Breaking the Penance

Dhanya was shouting at Madan, her boyfriend, "It has been weeks since you have contacted me.... what happened? What are you doing holed up in this room? I hope you have not taken some kind of Sanyas" Madan smiled gently at her, "I have not taken Sanyas da... But I am trying to give a Sanyas(an ascetic) a lot of problems with his Penance... That's why I am trying to build up my knowledge base. In the recent weeks, I have studied and updated myself with Java, Flash Player etc...." Dhanya was very confused, "Wait... Wait....Whose penance you want to break and why you need so much computer knowledge ?"

Thats when Madan double-clicked on a icon which was named Tapas and suddenly Dhanya saw a beautiful animated image of a ashram on the computer screen. The Ashram setting was very scenic. Dhanya saw how meticulously Madan had drawn the animated image of the Ashram getting that look of the erstwhile era . And under one Big Parijata Tree, sat a sage doing a deep penance . But there were other elements which seemed to be disturbing the sanctity of the ashram. In front of the sage was a Apsara (celestial nymph) dancing very gracefully and some distance away, Manmatha (or Cupid) was sitting in a tree house.
Madan explained as to what he was upto, "Well! I am trying to design a online computer game. A game for one player. In my game, The player would don the role of Manmatha, who would try to break the penance of the sage by aiming his Pushp-baan (flower-arrow) at the Center of the forehead close to the eyebrows. This would stir passion in the sage's heart and he would fall for the Apsara's charms. Thus his penance would be disturbed.Would you like to try? "

Being a studious girl, Dhanya hated video and computer games and felt that it had affected one of her relatives marks in the board exams. But she didn't show it on the face and allowed Madan to explain her the game and the rules and the keys to be used.
So Dhanya prepared for her first aim.Using the Control and the arrow keys, she moved the bow in downward direction and pulled the string backwards and making sure of her aim, released the arrow. Oops.... The aim missed a bit and hit on the forehead but nearer to the hair region.... And Suddenly, All the Sage's hairs fell down together as if it was a Wig....Apsara got frightened at the site of a bald sage and gave a high decibel level shriek.... And on hearing that sound, Manmatha fell from his tree house. The combination of the two sounds distracted the sage a bit and made him open his eyes... The rage filled eyes fell upon Manmatha and in a split second he got incinerated on the spot. The Sage continued with his penance. Then a message came on the screen, "Two more lives left.."
Madan was explaining his efforts, "It cost me a good fortune and lots of time to design this animated game." But Dhanya was not appreciative of his efforts, "You Know! Many online games like second life, EQ etc had COST many students their semesters. Many youngsters take a long breaks to play such games... long breaks from their studies."

Though knowing the ill-effects of addiction, Dhanya wanted to give another try and aim at the proper spot. This time she didn't want to fail at any cost. Thus she pulled the bow string. But the arrow didn't exactly land where it was meant. It landed a bit low somewhere between the nose and the mustache and this irritated the nostrils of the sage a bit too much. Guess what happens when a person who has not moved for ages suddenly sneezes. It was worse than a hurricane and its force sent Manmatha hurling into the fire pyre set for the Yajna nearby. Again Manmatha got incinerated. The Sage continued with his penance. And then the warning came "One more life left" Dhanya looked at the missed call she failed to pick as she was busy playing and commented to Madan, "They say Computer and Video Games slowly brings social life down the hill. Well! I think I have taken my first step towards the same." Madan gave a gentle smile. But in his mind, he was happy that he had a successful product and that was being indirectly acknowledged by Dhanya.

Dhanya was all ready to make a third strike against the meditating sage. And this time with full concentration and reminding herself of great marksmen like Arjun and Ekalavya, pulled the bow string. Her concentration did pay off. The arrow didn't miss the mark. The Sage opened his eyes slowly and gently and his eyes fell on the dancing nymph. The nymph was still dancing as the Sage made his move towards her. He suddenly took her in his arms and as Dhanya's eyes was fixed on the computer screen, she saw the rough sage smooching the young nymph for a long ONE MINUTE. Manmatha, the Lord of Passion started dancing ecstatically in his tree house and suddenly the branch broke and he fell down. The disturbed sage looked at him again with rage and he was... well... again incinerated.And The Sage continued with his meditation... oops...not meditation. And the final message on the screen, 'Game Over - Move to Next Level'

Now Dhanya was more angered than the animated sage and wanted to incinerate Madan, "There are two things that would happen if you release this Game into the market. First, our relationship would end. Second, I would go to Pramod Muthalik...."
Madan was quite shocked, "You are making a mountain out of a molehill! My game is for fun only da. I Know your concerns. Computer Games are addictive, I agree and should be moderately used for entertainment like morning coffee. Like the sage who spent his quality time meditating, If a student spents his quality time before this game..... How can I be held responsible? And coming to Pramod Muthalik, I presume you didn't want the smooching part at the end.... Lets change it... I will borrow something from the seventies bollywood era. As soon as the sage prepares to kiss, flowers start showering from heavens above and well.... its left to the imagination of the player as to what happens next."
Dhanya was not impressed. Koi Dhanya Ko Samjha Aaye (Someone change her mind, please!)