Get Connected!

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

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

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

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

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

The Skies Above have the answers.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Orkut Philosophy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gyan Darshan

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

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

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

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

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

The Tree Project!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saved from Enlightenment!

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

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."