Forever Love 4: With or Without You

"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..."