The Test of Love

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