We need to be reminded about our friends birthdays.. We can't remember their birthdays... So bad!*" But Preetham was not listening as he announced the result of orkuting, "Nothing! None of my friends seems to be born in this month at all."

Evening set in and it was the time for the working class to return to their nests. But even the light breeze and the soothing music coming from the car stereo failed to make his mind remember how the day was special. Unknowingly, Preetham had stepped on the gas and this caught the attention of the aged traffic cop. He stopped Preetham's vehicle and started writing the ticket for speeding. Manya tried to convince the cop not to fine them and she narrated her boss's plight.
The cop gave a mischievous smile, "I hope its not your wedding anniversary?" Preetham found it difficult to remember his wedding anniversary, but he heard himself answering, "Still months to go..." Manya was a bit disappointed, "I don't know why boys forget the marriage anniversary... What should girls do, so that boys can remember the marriage anniversary?"
The cop replied with a glee, "They should do like my wife did!... She married me on my birthday... Now my happiest day and saddest day fall on the same date" These kind of replies annoys Manya and ignoring the cop, she asked her boss to vacate the place.

As they neared home, Preetham spotted a girl from his neighborhood sitting all to herself at the bus stop and looking a bit sad. He couldn't stop himself from inquiring her state of mind. She tried to fake a smile, "Two years ago, this is where my first love broke up with me. Today is the second anniversary! And I am celebrating it all ALONE.." Preetham didn't get it, "What's there to celebrate?" The girl soberly replied, "Nakamiyabi! Badi hi ajeeb tareke se nakamiyab hue hum duno. Woh Hame Chah na saake aur hum unhe bhula na pae..**. So here I am... still unable to forget."
Immediately Manya said, "Sir! Is it something sad that is also bugging you. Something sad that you want to forget but it is still lingering somewhere in the memory...." Preetham shook his head, "The writer above has not written any sad part in my life till now!" Preetham asked the young girl whether she cared for a lift. The girl refused the lift saying she wanted to wait till the sun set.

A well-groomed husband that he was, Preetham was on time at home. But even his dear wife Seema couldn't remember why the day was so special and she answered that made her husband happy, "Looks like the Almighty wants us to celebrate the day. So why don't we just dine out!!!" Preetham never says NO to his dear wife. On the way, Seema just thanked her stars, "Thanks a lot, God! My Mother-in-law has gone for that temple festival and I was feeling very lazy to cook. Whatever or whoever that has gone into my husband's head, I am thankful for that!"

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AUTHORS NOTE: It was me, the author of the blog who got into Preetham's head. April 13th is my blog's second anniversary and so I wanted my characters to celebrate. But I was not successful in conveying this message to my lead character :( No Regrets! as they are celebrating anyway :)

Thank you one and all. Keep me encouraging.

* Quote of a good friend
** Anonymous.

Whats with the Age?

2010-03-27T19:13:00.000-07:00

Seema was happy and sad at the same time. Happy that, after a long hiatus, she is visiting a wedding. Sad, because she has a throat infection and that will prevent her from doing much of what she likes doing regularly, talking.
So the entire family(Seema, her DH Preetham, MIL and her baby)arrived at the venue. Along with them came their young twelve year old neighbor Riya and Preetham's Sister's thirteen year old son Deepak.
At the venue, Kavya, a relative of Preetham came searching for Seema. She wanted some advice on the groom she had selected. She fears whether the age difference of eight years between her and her would-be is a matter of concern or not. A hoarse voice came from Seema' mouth with a shrug of shoulders which no one understood.

But then the next mature girl tried to interpret Seema's thoughts. It was Riya and she interpreted as follows, "She is telling you that age difference hardly matters as far as the girl is younger than the boy. Girls will be more mature compared to the boy of the same age..." Deepak objected to the statement, "I don't agree with this generalized statement." Riya smiled and pointed out to a girl and a boy who seemed to be around twelve years. Riya pointed the differences in how they behaved. "The girl was well dressed to the occasion, welcoming the guests and walked elegantly. The boy's dress had half come out and was running around the place as if an ant had bit his butt and he didn't even care to look when someone called his name." When he came near to Deepak, Deepak caught the boy and tucked his shirts in and gave him a dressing down, "Behave properly... Naak Katwadega Ladkonki public mein...."

Seema raised her right hand as if to say 'Stop! you silly girl' and coughed. She pointed her finger to the head and immediately Riya came with another explanation, "She wants to explain it technically. Medically, Puberty is faster with respect to girls." Seema was just expressionless as Riya continued her small lecture, "Puberty in girls is seen at a earlier age than in boys. On these lines, it is usually said that the minimum age difference should be 5 and ideal would be 7..." Deepak hardly understood anything about puberty, but still found himself agreeing with Riya. He made up his mind to google this out the next day at school, but he didn't knew the proper spelling of puberty. With embarrassment, he asked her the spelling. She answered him and complemented him for being mature, "The rate at which a person can mature is directly proportional to the embarrassment he can tolerate."* That compliment made Deepak blush with glee.

Seema was failing to communicate and gestured Kavya to stop listening to the young devil and chat with other people including her Mother in law. Riya thought she understood what Seema wanted to communicate, "She is asking you to look around you and giving her own Mother-in-law's example. Haven't couples with vast age difference lived a good life? Though Seema may have some complains against her Mother-in-law, her father in law has none. They are having a peaceful and happy life. The vast age differences hardly matters and it's all just a number. What really important is the maturity level of the partners."
Deepak was all praise for his girl, "Wow! You are really one smart girl." Riya was humble enough, "Its the school I go that has made me so smart. Lady Hill School..." Deepak replied without thinking, "Even I got there admission. But couldn't join there..." Riya cleared a throat and reminded Deepak, "Its a girl's school! ...And you prove some of my earlier points about men" **

Seema was not able to further tolerate the torture and she just closed her eyes. That's when her husband Preetham came and explained to Kavya his wife's thoughts, "I don't think age gap matters while the girl and guy are comfortable with each others lifestyle and thoughts***. Am I right, Seema?"
Seema just smiled and rested her tired head against his shoulders as Preetham continued, "Do not limit the definition of relationship in terms of age. When hearts unite, why do you want the age to play the spoilsport?"

* Quote of Douglas Engelbart
** Adapted from a conversation in THE MONSTER HOUSE
*** Words of a good friend.

The Morning Music

2010-03-20T05:20:00.000-07:00

It was definitely not Seema's style to wake up so early as five AM. Something must have disturbed her sleep. Without disturbing her husband Preetham's sleep, She proceeded to the balcony from where she thought she heard the small noise. When she reached the balcony, She found her mother in law sitting on the edge looking at the nature around her and listening to its music. She teased her Mother-in-law, "Oh my dear MIL! Not so quick.... Don't contemplate suicide.. Haven't I been good to you?" and she sang the song, "Jaane na denge tujhe" from 3 Idiots.

Mother in law reprimanded her, "Stupid! Close your big mouth and open your ears. You will be able to listen to a great composer at work!"
Seema gave one of her surprised looks and said, "I knew that Maestro Rehman worked when everyone was lost in their sleep. But I never knew his work place was so near to my home"
This irritated the Mother-In-Law and she advised her, "Try to listen to the pleasant sounds that come through the unpolluted air of the early morning. Get the feeling of bliss by listening to them."

Seema very well knew that her mother in law was referring to the mother nature and the sounds of birds chirping, the gentle breeze etc. But she didn't want to easily admit it and lose some fun, "Yeah... Such a beautiful and soothing music..."
Mother in law was pleased with the answer, but it was short lived as Seema continued, "Its Maestro Rehman's music. Hum Hain Is Pal yahaan... Jaane hum kal kahaan" Mother in law's face turned reddish with anger and she was looking for an explanation.
Seema explained in a cool manner, "The air carried the ringtone of Neighbor Sheetal's cellphone to my ears. At the break of the dawn, her boy friend gives her a missed call sending her the message that early morning he may forget to brush his teeth but not her..." and then innocently added, "Wasn't it the music you wanted me to hear?"

The poor Mother-in-law asks her not so innocent Daughter-in-law to clear her mind of mundane things and concentrate on the nature.
Seema closes her eyes and puts her entire focus on the nature. After some time, she yells, "I hear it now!!!... It sounds like a gentle whistling sound."
Mother in law was happy that her attempt had succeeded but further words from Seema took away that happiness. A Confused Seema was commenting, "But the soft whistling sound is turning to a sharp shrill"
Mother-in-law wanted to yell at Seema, but she controlled her urge as Seema explained of what she was hearing, "Its the sound of the pressure cooker from Mrs Rajini's house. She is preparing those hard-to-crack idlis for her soft-natured husband. I feel pity on the husband.."

But Seema didn't feel any pity playing with her Mother-in-law's emotions and that too early in the morning. And she started cajoling her Mother-in-law, "Please! Let me try one more time. I will apply my mind fully now and get tuned to the nature."
Mother-in-law fell for that one and started explaining the technique, "Ignore all those sounds and focus on those morning sounds that vibrates your body and soul. Try to feel that cool sensation that passes through your whole body..."
Seema seemed to be following her Mother-in-law's instruction and after sometime she said in a confused tone, "I am feeling vibrated.... My mind is also vibrating... But I am not able to feel that cool sensation. It is not a pleasant vibration"
Mother in law wanted to know what she was listening. Seema was not the one to improve so easily, "It seems Major Uncle Narayan is up already. He has switched on the pump to send the water to the tanks above so his tenants living in the first floor are not troubled. Such a good Samaritan"

Now that was the last straw. Mother in law was fuming with anger, "You will never be able to hear those morning sounds... the sound of the birds chirping, the sound of the cool breeze, the sound of the tiny animals and insects.... this is the music of the nature and this is the best music... I feel you are so unfortunate unable to hear it... Is there any other better music than this...."
As if to answer her, a baby's cry fell on their ears. It was Seema's three month old daughter Prerana. Seema answered gently which brought a smile on the Mother-in-law's face, "For me... this is the most melodious music to hear... " and then she excused herself, "If you don't mind, I need to attend to my girl's solo performance... "

Good Bye Kisses

2010-03-13T20:07:00.000-08:00

Preetham was not in the best of the moods. He had to leave for office too early (At seven itself) as his project was to go live and to make matters worse, his wife Seema didn't wake up from her sleep to kiss him goodbye. He decided to pick up his junior Manya on the way to office. Not surprisingly, his car horn served as her wake up alarm and he was kept waiting for some ten minutes.
Preetham found the entire girl community as his target for the frustration, "There was a time when girls woke up early and armed with a tin of rangoli powder, they made an elaborate carpet of colors unfold in front of the house. But I think all the modern girls wake up late. Such a bad habit! Who can change them? Only divine intervention, I presume?"

Manya smiled and at the same time came up with a suggestion when she saw a poojari at a railway crossing, "Why don't you ask him?" The Poojari was double quick to react, "You offer a homa to Sun God and he will do the rest. The cost would be...."
Before he could complete the Sun in a human form appeared on the horizon and with a depressed look, spoke "Don't believe him... Your superstar told, 'when you want something, the whole universe conspires with you to get it' But even with the whole universe behind me, I am not successful in waking up these girls. I hiss into their ears, 'See the beautiful sunrise. I have just made it for you.' They just ignore me and reply, 'Isn't there a better way to welcome the morning other than waking up.' Why!!!?"
Manya was quick with a reply, "That's because the girls believe you are a bewafa. Have u not heard that shayari which is used as mobile forward, 'Duniya mein bewafaon ki kami nahin hai...Ab suraj ko hi dekh lo...Aata hai Usha ke saath...Rehta hai Kiran ke saath...Aur jaata hai Sandhya ke saath!"
The Sun got more depressed and vanished from the scene.

As they speed down the road, Manya observed cop Ali inspecting a lorry and she got a idea, "If the cops can impose some section and make people not come out of the house... Don't they have some powers to impose some section and make girls wake up before seven.... " Preetham decided to talk with his old friend on this. But the answer from the cop disappointed him, "Why do you want to wake the girls to wake up so early. They look more pretty with their mouths shut and eyes closed... especially my one..." When he saw that Preetham didn't quite take it, he used better words, "Do you hear that chirping of birds? Do you hear that light sound of the breeze?" When Preetham nodded his head, The cop explained his stand, "Now you wouldn't be able to hear them if all the girls woke up early."
Manya couldn't control her rage and she just wanted to attack the cop and her eyes fell on the jack in the back seat. Preetham quickly read the anger in her eyes and made the exit from the place. Manya angrily blurted out, "You just saved your friend's life!"

But Preetham was still disturbed. Manya had one last crazy idea, "Why don't you speak with the Prime Minister and make him pass a bill. I have my ex-boyfriend working at the Prime Minister's Office. He will connect us to the PM" Girls can so easily exert their influences. Within minutes, PM was on line.
But PM was taken aback by Preetham's suggestion and replied, "I always respect independence of women... Anything which takes away their Independence is not acceptable to me... A lady has every right to take her own decision whether it be her career,life or waking up early in the morning" After a small pause, Preetham heard the PM speak to someone else who was also present there, "kyun... madamji... mein teek kaha na.."
Preetham guessed as to what was happening behind closed doors and thought that nothing beneficial would turn out of conversing with this SMS (Sardar Manmohan Singh)

Then his cell phone bugged and there was a message. As he was handling the wheels, he asked Manya to read out the message. Manya directly reads out the message failing to check form whom it has come, "My Dear Shakthimaan..." and she laughs at that. Preetham quickly grabs the cell phone from her hand. "Its from my wife. She addresses me like that sometimes" and reads the rest of the message. But curiosity was killing Manya and she goes for the cell phone in his hand and reads the rest message loudly, "I was late in waking up... Sorry for that one... Reason is your daughter... She remained awake all the night... Anyway here are the goodbye kisses.. " And Manya's fingers got tired pressing the down button but the kisses didn't end. She asked surprisingly, "Does your wife's mobile come with Ctrl - C and Ctl - V buttons?"

The Writers Block

2010-03-07T05:54:00.000-08:00

"I am a writer. I want to die with the pen in my hand. But right now,I am going through a writers block... experiencing creative atyachaar!! I am writing this story about a family man who deserts his wife and kid to become a sanyasi and sits for meditation for world peace. But unable to continue the same..." These were the words spoken by a budding young writer Saagar at the breakfast table to his dear friend Preetham. He was a guest there and was relishing the idlis made by Seema. His further words annoyed Seema, "And I thought let me keep you as the inspiration for this story." Seema didn't like the thought of her husband being inspiration for a story of a family man becoming a sanyasi. Instead of serving him additional three steaming idlis she had in her hand, she served only cold one and She gave him that I-don't-like-the idea look.

Preetham was more gentle enough and nodded the head to his friend's request and said 'Be my guest till you complete the story.' Saagar didn't take much time to put his creative faculties to work. With a pen in his hand and paper on his laps, he took a corner in the garden and allowed his mind to wander and it was soon lost in a world of his own. Seema silently observed the writer from the kitchen. She didn't like someone even in his thoughts making her husband quit family life. Her thoughts were so strong that it seems to be transplanted into the author's mind. The author realized it when he started putting his thoughts on paper
Preetham left everything and went to the deep jungles to meditate on Lord Shiva. Months passed and finally Lord Shiva decides it is time to bless his devotee...
Before he could proceed with his thoughts, the pen was putting something down which was not definitely his thoughts. He didn't knew what was happening. Was Seema interfering with his thoughts. It seemed so as the story steered without the writers' control
Before Lord Shiva could make his appearance, Seema had come there searching for her husband. She saw him there in a dhothi and shirtless showing off his rich hair growth. But she couldn't come any further near. It looked as if the writer had drawn a laxman-rekha around her husband. But she was smart and slowly put the child inside the laxman-rekha. The patter of feet ad the sweet lisp broke his meditation. The girl child reminded him of same one. The eyes, that 24-carat smile, etc were exactly the carbon copy of Seema's. When Preetham remembered his family life, Lord Shiva sat back in his seat "Oh No! Here goes another penance down the drain!" And Seema knew the correct emotional dialogue for the situation "This child needs mother's unconditional love as well as father's affection and attention for proper development."
Saagar was stunned at what he was writing and wondered whether his mind was playing tricks with him. He dismissed the thoughts and tore the paper and prepared to rewrite.

Preetham offered him the visitor's bed room, "The Air cooler may help your thoughts..." Seema was in the living room with the television set running. But her eyes were on the bedroom trying to put a roadblock to the writers thought. She looked at him with the same emotions that the Iraqi public reserved for Bush or Obama. This time the writer decided to type the thoughts on the laptop.
Preetham had gone much far from his place to the icy tops of himalayas. Even the extreme cold was unable to shake his meditation. Lord Shiva opened his eyes and was about to appear before his devotee. Thats when Seema searching for husband reached there. This time there seemed a protective invisible fort build around her husband and she found it impregnable. She didn't like to see her husband with closed eyes. She always wanted to feel his eyes on her even when she is looking away. She took two steps backwards and took the bow and arrow. Lifting the bow skywards and focusing on the arrow, she chanted some mantra. Unlike in mythological serials, where a special arrow appears, here, a sweater appeared on the arrow tip. She pulled the string and the sweater landed on Preetham's shoulders. When it touched his body, Preetham remembered of how his wife's embrace eased him and how her kiss distilled all wrong done to him. And thus the meditation was again broken. Seema blurted out two lines from a shayari she heard somewhere,"Jinke yaad mein hum bimaar pade hain... Kam se kum unhe zardhi toh ho jaaye" Immediately Preetham found himself sneezing. Lord Shiva was near to losing his anger, "Yet again the woman has succeeded in her mission"
Saagar looked unbelieving at his fingers and couldn't believe as to how he could order his fingers to type like that. He looked at the living room and now was confident that Seema, somehow consciously or subconsciously was tampering with his creative faculties.

He moves to the terrace and this time decides to dictate and record his thoughts. He sits on the edge looking at the greenery and starts to put his thoughts in words and starts with a quote to strengthen his hero
The more a person knows who is and what he wants, the less he lets things upset him. Preetham, the family man decides he had enough of samsar and leaving everything he goes to the Kumara Parvath and sits on the high point looking over the mountainside and starts his meditation.
Thats when Seema comes to the terrace to put the clothes for drying. And then the thoughts get jumbled and the author finds himself unable to control the words coming from his mouth
"And then the devout wife Seema came down there looking for her husband. But this time she found her husband on the high point overlooking the mountainside and with his back towards her. She couldn't even go anywhere near him. She looked around and then disappeared. It's when Lord Shiva decided that this time he can bless his devotee. And he finally descended from his abode and appeared on the horizon. And Preetham opened his eyes. But he was not looking at Lord Shiva. He was looking at something written on the clear sky by Seema using the private jet. She had taken the services of sky writing and the message was on the sky. Preetham read those magical words, ' I love you, Preetham. Please come back!" Lord Shiva definitely couldn't see his bhakth's devotion getting yet again wasted and so vanished after advising him, "You definitely cannot keep your mind on your mind for long. Meditation is not for you!"

Saagar was sure being driven up the wall and was about to go Nuts. But the story continued. As Lord Shiva returned to his abode, his dear wife Parvathi spoke, "Its time to bless Seema" and she appeared on the terrace and blessed Seema, "I am really in awe of your love. Is there anything you want to ask me?" Seema just bowed down and said, "Please see to it that no one can separate me from my husband even in their thoughts! The bonds of love that has been cemented over the years shouldn't come down at all." Parvathi said Thathasthu and disappeared. Something happened and suddenly a coconut fell on the head of the writer and he went into a swoon. When he woke up, he was questioning, "Where Am I? What Am I doing on this terrace?" Seema loved that the writer had forgotten about the story. Thats when Parvathi came back on the sky, "I just came back to wish you Happy Woman's Day".

One Small Desire

2010-02-27T17:39:00.000-08:00

Preetham and his wife Seema were returning home after her first day out in many months. To make the drive home pleasant, Preetham turned on the radio. The presenter's voice filled the air, "In MUSIC, M stands for Melody. If you take M it will make U SIC(K)." Preetham liked to hear this weekly program on classical music. The presenter continued, "Speaking on Ragas, AdI Raaga was created by Lord Shiva himself when he got fascinated by the beauty of Devi Parvathi...."
Seema didn't like the idea of her husband listening to some silly program when she was present there and immediately muted the volume. Preetham objected, "Come on. Its an informative one..." and increased the volume. The presenter was explaining a hymn, "Adi Shankarachaya composed this hymn... Here he says of How Lord Vishnu who had this whole universe under the control of his eyes had lost himself to the stealthy glance of Devi Laxmi..."
Seema just switched off the radio, "How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who insists on treating her as if she were a perfectly normal human being! Even the Gods praise their wives and write poems for them. You have not done anything like that for me..." Preetham smiled, "But You never liked poetry...!" Thats when Seema decided, "Okay! I don't ask you for a epic poem nor something like a bollywood song with anthras and mukdas. All I ask from you is some good romantic lines. If you compose them, I will put the music back."

It was a testing time for Preetham. He very well knew that 'to satisfy the hunger for love is much harder than to satisfy the hunger for bread. But Preetham was quick enough to belt out some romantic lines, "I have seen a thousand girls before I saw you...." Seema quickly stopped him in the middle, "What is this! You were ogling at girls!" Preetha smiled, "Listen completely... I have seen a thousand girls before I saw you. Once I saw you, then I have seen none."
Seema was wise enough not to accept this one, "This Reminds me of my young days when Shammi Kapoor came on television and sang something like this and I always thought he was singing for me, 'Yuh tho humne laakh haseena dekhi... tumsa nahin dekha'" And turned to her two months old daughter Prerana, "Your dad is trying to cheat!"

Preetham was ready with another, "Okay! There is another and this time I will say it in Hindi itself. Maa se maine Pyar ka matlab samjha...." Again Seema interrupted, "Why pull mother in law into this one? Can't you keep her out of it..." Preetham corrected her, "Let me finish it.... Maa se maine Pyar ka matlab samjha... Tumse maine Pyar ka Saakshathkar kiya.... Aur Prerana se maine Pyar ko roop diya...."
Seema liked it this time, "Beautiful! But with three generations in one song, this qualifies to be a family song." and turning to her daughter, "When you grow a little old and when we take you out to some mela etc and when you get lost, just remember this song and sing it aloud. We will easily find you out...."

Preetham racked his brain, but nothing came to his mind. And for a moment, he took his eyes off the road and looked at the skies above, "Oh God! You helped me fulfill all her big desires even before she could ask for it. Now, when she is asking for simple lines of romance, you betray me?..." Seema asked him to focus on the road, "God is everywhere. Concentrate on the road." Preetham brought the vehicle to a halt, "God says that you are special for me and words cannot describe how special you are to me and lines cannot say even the tenth of your importance in my life. In this world of lies, you seem to be the only truth that I know..."

Seema smiled, "That seems pretty good. I am satisfied. Let me pass you this time..." and turning to her daughter, "You father needs to be rewarded..." and with the soft hands of her daughter, Seema had the radio turned on only to hear the presenter say, "With that composition of Thyagaraja we come to the end of this week's program...." Seema just blurted out a 'Oops!' and quickly covered her daughter's eyes with her hands, "You better not watch your romantic father's angry face"

My Little Angel

2010-02-20T21:07:00.000-08:00

Riya's mother was a little worried. Her 12 year old daughter has started spending more time in front of the computer. Preetham being a good neighbor decided to resolve the issue and visited Riya's place with his wife Seema and two month old baby Prerana. When they arrived, Riya was not at home. But she had kept the system on.

Seema garnered from the files and the programs recently opened that the girl was making some cartoon strips. She laughed when she saw the main character. It was very much like Preetham but with some hair loss and a bigger belly. He sure looked a bit aged. Preetham went a little mad at seeing his cartoon, "Hmm.. She likes to see a fifty year old Aaamir Khan play a college student, but wants to see her thirty plus uncle in his late forties... " Seema was not listening, but was focusing on another character which seemed to be her young baby Prerana in her early teens. Seema smiled, "Riya is imaging you as a parent of a teen girl and this is all her cartoons are about. Nice concept about a worried father of a girl in her teens. An outlook of the future?" Preetham was again furious when he looked at the attire of the teen girl, "Where is the long hair? Where is those traditional dresses? Where is that bindi on the forehead? What is this short hair? What is this tops and jeans? Gosh!"

After reading the introduciton, Seema proceeded to the cartoons. Young Riya had developed some concepts and saved them as separate projects. First project was saved as 'Why We Should read only during the exams' time
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Preetham is advising his young daughter to read and not to rest too much. The charming prerana started giving her dad a sermon, "Dad! The pace of modern life you understand is very wrong. Why should we make every day an ordeal? We should ease into the day. Read novels, watch movies, Have cookies, take walks and put our thoughts together. Actually, students read best only under pressure. Yups, read time would be more miserable, but there would be less of it.. What do you say? Dad! I am rite na"
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Preetham in the cartoon strip laughs, but not the live Preetham. He gets furious and decides to delete the file. But Seema stops her. She found the cartoons a complete time pass

Seema moved on to the second project which was titled, 'Father! Simply the best!'.
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Someone asks Prerana "Who do you love most? Your mother or father"
Prerana was quick in replying, "Oh Course! Father! I love him... the most... when he makes those expressions of concern when I stay out late at night and say 9.00 PM is early evening, When I get up only at 8 AM and go through the morning rituals within fifteen minutes, When I answer him in monosyllables and talk with my friends for hours. When I am with him and a guy stares at me, I love to see his expression"
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Preetham was really getting furious, "Let Riya come. I will show her how my face looks when I am furious"

Seema had already picked up the third one. It was titled, 'Dad - Three-in-One'
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Preetham on his way to office is stopped by his little one. The little one has a question for him, "Dad! Do you want to be a vigilant papa ya supportive papa ya protective papa..." Preetham replied emotionally, "I always will protect you...and keep you as a pearl in an oyster... I will always there to support and guide you so that you may not trip and fall on the crooked paths of life..and I will never let any one cause you harm and will be an Armour and vigilantly watch over you"
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These lines killed all the emotions of anger that had resided in Preetham's heart and tears dropped down his cheeks.
When Riya entered, he was all praise for her and supported her, "Continue your hobby! One day you will become a great cartoonist!" Riya thanked her uncle and also corrected her, "This is not just a hobby. These cartoons will be displayed on the school notice board on a monthly basis. " Preetham didn't like the idea of getting the cartoons based on his future, being displayed on the notice board. But on Seema's instance he remained silent. But Riya gave another shocker, "And this monday, my first one would be published. Along with that cartoon, I would publish this." Preetham read out the scrawl in Riya's hand, "Dedicated to my Neighbor. Preetham Uncle and His daughter.."

The Girls in my Boy's life

2010-02-12T22:30:00.000-08:00

The wind easily carried her mother-in-law's high pitch voice to her bed room and kept Seema and her two month old daughter Prerana awake. The mother in law was reading the final chapter of Ramayana where Kaal-Purush (Eternal time keeper) visited Ram, "Behind closed doors, Kaal Purush reminds Lord Ram of his return journey to the heavenly abode Vaikunt. Suddenly Lakshman barges into the room. Kaal Purush gets angry and immediately vanishes into the thin air..."

And in the next moment, Kaal Purush was out of the book and in Seema's Room. Seema nearly let out a shriek on seeing this blackish apparition. She felt that this guy just came out of a coal mine. Kaal Purush explained his surprise entry, "I am Kaal Purush, the eternal time keeper. I really liked the devotion with which you were hearing my story..." Seema gave a really stupefied look, "Err... I was just waiting for the story to finish so that I can go to sleep..." The intellectual Kaal Purush was explaining as to what he had in store for Seema, "You know I am the one who controls the pace of life. So I would like to replay your years in front of your eyes....." Seema immediately interrupted, "Hello! I am somehow less interested in my past!!... Err!!..But... Can you show me...my husband's past"

Kaal Purush didn't wait for another second and put his hands into the tiny pocket and took the projector and the screen. The Screen was spread out on the wall and the projector was placed on the table. Seema laid back along with her kid and started enjoying the presentation. Kaal Purush started the show with a warning, "If anyone interrupts the show, I would vanish immediately and you need to punish that interrupter"

Then the screen on the wall showed a young boy Preetham of fifteen going to the school in a willy-nilly fashion along with his best friend. The voice over from Kaal Purush explained, "Your boy and his good friend were more active in extra curricular activities. Preetham was in Literary groups and was learning telugu language". Seema took some pride out of it, "My husband was interested in literature and learning other languages at such young age!!" Kaal Purush corrected her, "All this was only to impress a girl.." and the screen showed a cute young girl in the standard uniform of a White Shirt and a Black Skirt. Seema let out a wow, "Really angelic face!" Kaal Purush started crooning a Elvis Presley song with altered lyrics, "She looks nice... She talks nice. She walks nice... But your husband didn't get wise... and failed to recognize the devil in disguise" and then explained, "The girl found a better match in your husband's best friend....So your husband lost a good friend also..."
Seema smiled, "Those are the wonder years..."

Kaal Purush proceeded with the next stage in Preetham's life, "Your husband quite well knew the rule, 'One shouldn't weep for a girl or a bus. If you miss one, another would be definitely on its way'." The screen showed a engineering college and a studious Preetham buried in his books. "Preetham wanted to complete his engineering without the loss of life and sanity. However in college life, there would be at least one girl who would please the eyes and trouble the mind*" and the screen gave a close up of a cheerful girl who was just around five feet and Preetham was good five feet nine. Seema couldn't control her laughter and expressed herself to her daughter, "Prerana, You Know how your father greeted that girl when they met....... How is the weather down there?" Kaal Purush continued,"She came to him with all her doubts on the various computer languages. But Preetham was very confused by the languages of her eyes. One day before the college life came to an end, he took courage and asked her, "What do you think about me?" and she answered in simple five word sentence, "I don't think about you**"
Seema felt a bit sad for her husband, "And there ends the story before it could start"

Kaal Purush again blurted one of his rules, "Whenever something goes wrong for the first time, it may not happen again. But if happens twice, then it will definitely happen for the third time." The screen showed a small company where Preetham took his first job. "Sometimes all a man needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand***" and the screen beamed a image of a confident girl in her early twenties. Seema strided forward, "Prerana! We have to listen carefully. Boys usually become devdas at this age." Kaal Purush was continuing with his story, "In that fast corporate world, she helped him adjust to the pace and come up in career. Preetham was more sure of his emotion. He didn't want to repeat the earlier mistakes. Instead of letting his best friend know or expressing himself to the girl, he went and informed his mother." Seema laughed at her husband's silly thinking, "Mother's boy! I guess I have changed him a bit now." Kaal purush was coming to the conclusion. " It was a pretty bad idea. Horoscopes played spoilsport and Preetham lost that girl too. "

Kaal Purush closed his story with some lines from a Dev-anand oldie, "Jo Mil Gaya Usi ko Muqaddar Samjh liya. Jo Kho Gaya Usko Bhulata Chala Gaya... When finally he stopped looking for love.. He found you, Seema! and that was the beginning of a new dawn"
Just at that time, the door opened and entered Preetham. Kaal Purush got very angry and vanished from there shouting, "Sacrilege! He needs to be punished..." Seema walks up to her husband, "My Sweet, Adorable husband. What have you done? Now I need to punish you."
Preetham was unaware of the events and just smiled, "And what could be the punishment?" Seema just looked into his eyes, "Hold my hands and lip lock me.. " Preetham couldn't believe his ears, "But this is not the right time" Seema smiled, "Time itself is insisting that I punish you. This is the best punishment I can think of" Preetham doesn't know to say NO to his wife. So Seema instructed her baby, "Prerana... Close your eyes"

(To my readers... Stop imagining further... Happy valentines day!!!)

* Robert Jordan
** Ayn Rand
*** Andy Rooney

The Test of Love

2010-02-06T23:26:00.000-08:00

Riya, twelve year old neighbor of Preetham, was fully excited. She had written a story for some competition and wanted a review from her favorite uncle Preetham. Preetham was reading the occasion for which it was being written "Oh My God! You are writing this story for the valentine's day occasion?" Riya smiled and said, "I have grown up. I fully understand these emotions. Let me begin.. Its a long story"
And so she took the center stage and started narrating the story to Preetham and Seema,

"This story is set in some rural place of Karnataka. This story is about the cowherd boy Preethu who believed that God is nothing but truth and love. And his love was a simple village belle Radha who lived on the river side and this love had opposition in the form of his wicked uncle Kalinga They usually had the rendezvous at the river bed when the sun was about to set and when all the cows had reached home. That day it was very late, the moon was already out, when he had left to meet her. He decided to take the shortcut through the dense woods and that was a wrong decision.
Thinking about his beloved and the sweet nothings he had to exchange with her,he failed to see the tiger approaching him. The tiger stood in front of him and was about to devour him, "Your birth certificate is about to expire, Boy!". (Ria interrupted the story, "Yeah! a talking tiger. It existed when the story was set. It has become extinct now. So you probably would not have heard about it")

Preethu made a humble request, "Please don't eat me! My girl is waiting for me. If you eat me now, she will die from anxiety waiting for me. Allow me to go. I will meet her and make her understand and then come back to you."
Tiger retorted harshly on hearing that statement, "Don't piss me off with that bullshit. This is my forest and I do all the talking"
Preethu tried to make the tiger trust him, "I am the one who firmly believes that God is nothing but love and truth. I promise you that I will come back. I keep my word to whomever I have given it. Whether it be my beloved Radha or my wicked uncle Kalinga. Trust me!"
When he uttered the words 'Trust me', there was some transformation and the tiger saw that Preethu had moved out and had let the Almighty take over. There was no way Tiger could say NO to that request. It took its stopwatch and pushing the button said like a quiz master, "You have got two hours and your time has already started."

So Preethu came running to his beloved Radha. She came running to him and hugged him tightly. But she felt something missing in that embrace and that everything was not right.
Preethu didn't try to hide anything from her, "Tell me all that you have in your heart today itself! Because tomorrow even if you want to tell me, I will not be there for you." Preethu told her the entire story.
Radha liked that her lover stood like a rock when it came to principles. She said, "In the arithmetic of love, one plus one equals everything and two minus one equals to nothing.* Let me be with you in the path of righteousness. Allow me to die with you. What would I do with this life without you"
Riya added a punchline which she had read somewhere, "In love there is not much difference between life and death. You live by the sight of the person who is worth dying for."

But when they reached the tigers den,The tiger was relaxing and seemed to have changed its mind. It looked at Radha and asked Preethu with a smile on its lips, "Whats this? Buy one, Get one free scheme! I am not interested in eating both of You." Preethu and Radhu looked quite surprised. The tiger clarified the things, "Don't think I have got a change of heart during the interval or I am bogging down before your truthfulness. You know! Some bad news travel faster than light. So did the news of your rendezvous with Radha. It reached your uncle Kalinga and he was coming this way looking for you..."
Before he could complete the sentence, Preethu exclaimed with surprise, "You ate my uncle?"
The tiger had no guilty conscious whatsoever, "Don't give so much importance to him. He is a garbage truck. He would be enormously improved by death.** "
But Preethu was happy. Now that his uncle was gone, he can live happily with Radha forever. The tiger came up with a profound statement, "There will be a time when we think everything is finished. That will be the new beginning.***"
Preethu and Radha bowed down before the tiger asking for its blessing. Tiger blessed them, "May your feet be always swift." Preethu and Radha gave a puzzled look. The tiger explained his blessing, "So that, you don't fall again into my hands."

There was a loud applause for Riya from all present. But Preetham had more to add, "The story is good. But I definitely need to warn your parents. This girl is growing up very fast."

(Story adapted from a kannada song Punyakoti)
* Quote by Mignon McLaughlin ** Quote by Saki *** Quote byPeter Nivio Zarlenga

Ghosts of Past Boyfriends

2010-01-30T04:07:00.000-08:00

Preetham was in a very happy mood. His wife has returned home with their kid. He took a early leave from the office and headed directly to home. Some young girl was waiting in the living room. He didn't even bother to greet her nor even he tried to recognize her. Preetham was more yearning to see his wife and child. When he entered the room Seema, his wife had just kept the phone receiver down and looked a bit gloomy. She spoke her mind out even before Preetham could enquire, "Its my friend Radha!... Her husband has left her because he caught her chatting with her old boyfriend. Seriously she was not upto any mischief nor she meant to betray her husband. You Men get so easily blurred and burned by the acid rain drops of jealousy and suspicion?*"

Preetham had other better things to talk,"Come on! I believe its not the right time to talk about it."
But Seema had predetermined something and it got clear as she spoke, "Seriously I want to make a confession before it is too late. Before You came into my life, there were three men. I will tell you about them today." So saying she took some photos, which was tuggged in between the pages of a paperback.
Preetham was taken aback, "Old boyfriends! And you still have their photos. Sure! Their love letters must also be neatly filed somewhere"

She shows the first picture and announces "Hari.. My boyfriend when I was just sweet sixteen, the age when we fall for good looking and attractive men. '. Preetham found the words not matching with the picture, "Your Hari Puthar looks more like Harry Potter with those specs. Attractive is the last word I will use to describe him.."
Seema laughed aloud, "He is more weird than Harry Potter! We used to sleep together..." Preetham's jaws nearly dropped on hearing the sleep word
But when seema completed the sentence, he was relieved, ".. together in the boring History class... Today he sleeps just four hours in his home"
Preetham completed, "The balance he gets in office i suppose... Anyway... why did you break up?"
Seema found her memory fading regarding the reason, "Don't remember! Maybe boyfriends came with expiry dates during that teen period!"

Seema picks up the second picture and goes back to the old days, "Those were my final years of graduation. During that age, we want men to respect us and accept us as we are. Alok! True to his name he was out of this world. He always used to take me to those Viraan places... Those old places and monuments where there would be no crowd at all and only shrubs and nature..."
Preetham didn't want his imagination to be put to work, "What kind of friends you had! Your choices seem to be all wrong."
Seema corrected her husband, "Don't mistake him, dear!... He was more into archaeology thing... old places.. old things.. etc"
Preetham interrupted, "Then he should have gone for an old woman... why you? err... wasn't that an insult to you?..."
Seema said, "Not at all.... An archaeologist is the best husband a woman can have. The older she gets the more interest he has in her**. But I was not lucky with Alok. He said he preferred quiet girls to me. Now that's what I call an insult."

Seema comes to the final snap "This is Ryan...." Preetham cries out, "A Christian? Being a pious brahmin girl you fell for a Christian!..."
Seema was taken aback, "All I saw was that he was a boy ...."
Preetham cools down, "Okay! During this stage, I suppose you looked for a man with good job prospects and status in society. Right?... So what was this Ryan boy? Doctor or Engineer?"
Seema laughed as she explained his profession, "He was a bus conductor... I was knocked out by the way he whistled, standing on the foot board and put the vehicle into motion with his usual clarion call 'Rights! Okay! Lets go!'.I thought he would always have said the same for all my wishes in the life"
Preetham couldn't believe his ears, "You were so stupid in love.. So why didn't this relationship work... "
Seema confessed, "I was very stupid. I didn't knew how to be alone and love always provided the escape. But even here, destiny had other plans. He gave up the whistle and held on to a flag. He joined a railway station as a gate man I suppose. Now that sounded very boring..."

Then the angry Mother-in-law barged in from nowhere and demanded Seema, "Give me those three photos right now... Whats going on here?"
Preetham felt that she mus have overheard their conversation. Preetham got really tensed up fearing that his mother would throw tantrums if she did come to know of her Daughter-in-Law's confessions. But the next line came as a total surprise to him, "My sisters daughter is waiting impatiently in the living room to see her three suitors photos from such a long time!!... and you are playing with the same, you silly girl !!!... Give it to me now!!!"
Seema without any protest handed over her so called ex-boyfriends snaps. Looking at her husband's all stressed out face, she gave away a mischievous smile, "Now you know the truth!" That smile did the trick and Preetham was not at all angry with her. He scolded her a bit lightly," You Nautanki!!!... So there was no one else at all in your life..."
Seema uttered the true confession, "Till I married you, I had never kissed any boy and was still sleeping with my mother.*** " and then slowly hummed these beautifully lines, "Na koi hain...na koi tha...zindagi mein tumhari siwa" (There was no else now... no one else before... other than you in my life)

* Adapted from a quote by Astrid Alauda
** Quote by Agatha christie
*** Adapted from a movie line

To Say or Not To Say

2010-01-23T22:23:00.000-08:00

The work burden had fallen on Manya after her boss Preetham took a friday leave to enjoy the weekend with his family. When she had completed the work and was down in the parking lot, it was eight in the night. She was damn tired but still found some energy to instruct the security guard to check the entire office once again. The Security guard put down the novel he was reading and exclaimed in Shudh English, "Madam, There is still a light on in the third floor. I presume someone in accounts is at work."
Manya tried to catch a glimpse of the cover of the paperback, but failed. She and the guard moved towards the third floor to find out who the night owl was.

What they saw brought a smile on their face. A young accounts executive was looking at the computer screen. No he was not looking at some tax computation nor it had anything to do with accounts. It was the photo of a cute young girl around twenty three and the executive was zooming in and out.
Manya cleared her throat, "Doing some eye exercise.... at eight o clock in the night, Mr...."
The embarrassed executive gave his introduction, "Surendar... Surendar Rao... I was just about to leave..." and saying so he directly switched off the power switch without even going through the normal shutdown procedure.

Manya knew how seniors have to sometimes address the concerns of their juniors and it has to be truthful and not like 'How is your mother doing now' immediately followed by, 'Can I have the file by evening on my table'. So she teased the guy softly, "Is the girl on our payroll. I mean are you working out on some final settlement for her? or is it some admission formalities"
Surendra was shy yet he answered her question, "Not exactly. She is not on the payroll of our company. She has definitely captured my heart. Its all just a online relationship. I have not even expressed myself to her for fear of rejection. She lives in the big metro and I in this Small coastal town."
The Security Guard encouraged the young man, "So what? She may be just another girl in big bad city wanting a good boy to love her.It all ultimately comes down to that! You are simply confusing yourself" and he further added, "Online relationship is much better than the 'out of sight is out of mind' sort of relationships"
Manya just went wow with the Guard's answer. But she also felt he was giving her competition and so she cautioned the young man, "All forms of relationship are complex. Whatever one hears or sees or reads must not be believed, because there may be undercurrents which we cannot sense...."

Surendra expressed his concern, "I have been exchanging mails and messages with her for the last five or six months and dreaming of a better tomorrow with her. The feelings in the heart have just remained that...feelings... they have never been expressed through words."
Manya felt that someone has truly said,'Woman often talks outside her head and man inside his head'. She dispensed her advice "Why don't you speak openly with her? I don't believe she is good at telepathy to read your mind. Don't just build a castle in the air. Its just a waste of time."
The watchman again hijacked the argument from her, "If you have built castle in the air, your work need not be lost. That is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them*"

Surendar put his hands up, "Still! Would she say yes? I mean she wants to come up in her field and other than that metro where she can get a good opportunity to excel in her area of expertise and come up in her career. On the other hand, I am a easy going man..."
Manya found that young man was unable to explain his position, "Hmm... Love and planning life can definitely go hand in hand. Think about it? So why don't you think of moving to the big bad city where there is lot of demand for your profession than for software engineers?"
The guard decided to put in his own thoughts, "Its not a big distance to cover. The greatest distance man has to ever cover is the eighteen inches from the head to the heart.**"

By then they had reached the parking area and the Surendar just said 'Ill think about' and went away. Manya asked the watchman, "What do you think, Sir? What decision he has to take ?"
The old man laughed and said, "Do you girls allow boys to take the decisions. Even in a family if man is the head, woman is the neck and it is the neck which turns the head. His head is already turned...."***
Saying so he got back to his book and now the title was clear to Manya. It was Two States. And Manya thought, 'Like the title, so was Surendar.... in Two States of mind.'

*Quote by Henry David Thoreau
** Anonymous quote
*** A Russian saying

The Ideal Husband

2010-01-17T00:27:00.000-08:00

It has been a routine for Preetham now. Spending the weekend at his wife's place with his wife and kid. That weekend too, the story was no different. But this time around, Preetham had brought the Souten(Mistress) along. His laptop!!.

While Seema was glued to the idiot box, Preetham was busy with the new client acquisition and its documentation work on his laptop. Seema was getting bored and then a voice coming from the idiot box caught her attention.

The presenter of a show was using his voice effectively to garner attention, "Are you sitting and watching this show alone while your husband is working on his lapptop?" Seema just nodded her head in affirmative. To that the host asked his viewer 'take a look at this' and the scene in the telly showed a young man in his thirties looking at the horizon and sound of a whistle could be heard in the background. The host then questioned, "Do you think he is sitting in the laps of the nature and that sound is the whistling of a train running through the meadows?"
Seema innocently answered, "It looks so...."
The host corrected her immediately and showed her the wider picture of the young man waiting in the verandah of his home, "He is waiting for his dear wife to return from her work... and that sound is not of the train... but its sound of the pressure cooker... coming from inside the house...."
When the narrator mentioned pressure cooker, the young man jumped to his feet and ran inside the house.

Narrator then took Seema back to the beginning of the story, "When they got married some six months back, the girl took a promise from the boy that whoever reaches the home first in the evening will cook for the other..."
Seema smiled and commented, "Whoever wants the janam-janam-ka saath promise. This promise is more practical" and she remembered those wondeful lines, "I like hugs and I like kisses...But what I really love is help with the dishes!"
The host started briefing up on the couple, "The boy worked in a government office as a accountant while the wife worked in a prestigious software company. So you know who usually reaches the home first? Its the boy..."
The host added his own bit of sarcastic remark which didn't go fine with Seema, "I remember what Rita Rudner once said,'I love being married.Its great to find that one person you want to annoy all your life.' This girl seemed to be of that mindset..."

But the young man who was being featured was of a good mindset. He didn't mind cooking for his wife. After the dishes, he started setting the whole place in order. The narrator reminded him, "Wasn't the promise only to make the dishes..."
The young man spoke his mind, "When my wife comes home tired, I want to provide her a nice environment to relax."
The narrator annoyed her further with his next question, "Cooking! Cleaning! Now Isn't this what they call being joru ka ghulam (Slave of wife)?"
Seema thought the host was corrupting the young man, "The weak are always trying to sabotage the strong"

The host was nearing the end, "In our home, I have a cat which senses me coming home from a mile distance just with the sound of the horn of my bike. The story is no different here..."
And then the young man heard the faint sound of a horn coming from a distance and announced, "That's my wife's company vehicle's horn.. She's here!" Dropping the broomstick, he ran to the gates to greet her..
The narrator's voice was reading the situation badly, "I find it awkward to look at the scene where a husband is waiting for his wife at the gates!"
Seema was literally shouting at the idiot box, "I find it too romantic, you stupid! Its one of basic human necessity to have someone at home waiting for his or her return. And this good husband understands it, you nincompoop!"

The host then came onto the screen and asked the viewer and it looked he was asking Seema directly, "You seem to like it! Is the story same at your home?" Seema with a tinge of sadness shook her head saying "No"
The host threw another question, "Do you want your husband to wait and cook for you like this ?" Seema nodded her head, "Definitely! Daily!"

Suddenly Preetham put his laptop down and questioned his wife," What are you doing? Shaking and nodding your head at the blank telly?" Seema looked at her husband and then at the television and she realized that the telly was not even connected.
She looked at her young one and remarked, "Oh My Daughter! You are making me dream more these days..." Preetham smiled and said, "No matter whatever your dreams are! I will try to make them a reality"
Seema laughed aloud thinking of her dreams and it seemed her baby joined her too in the laughter.

Waiting for You!

2010-01-09T18:40:00.000-08:00

Every walking minute that we are in the presence of someone, we come up with a constant streams of predictions and inferences about what the other person is thinking and feeling
- From the book 'Blink'

But sitting in the car ,with her boss Preetham in the drivers seat, Manya was doing something different. She was not attempting to mind-read her boss. She knew that all he wanted now is to be at Wife's place on time and enjoy the friday evening. Rather she was trying to get a vision of how Preetham's wife Seema was missing her husband.

And somewhere far away from that location, resting with her baby girl, Seema was looking from her bedside window of how the heavenly cushions were changing the covers. The sky had darkened immediately and it looked like twilight. This prompted her to hum a popular song, "It seems like that It would rain now........It seems like my heart has a song now....All I want from you is to sit in my heart....And listen to my song......." Seema's mother walked into the room and teased her daughter
“Like the earth outside that is anxiously waiting for the drops of water to fall upon it from the heavens above, So is my daughter waiting for the arrival of her husband…”
Seema smiled and then looked her at her smiling new born baby and complained, “Your father told me he would be here by five…. Its already five. I hope he will be here before the rains pour down…”
Mother continued teasing her daughter with some more nice romantic lines , “With you nearby, Years roll like minutes. Without you, even a second is like a year….”

Manya opened her eyes unable to get a picture of Seema's plight. The Rains had distracted her concentration. The sudden rains had brought the traffic to a standstill. Manya knew how eager was her boss Preetham to see his baby and she calmed her boss, "Have some Patience boss! The traffic will clear in five minutes."
Preetham cried out to his lord, “Oh God! In Dwapar, you cleared the way for Vasudev to take his kid Lord Krishna and drop him at Gokula. Some centuries back, you cleared the way for Moses to carry those TEN Commandments. Do it now also na with this traffic so that I can reach my wife’s place at the earliest”
Manya prayed a bit differently, "Oh God! Give my boss some patience..." and she waited for a moment and then exclaimed, "and give it now!"*
Manya couldn’t believe it when she saw the traffic getting cleared slowly, “Seems the overall traffic controller heard your prayers.”

Manya then started thinking whether the wife would also be praying like this.
But Seema was singing rather than praying to the Rains which had turned from a trickle to a downpour, “Oh Rains! Don’t fall so incessantly making it hard for my husband to come home. Once he reaches here, rain relentlessly giving him no opportunity to leave this place…***”
Like a host from a radio request show, the Rain God obliged and all of a sudden reduced its show of might.
Mother who was playing with the young one smiled at her daughter’s song, “You lovers are so selfish! Always thinking of yourself…..”
Seema defended herself, "I was only asking for the bad weather to clear...I am not that selfish..."
The mother answered, "There is no such thing as bad weather. We have only different kinds of good weather. Sunshine is delicious and rains are refreshing**"

When the rains had slowed down and the traffic started moving faster, Manya guessed as to what was happening in Seema's mind and made a profound statement which didn't make any sense to Preetham, "Though not in person, I feel you two are together now at this moment in the thoughts...'". Preetham was concentrating more on the road and hitting on the gas. Now it was Manya's turn to pray, "Oh Boss! Slow down... There is a whole weekend ahead...". She never believed her boss would listen to her. But Preetham not only slowed down but also brought the car to a sudden halt.
Her boss smiled as he got down the car, “How can I go empty handed to my wife.” And then instructed Manya, “Wait here! I will go to that market and be back in five minutes.”
Within five minutes Preetham was back with plastic bags in both hands. Manya tried to get a peep into the plastic bags. Preetham announced, “Only Fruits and flowers in the bag…..” Manya completed the sentence, “And lots of love in the heart. Nice combination”

Finally the destination was reached…. There was perfect synchrony between the opening of the car door by Preetham and opening of the front door by Seema. Preetham completely forgot that gentlemen open the car door for ladies. He was already at the door steps to hug his wife and child. But Manya didn't mind that her boss had forgotten his manners and enjoyed everything from the comfort of her seat without getting down. She felt as if she was in a drive in theater enjoying a romantic movie. There were times when real life imitates the movies. This was one such feel-good movie moment. But a question was erupting in Manya's mind, “How did the love of the couple grew double fold after the child arrived? Did this child bring additional love with her when she was born?

*** Lines from a Kannada song.
** John Ruskin
* Anonymous

A New Year and A New Life

2009-12-31T20:41:00.000-08:00

The preacher had a unusual job that of giving sermons to prisoners who were facing death sentences. Today he found himself at a altogether different place. A nursing home, place where new lives are brought to this world. And his eyes fell upon Preetham, who was sitting in the waiting lounge hoping for the doctor to bring some good news at the earliest. The impatient look on Preetham's face made it clear that his wife Seema was in the labor room being attended to by doctors and nurses.

The preacher got an unusual desire all of a sudden to give the young man a sermon on creation. All his life he had been talking only about the greatest leveler - Death. Now he wanted to talk about the basic truths of creation. But he knew that Preetham wouldn't welcome a stranger like him and that too at this juncture. So he decided to use a intermediary. The preacher knew a mystic way whereby he would transfer the knowledge to a intermediary who is close to Preetham and the intermediary would in turn preach Preetham. For this role, the preacher zeroed in on Manya and all the knowledge he wanted her to possess was transferred through a mental FTP (File Transfer Protocol). But the preacher never expected a small girl like Riya to be a distraction in his discharge of this duty.

The eerie silence in the waiting lounge was broken by Manya who spoke as if she was possessed by some spirit of an Acharya from the Gurukul, " Vats (Son)! Why are you so tensed up! Whatever it is and however it is, you need to accept it as God's Gift. It could be a boy or a girl, it could be dark complexioned or a fair one, you need to accept it! Therefore I feel you are simply troubling yourself...."
Preetham looked at his junior Manya and came to the conclusion that she was again going out of her mind.
But Manya needed to impart upon him the new found wisdom, "Out of a millions of sperms that get released, only one gets a chance to see the light of the day. Only one grows as a baby in a woman's womb....."
Preetham just tried to wake her up thinking she was again hallucinating, "This is not your biology classroom nor is this your laboratory! Wake up! You are in a nursing home...."

But the young Riya had her own questions, "But who nurtures this fetus in a mother's womb? Who places those beautiful eyes? Who puts that tiny nose on the center? Who lays down those sweet lips? Who shapes those little ears? Who completes this contract of creation in her womb and that too within a period of nine months?"
Manya gave away a type of divine smile and pointed the finger upwards, " Its him....! He breaks one cell into 46 chromosomes. These chromosomes are further broken down into thousands of genes. He allots each gene a unique function depending upon the prototype he has in mind..." and then turns towards Preetham and says, "When he has created, he also knows to protect. You are just simply worrying too much...."
Preetham just tried to ignore her. But she came up with a good example, "Remember after the Mahabharatha war, when Ashwathama used that weapon of mass destruction Brahma-Shir Ashtr against Uttara's (Arjuna's daughter in law) womb with the intention of destroying the only left heir that was growing in her womb, who protected it? Lord Krishna himself with his Sudarshan Chakra. He protected it till it came to this world."
Preetham was really amazed by her knowledge, "You seem to have taken a crash course in Mythology..."

Riya's mind was working and she distracted Manya's focus, "Creation and Protection parts are Okay! But why does elders desire for a baby. They spend the first twelve months teaching these babies to walk and talk and the next twelve months telling them to sit down and shut up. If such is the case, why do they desire for babies? What it brings to them?"
Manya answered it very poetically, "A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, cloths shabbier, the past forgotten and the future worth living for...***"
When Riya started pondering over this statement, Manya prepared to bring calm to her boss Preetham...

But Riya quickly bounced back with another question, " But this new born baby... is more attached to its mother in the initial years. Why is it so?"
Manya again picked up some more knowledge from her thoughts, "The attachment of child and the mother begins in the womb itself, young girl! A five months fetus is able to recognize his or her mother's voice. As soon as a child is born, he/ she can recognize the mother's smell.. You understood!"
Preetham's mother commented on this new found knowledge of Manya, "It seems everybody these days knows about babies except the people who have them...."

Before Manya could really get another chance to chat with her boss, the doctor came out of the chamber with a baby in his hand and announced, "Its a baby girl!"
Riya saw the cute looking baby and innocently declared, "I am seeing a zero year old baby for the first time in my life."
Manya looked at the baby girl and like a very aged woman started lecturing, "Daughters are precious gifts placed in our arms by the heavens above. They fill our homes with love, beauty and grace..." Preetham wanted to use a tranquilizer and silence her. But she just continued, "She will be your inspiration for the rest of your life. She will be your Prerana..."
Preetham smiled, "You may sound like a psycho... but the name you have given sounds very cute....Prerana"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wishing all of my readers a Happy and Prosperous New Year.
This is the 25th episode in Preetham - Seema Series.

*** Anonymous Quote.

The Mediator

2009-12-25T15:17:00.000-08:00

Though Seema was away from her husband for last few days, she had never stopped giving orders to her ever-obedient husband Preetham. Her latest order for him was to mediate between her cousin brother Jeeva who has earned for himself a MS Seat in the Buffalo University and his father, a old man in his seventies.The reason for the deadlock between the father and son was the latter's marriage. Father wanted to see his son lose his bachelor's degree before he obtains his masters degree in the States. He wanted to see his son married off.

As usual, Manya gave her boss, Preetham the company. After all the hospitality at the old man's place, Preetham directly came to the issue, "Sir! If you get him married off now, would he be able to concentrate on his studies? Wouldn't his mind get diverted?"
The seasoned man knew the exact reply, "I am getting him married off exactly for the same reason. So that his mind doesn't get diverted by some western influences. The way he is into those social networking sites and those status messages he gives makes me more afraid...."
Manya was in agreement with the old man's words, "Yups. Those status messages on the networking sites has more power to terrorize the parents than the climate warnings and the terror alerts that come on the news channels"
But this young man was too afraid to raise his voice in front of his dad.

Preetham tried to reason out, "But marrying him off would mean an additional burden na. He has to study and also has to look after his wife na... Would he able to juggle between family life and college life. Do you really want to push him into the circus of Samsara so early?"
The old man had even thought of that, "Who said we are burdening him? He will marry and leave his wife with us. We will take care of our daughter-in-law until he completes his studies. When he knows that someone is waiting for him on this shore, his mind would be more focused...."
Manya couldn't believe what she was hearing, "Oh My God! You are uniting them and immediately separating them!!!!" and then said to herself, "Is he a father or some villain from bollywood romance drama!!"
Jeeva still didn't speak a word in support of Preetham or against his father.

Preetham tried one last time, "You don't have confidence in your boy!!! From his childhood till now, he has not even looked at any girl with romantic intentions... He would go a virgin boy and return a virgin boy... I can assure that!"
Manya wanted to laugh out loud on hearing the words virgin boy...
The old man said, "Its not that I don't have confidence in him. But the time in which we live has so much changed. My colleague's son returned married. My colleague is so unhappy not because his son got married... but because his son married a guy....Gosh! I can't take any chances"
Manya laughed and remembered the lines from Dostana and said,"Love has become so blind these days that it is failing to differentiate between man and woman...."

Just then a cute young girl of twenties entered the house. With that jasmine buds around her long hairs and that tilak(vermilion) on the forehead and that traditional saree, she looked the epitome of feminine perfection. She touched the feet of the old man and handed him a piece of paper, "Uncle!... Papa told to give you this". Saying so she left after giving a stealthy glance at Jeeva. Jeeva who had his heads down till now had his heads completely turned. And his joy knew no bounds when his father said, "That's the girl I had in mind for my son..."
Now the young man took a complete U-turn and advised Preetham, "I think Dad is not wrong... In our life we need motivation to move ahead... Sometimes a girl plays that motivating role..... Behind the success of a man is a woman...a beautiful woman. I think I need such a woman...."
Preetham looked at the young man with complete disbelief. He scolded him, "Unnecessarily you have made me a villain na!"
Manya was getting angry with the young man and at the same time wanted to laugh at her boss's situation, "These Boys are so confusing!! They call us girls chanchal(fickle minded) but they themselves are so chanchal... One sight of a pretty girl and they fall for her... "

The Pains of Separation

2009-12-20T00:27:00.000-08:00

Some tortures are physical
And some are mental,
But the one that is both
Is dental.
~Ogden Nash

Manya was suffering from such pain and she was at the dentist along with colleague and her guru Preetham. Preetham recognised in the visitors lounge old man Mr seetharam and his grandson. Seetharam's son Ajay and Preetham were of the same batch. Mr Seetharam was back from a pilgrimage to Triveni sangama and other places and loved to speak about it, "I even dispersed my wife's ashes in the Triveni Sangama (place where three rivers meet). Now she is free from birth and death cycles"
Manya was confused, "I cant understand these traditional people when they marry they say I will be with you for saath saath janam and when the lady dies, the men quickly go and disperse her ashes such that she doesn't come back for their hand in the next life... "
The old man did hear this and was made to remain silent

Preetham quickly diverted the topic, "So your grandson has problems with the teeth?"
The young boy who had accompanied the old man said, "No... I know good dental care. I have come to extract grandpa's teeth. I am his guardian today.."
Preetham was surprised, "But why has your son not come with you? Where is Ajay?...."
The old man was silent for sometime and then said, "Ajay has gone to give his wife a DRY WASH"
Manya and preetham didn't get the point. they couldn't make sense of the old man's sentence. The young boy was quick to correct, "Sorry for my grandpa's English. He is not familiar with sum words. He meant divorce and not dry wash.. vivah vichedan"

The old man spoke with such anger that his voice was heard by all the visitors, "After living with him for nine years, my Daughter in law says she cant take it any more. Preeham, You know my son na!!!!... He is such a gentleman...."
Preetham answered in a rush of emotion, "Sure... he is a gem of a person... I don't know how anyone can have a complain living with him"
Manya didn't like her boss's answer and she tried to talk sense,"To Know the depth of the river you should put your feet deep into the waters and to know the worth of a person you should live with the human being. She has lived with him for nine years... she would definitely know more than you, Sir."

The old man adds further, "My daughter in law is also asking in the court for his whole money... she is such a ***** ", The old man started using profanities which irritated the young boy who again came to his grandpa's rescue
He spoke with calmness "Its alimony and not whole money, Grandpa. It means maintenance charges only...."
Again Preetham rushed to a conclusion, "Isn't she a working lady.... Why does she need alimony? If she doesn't want her husband... why does she want his money?"
Manya was rational in her thinking, "I believe she has to take care not only of herself but also her kid... She has to provide for future also.... Future is uncertain.... Sir!!! why are you speaking like this?"

The old man spoke again "She is right.... not only are my son and daughter in law separating, but they are also separating me from my grandson.... It seems the mother wants the custody of the child...."
The child said with a tinge of sadness, "Lucky grandpa... He gets to stay with Dad while i have to leave to a different place with mother..."
Preetham said, "Now this is not fair... Don't the couple have some responsibility to the people who have brought them to this earth and to the people whom they have brought to this earth. Can't they just eat the poison of bitterness and live together for the sake of the family..."
Manya took a holistic view "It can be done... its called compromising.... But when the life together becomes nonadjustable... then it becomes hell. Then the best thing they can do, instead of torturing themselves and others living with them,is to separate"

Then Manya's name was called out by the attender and as they entered the dentist's cabin, Manya had one last thing to say to her boss preetham, "Sir... this teeth may look beautiful for my face.... and to the external world... but if i keep it, it will destroy all other teeth. So its better to extract it and separate it for the sake of others..."

To Sir With Love!

2009-12-13T08:05:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-05T18:24:00.001-08:00

"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!

2009-11-28T18:12:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-11-21T18:56:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-14T03:31:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-07T20:12:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-10-31T21:01:00.000-07:00

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.

Saved from Enlightenment!

2009-10-26T09:10:00.000-07:00

It was the product launch session. After a tough final week, the software product was being put into the market. But after searching everywhere, Manya couldn't find the leader and the man behind the success, Mr Preetham. Then she found him sitting alone far away from the maddening crowd and outside the company building in the park bench. She joined him there to find her boss stressed out from the weeks work.

Looking at a small family enjoying the evening sun, Preetham noted to Manya, "Look at the family...." Manya loved the scene, "The perfect family! The hardworking husband seems to be worked out like us. The wife looks more like the ad lady who comes in that jewelery ad. And their daughter looks very mischievous da...." Preetham asked Manya to focus on the young girl. The young girl was being disturbed by the sound of the bangles caused while skipping. So she started removing all the bangles except leaving one on each hand. Even then the noise continued. So she broke one of the bangle and continued skipping with the single bangle on her hand.
Preetham then turned to Manya, "With more people, more disagreements and more confusion. Hence to avoid conflict, it is better to be alone like that bangle on the girls hand."
Manya got the idea Preetham was driving home, "So... You want to shoo me away and be left alone!... No way!.... I love to hear ur observations.... Yeh dil maange more!!!"

Preetham continued, "Look at the bumblebee over there sitting on that yellow flower....." Manya smiled, "I have seen such a scene a thousand times in all those old romantic Hindi movies when the boy and girl are about to kiss...Now with Hasmis and Kanganas, flowers are no more required."
But Preetham was busy explaining his viewpoint, "The bumblebee moves from flower to flower and extracts the honey from it without causing any damage to the flower. A man should be like that bumblebee. Wherever he goes,he should extract the best, without getting too much attached, be it the workplace...."
Manya was now able to measure the magnitude of the effect of over work that has had on her boss's mind. She needed to divert him and bring back to the normal world and make him think like a engineer, "Hmm! Boss! I am more worried about another aspect. That is... why hasn't science learn t to extract honey from the flower itself ?and why it has to extract it by destroying the beehive?... Why we haven't learn t the technique from the bee?."

Preetham was in his own world and was not capable of thinking scientifically,""I don't have the answer for that question...My mind doesn't want to observe from that viewpoint. " Manya was not the one to leave him at that. "But, How come the same scene of the nature has different impact on me and you?"
She knew that Preetham would answer such a question effortlessly and true to her expectation, the answer came, ""Just as rain falls equally on trees and shrubs, but one has red flowers and another yellow leaves. Thus too the same knowledge affects different being differently, depending on their innate culture, personality etc...."

Manya thought that if she left her boss like that, he would get enlightened and keeping in mind her boss's wife Seema, she thought it would be a pretty bad thing. Enlightenment doesn't take much time. But she didn't want it to happen. So she took her mobile and started dialing a number. Preetham inquired with a Buddha like calmness, "Whom are you dialing?" Manya said, "Time of difficulty! calling helpline." Preetham guessed, "Whom? Nine One One!" Manya smiled as she answered," No! Not Nine One One... But your dear one... Mrs Seema Preetham... Only she can save you from getting enlightened."

Hearing his wife's name, Preetham came back to his senses fully and jumped to grab the mobile and prevent the call. But the playful Manya had foreseen the move and was on her feet and running in the direction of the building with the mobile. Closely on her heels was her boss. Thus that day, Preetham was saved from getting enlightened.

(Inspired heavily from the thoughts of Avadhoota episode of Bhagavatham and thoughts from Valmiki Ramayan)

Confessions of the Conscious

2009-10-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

Manya was of the view that the fresher Mr Madan should be shifted from her project team. Though the chap had good academic record, when it came to the deliverables, he had failed miserably. But Preetham wanted to give Madan, an opportunity of being heard before taking any decision.

So Madan was called on to the red carpet and asked to explain the poor performance. His retort didn't satisfy his seniors, "I am in a confused state!" Preetham enquired very gently, "Well! What exactly or who exactly is the cause of the confusion" Madan was not sure of how to answer the question, " I can't speak of the person whose presence is felt here..." Manya got a bit irritated as she felt her subordinate was probably pointing an accusing finger at her. Madan soothed her down, "I am not speaking of any individual. I am speaking of something else. I am speaking of......" He didn't complete the sentence and ended it with a big pause. Manya tried to take a wild guess, "Don't tell me that you are possessed! Possessed by a ghost! Ghost of whom? A software programmer who had returned to complete some unfinished coding.Ha Ha Ha"

Madan decided that he needed to be more frank and so came his reply, "Its my conscience. Its saying that whatever I am doing is not ethical!" Preetham was taken aback, "We are into Software business! We use legal versions of all softwares!" Madan spread out his hands over the table, "Its that I have fallen head over heels over this girl when I saw her the first time. My conscience says that I have fallen prey for lust. It says that as a fresher, my responsibility is to learn the ropes of the job rather than to follow some girl." Preetham admired the honesty with which the youngster spoke, "Nice friend you have there! Your conscience! Blood can flow in only one direction. When Lust is at work, Blood definitely will not flow in the upward direction that is into the head. Therefore brain malfunctions and performance gets degraded."
But Manya wished to differ, "But Boss! Love is not a bad thing. All Love begins in the same manner. It begins with lust...." and turning to the Madan, "But it should end with a sweet responsibility."

Madan was happy with his immediate senior Manya's answer and put forth another thought of his conscience, "But my mind says that It is definitely not right to fall in love with a fellow colleague!" Now Preetham didn't like the way it was going and he remembered what his mother used to say, "Kothi thanu ketithu allade vanavela kedisthu anthe(Kannada). The monkey not only got his tail burned, but also brought down the entire forest. Here this monkey is trying to bring my office down..."
Manya didn't like the way her boss was behaving, "Boss! Don't be an enemy of love. Have you put NO TRESPASSING signal for love here. Wouldn't it be great for the company if its workers found their life partner within the four boundaries of the company. I think such workers should be given a special marriage bonus.."

Madan was more than delighted and immediately put forth the last doubt of his conscience, "Isn't it bad for one to fall in love with someone who is a guide to him." Preetham knew where this was going and he immediately looked at Manya who was left speechless. It was Manya who was Madan's Guide. Then Madan came down on his knees in front of Manya,"I know you are greater than me in every aspect : age, height and knowledge. But I am sure that I have been given this life only to love you! This is love at first sight! Don't you believe in love at first sight" Manya was not the one to be carried away by such sweet nothings and she replied in a very subdued manner, "I do believe in Love at first sight. Because I loved my mother ever since I opened my eyes", after pausing a bit, she continued, "I am sorry. I can't say YES to you. I am already committed. All I can say is that you will find a better and probably a younger girl."
The poor fellow slowly retreated and made his exit with silence.

But Preetham had his doubts, "When did you get committed and to whom?" Manya smiled, "You don't know! I got committed as soon as I joined the job. I got committed to my work and would love to come up in the professional field before I can think of any relationships."

A Kitty Story

2009-10-16T17:38:00.000-07:00

The cat had came to their doorsteps some three months ago and with its innocent looks and meow cries had taken the household over. Preetham's mother felt it was her dharm to feed the hungry animals and even she had named the cat. As the cat had come on mangalvaar(tuesday), she gave it the first name Mangal and her boy gave it the second name Pandey. So it became Mangal Pandey. Preetham's wife Seema corrected both of them, that its not Mr Mangal Pandey, but Miss Mangala Pandey.

Seema's MIL(Mother-in-Law) never ever allowed the cat to enter the house, her reasons were, "Animals like cat are uncouth and should never be allowed entry to the house. Secondly, that any attachment to pets like cats can affect one's consciousness at the time of death. But feeding them when they are hungry is dharma" Seema warned her MIL, "You can order a dog at stay at the gates. But not a Cat! There comes a time when the cat tries it level best to gain a entry into the house." The MIL failed to read the warnings.

One day MIL boasted to Seema, "See the cat now! Because of my Kripa-kataksha (compassion filled eyes) falling on her, she has become so Arogyavathi (Healthy)!". Seema laughed a bit and corrected her,"You are completely off the line, MIL. Its because of some tom-cat's kama-kataksha (passion filled eyes) falling on her, that Mangala has become garbhavati (pregnant) !" That left the MIL speechless. It was the time that Mangala would try its level best to get a safe place to deliver her young ones. The old lady knew she had to become alert and protect her home from losing its sanctity. Now her pet animal became a prospective invador for her.

Every living moment, she was thinking of the cat trying to force itself into the house. And sometimes,Seema took advantage of the situation. A silent evening, Seema was enjoying a romantic movie with her husband and MIL. A scene had the hero slowly kissing the heroine on her chubby cheeks without the others present there, knowing about it. Preetham whispered into Seema's ears his desire to do the same but was afraid of being caught by his Mother. Seema knew just the right thing to do to get the kiss. She took advantage of her MIL's latest acquired fear, and thought aloud, "Oh! I think I must have left the back door open".
It was enough to make the MIL worry about Mangala gaining an entry.The mother in law jumped on her feet, "You silly girl! Why do you do like this? That cat is waiting for such an opportunity!" And off she went. After she had left Seema said to Preetham amorously, "Now Mr Romeo! The area is All-Clear!" and she waited for that gentle peck. She closed her eyes and instead of hearing the gentle soud of kiss i.e Mwah, she heard a huge bang. The pair got freightened and ran towards the sound to really find the door wide open and the old lady chasing the cat out.

The fear in the old lady grew more and more as the day neared its end. When Seema and Preetham were preparing to retire for the day, they found the old lady under their bed stead. Only her legs were visible. Preetham gently enquired as to what she was doing. His wife gave a apt reply, "Your mother is crossing the limit! She is planting a time bomb under our bed! " After some struggle, she came out. She had the poor cat in one hand and in another she had the broom. Her hair was widely let out and her face was completely covered with dust. She let out a wicked grin, happy from having the cat caught. Seema looked at the horrible appearance of her MIL and said to Preetham, "She remembers me of my childhood!" Preetham was suprised as to how this scene could bring back the memories of her childhood. Seema explained it very simply, "I remember the stories of chandamama where those witches flied on their broomsticks and had a black cat by their side..."

Next morning, Preetham's father had a request to his son, "Your mother is quite upset these days. She has a special request to you. Say Ok to that one, my Son!" Seema got worried a bit, because her MIL reads Ramayana every morning and today she was at the Chapter where Dasharath sent his dear son Ram to exile on the instructions of his dear wife. Her fears came true when she heard her father in law utter the next sentence, "I need you to go to that small woods nearby....". She put her face down with disgust but the further words brought a big laughter, "....and leave that cat Mangala over there!. My Wife is losing all her sleep over that Cat!". The obedient son did as he was told and for the next few days the old lady had peace at home.

And then deepavali arrived and the little neighbour Riya came down with sweets and gifts specially to Preetham's mother, "When I returned home yesterday, I found three angels in my room. I wish to give one of them to you. " And she slowly took a kitten from her carrier and placed it on the table. No words came to the lips of Preetham's mother. She knew that cats find their way home back easily and so did Mangala. She was sure that this kitty was Mangala's only. Though Preetham's mother didn't say a word, the small kitten let out a small gentle meow so as to say, 'Please accept me!'
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Wishing all my readers and their families and friends, a very happy deepavali

An Ideal Wife!

2009-10-09T09:11:00.000-07:00

Preetham was too much influenced by Dr Brian Weiss's books on Past-Life Regression Analysis (Technique whereby an individual is hypnotized and made to go back to the past lives). He even had the audio file for the hypnosis downloaded. He wanted to experiment it on someone. Seema, his wife was forced to volunteer and he had a good excuse too, "You have used me a lot for your culinary experiments. Now its my turn."

Then the experiment began. With the background soothing music, he began to slowly hypnotize her, "Forget everything.... Your mind is blank.... You are now boarding a train which will take you to your past lives...." Slowly he forced the train to stop at one of her past life. Now Seema was in a more dream like state completely unaware of the real physical surrounding. She only recognized Preetham's guiding voice. Preetham asked Seema to identify the period. Seema tried to describe whatever she could see, "Seems many centuries ago... There seems to be only horse carriages everywhere and no modern building or electricity.... Probably some Rajput Kingdom.... I am wearing a bridal dress... I am a daughter of a Rajput King. It seems my happiest moment of that life. Yupee! I am getting married. But wait! But I am very young. Hardly even fourteen."

Preetham asked her to identify the people around her "There seems to be an old lady. Can't be my mother in law because this old lady has tears in her eyes and looks sad."
Preetham looked at the angry face of his mother as Seema continued, "Must be my mother. She is telling about sthree dharm (Ethics to be followed by a married lady) and her first principle goes like this, 'A wife should serve her husband and respect his decision and enable him to discharge his duties effectively. That's the reason why Sita went with Rama to the forests.'"
Mother in law was listening with all ears as Preetham asked, "So how did the bride receive that message". Seema still in a hypnotic state, "I correct her, "You are wrong, mother. She went with Ram because if she had been in the palace, she had to deal with not one, but three mother-in-laws!!!. The very thought had frightened her and she grabbed the opportunity of running to the woods with her husband."

Preetham interrupted before his mother could open her mouth, "Look around and try to recognize your man. Is it me?..." Seema a bit irritatingly, "But this mother is not allowing. She is filling my mind with her silly rules. Here comes the second one, 'Husband is a woman's God. Her Selfless Service alone to him is enough to protect her from all the worldly harms. She doesn't have to do any other penance or any other form of devotion'"
Preetham looked forward eagerly for the answer of the young bride, "This young bride is very smart and has a witty answer 'Had Draupadi listened to you, O My Mother!, She would definitely have been disrobed!. Remember it was not her five husbands who came to her rescue, but Dear Lord Krishna. Mother, these men are also human beings like us with emotions and feelings. No need to treat them special!'

Preetham liked the way it was moving, but he was still curious, "Now! Is the bridegroom standing nearby anywhere!", Seema was helpless, "I am unable to turn my head as whole of my mother's attention is on me and here she comes with the third rule 'Always look at the husband's mood before you talk with him. Because a right thing said at the wrong time may lead to disastrous results' The young bride's face became little dull, 'Mother, You have raised me in such a manner that when my mind thinks, my mouth moves. So I am helpless there! And speaking of moods, Even I may become out of control and impatient at times. Then what's his responsibility? If he cant handle me at my worst, Definitely, he doesn't deserve me at my best also**.'

Preetham somehow was more interested in knowing the bridegroom then all the Stree-Dharms. But the rules had to be completed as Seema continued, "Here she comes with the fourth rule, 'Win over the in-laws. Treat their home as your own.' The young girl said "I know this rule and I am fully prepared" and took her mother to the palanquin which has supposed to carry her to the in laws place." And then Seema suddenly announced "Now I see the bridegroom. Its my husband of the present life, Mr Preetham. But here, he has fallen on the ground with a thud after seeing the accessories in the palanquin."
Preetham was very curious and asked her to look into the palanquin and describe the contents. Seema was back with her answer, "Oh My God! She has got a bow and arrows, a long sword, a mace like the one used by warrior bheema, a spear and a dagger too... She definitely seems full prepared to take over her in-laws"

Preetham thought if he continued the session, it would definitely upset his mother. He immediately brought Seema out of the hypnotic trance. So Seema who was a little bit aware of what she had spoken asked innocently, "So tell me how different I was in my previous life?" Before Preetham could speak, the mother-in-law came out with her honest view, "However many lives you take, you are never gonna change at all!" and thus walked out. Seema looked with confusion at Preetham. He held her face in his hands gently, "And I don't want you to change also. I always love the way you are." Saying so, he landed a gentle kiss on her cheeks.

The Discourse at the Pub

2009-10-04T04:06:00.000-07:00

"I don't go to pubs. In the end they will throw me out", announced Preetham when Manya on behalf of her colleagues invited her senior for a small gathering at a local pub. Manya was shocked to hear this, "You mean!.... You get so drunk!" Preetham corrected her, "I am a complete teetotaler.... I need to tell you a small story to explain this one" Manya pulled out a chair and sat down. She always loved her senior's stories.
" It was a year ago that I accompanied my friends to a pub. I had ordered only apple juice. Seeing this, a drunkard approached me, "Hmm... You don't drink?.... Is that because you believe 'Drinking is injurious to health!' Rite.?" I answered him in negative and perhaps a little too strongly, "No! Its Because I believe that Drinking is injurious to the community!" Some more heads turned towards me with that statement, "Now! where did you pick that statement? Gandhiji!!!" I again shook my head, "Lord Krishna!"
Now I had become the center of attention. And in that pub, I started giving my discourse.

I declared "It was alcohol that had brought the fall of Yadavas!"
Like a young concentrating student who raises his hand during the classes to clear his doubts, a drunkard raised his bottle and put forward his silly question, "But where have they have fallen?. Laloos and Mulayalams are still so strong"
Controlling my laughter, I answered him, "I am talking of the Yadavas of the Dwapar Yug, a totally different time. The Yadava clan, Lord Krishna's lineage. In that lineage, there were two great warriors, Satyaki and Kritaverma. They were Lord Krishna's close buddies, but somehow Lord had got them to fight on the opposite sides during the Mahabharata War. Many years after the war, its demons popped up and that too during a wild beach party when bitter truths were spoken...."
One of the listeners who seemed to be not completely in control of his senses spoke, "That's the strength of the alcohol. People speak more truth when they are subjected to the alcohol rather than to interrogation."

I continued, "Kritavarma and Satyaki started abusing each other. Kritavarma accused Satyaki of not behaving like a true warrior and remembered as to how the later had slewn a warrior who had laid down his arms and sat for meditation. Satyaki accused Kritavarma of a more immoral act that of killing innocent boys who didn't even participate in the war, and that too when they were fast sleep"
One of the drunkards commented, "This finger-pointing session reminds me of Today in Parliament. Continue, Mr Speaker"
I avoided my inrtoduction, "Then others joined in the blame game. Slowly people who were fighting each other with words started picking up weapons and aimed at each other. Lord Krishna, the almighty who had instructed Arjun to take up arms against his own relatives found it hard to make his own clan drop their weapons. As Lord Krishna looked on, the Yadavas started killing each other. He had to see his own kith and kin being killed."
Youngest of the drunkards, who seemed to be a new one to the pub realized the moral of the story, "Wow! This alcohol is more powerful than the nuclear weapon. I agree with you, Sir! It destroys all the men who become its servants. I think I had enough! I mean enough of drink and not of the story! Continue please!"

I smiled seeing the change brought about in the young man, "It not only destroys men who touch it.... but also the community. After Yadava men had destroyed themselves, Lord Krishna took departure from this world instructing the warrior Arjun to take the women and the old and the children of his clan to safety. But Arjun was helpless as dacoits kidnapped all the women folk of the Yadava clan. In this way under the influence of the alcohol, the yadavas killed each other and also...."

Before I could complete the story, the manager of the pub came forward, "We really appreciate your social responsibility and as a token of respect.... "

Thus Preetham stopped the story allowing Manya to conclude the story. Manya was a clever girl and laughingly she completed Preetham's final sentence, "And as a token of respect, they had you thrown out of the pub.....Rite!"