She deserves better

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?"

Angry Young Woman

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

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..."