Gita in the Exam Hall!

Preetham was at his wife's place for the weekend. He thought his pregnant wife would have been feeling quite lonely without him. But his wife had found a new friend... her new neighbor, a twelve old girl Riya. And his wife was narrating one of her tall tales to the short girl. Preetham sat along with the young girl Riya to listen to his wife's tales.

The story teller Seema began thus "It was the D-Day! I was sitting in the Examination Hall and the question paper for the MBA Entrance was distributed. I read all the questions once and then re read them again just to find out if there was at least one question for which I had the correct answer. But I was disappointed. For the next thirty minutes, I just sat there completely blank looking here and there. The girl in front of me seemed to have all the answers and was not giving any rest to her poor pen. I looked at my new Parker Pen with disappointment. With the disgusted feel, like that great warrior Arjun who laid down his bow Gandeevi in the Kurukshethra war field, I too put down my weapon my Parker Pen on the table...."
Preetham wanted to applaude his wife's ability to conjure such wondeful tales and lies. But he didn't want to attract her wrath upon him.

Seema continued, "Thats when I heard the divine voice, 'Karmanye Vadikarasthe Ma Phaleshu Kadachana'. I lifted my head away from the bloody question paper and saw Lord Krishna standing there in front of me. He was there - in the present day Kurukshethra - the exam hall. Like it happened in the original Mahabharatha, here too he had pressed the freeze button. The time had come to a full stop and all others in the exam hall had become inanimate and it was only me and Lord Krishna. Lord uttered again the golden words.' Do the Actions. Don't expect the results..... Write the answers. Don't expect the marks.....' I was totally confused by his suggestions. So I made myself clear to the Almighty, 'It doesn't matter if I get zero for the wrong answers. But the questions carry negative marks! I don't want to end up with negative marks, Lord Krishna!'
Preetham just hinted his wife to look towards the Pooja room as if to tell that Lord Krishna is also in the audience.

But Seema was not bothered, "Lord Krishna smiled as he continued his advices, 'You have to toil for what you achieve in life. It takes ages to master a disciple. Everything can't be learnt in one night... that too.... one night before the exams!' I thought the Lord was not understanding the intricacies of the modern day student's life and I briefed him up,'Oh God! Life as a student has changed... Earlier Gurukul was a one stop solution for the students and the curriculum was also simple, I believe. But now, its not the case. Now in the first week we have exams for the prestigious Chartered Accountancy course and in the third week, there is the entrance exams for the big business schools. I am trying to exit one course successfully and at the same trying to enter another course. Tell me God! How can I plan when I sit for so many exams'. "
Preetham feared that the way story was going, it was sure to corrupt the young girl who was listening with full ears.

Seema was making it more and more interesting, "Lord Krishna laughed at my remarks, 'First week CA exams and Third week CAT. But wasn't it you and your friends that I saw at the first day first show of your favorite star SRK's movie where he danced with dozen heroines.... And I presume that was in the second week of the month...' I was embarrased and Lord continued his preaching, 'In every sphere of life, planning is important. Like you planned for that movie very much in advance, whats the harm in planning for your studies well before time.'
I took the courage to answer him back, 'Planning! I don't believe in it. My other Lord Shah Rukh Khan had told me, 'Har pal yahaa jee bhar jiyo.... jo hei sama KAL HO NA HO.... So I just make the most of the moment available to me. ' It seems that the Lord had enough of me and he took my leave 'Hmm... Kal Yug.... I don't want to bore you further with my lectures. Otherwise you will give me a nickname like you gave to that lecturer from the coaching institution. When time comes, you will understand the worth of my words....."
Preetham proceeded to the kitchen to make some lemon juice for his sweet wife who was getting a bit tired from the storytelling..

Seema concluded,"'Saying so.... the lord vanished and the classroom was back into action.. The exams were over and I never did make it to the top business schools...."
Handing over the glass of lemon juice to his wife, Preetham gave the finishing touch to the story, " I think you acted a bit stupid. A wise man speaks less and acts more. When the time stood still and when the classroom was freezed, you should have snatched the answer paper of that brilliant girl in front of you and copied the answers. You failed to recognize the opportunity when it knocked on the door.... err.... I mean the table...."

Love at the times of Swine Flu!

Seema was enjoying the drive, not because she was in control of the wheels. The reason was the ecstasy and the excitement on the face of the fellow passenger - her cousin Deepa. Deepa had got married last year to Ajay and immediately after the marriage had to bid her husband goodbye. He had a pending on-shore project to complete before his visa expired and thus was sent back to US of A. Now he is returning back to India and they were on their way to pick him up from the airport

At the airport lounge, she looked at each passenger's face as they came out with their baggages. All passengers had checked out but her husband was missing. On enquiring, a responsible officer told them, "He has been detained for a H1N1 check..."
Deepa was ignorant of the news that was making the headlines. She was not bothered about what was going on in the world and innocently asked, "H1N1? I have heard of H1B Visa.... What is this new visa H1N1...."
Seema dragged Deepa to the side and updated her of the new viral fever that had stuck terror in India. Suddenly fear gripped Deepa and she sat in one corner eagerly waiting for the results.

The officer returned sometime later with the news that Ajay need to be sent to a medical facility for more tests. Before Seema and Deepa could meet him, Ajay was already being moved to a medical facility nearby by the airport authority without informing his wife and Seema. The officer asked for forgiveness and accompanied them to the medical facility. On the way,the officer couldn't just sit tight lipped and had to make some comments, "I remember Nobel Laureate Josh Lederberg's quote, 'The microbe that felled one child in a distant continent yesterday can reach yours today and seed a global pandemic tomorrow.' But no one at the central hardly heed to any warning. They are not bothered whether we are attacked by deadly terrorists or deadly viruses"
Seema felt that the comment was a strong one but coming at a inopportune time. She was observing the nervous face of Deepa who hardly spoke a word since their departure from the airport. She answered the officer, "It would be better if you could save such comments for the press!"

They reached the medical facility and rushed towards the room where Ajay was being subjected to more tests. But the officer once again stopped them and told them it would be better if they wore some face masks.
Deepa looked at the face mask and angrily answered the officer, "You are making me feel as If I am visiting a mortuary!"
Seema was confused at the behavior of the officer. She felt that he was gripped with fear and nothing more. She didn't say anything but just put her arm across Deepa and slowly they moved ahead.

A doctor who was diagnosing Ajay had happy news for them, "Don't worry! Your husband's case was only a suspected case. Now the doubts are cleared. He is absolutely fine. You can take him with you!"
Deepa just rushed inside and embraced her husband in front of everyone, "I had been waiting for your return for a year. But the last two hours was like two decades for me."
When Ajay was silently erasing the tears from her eyes with his both hands, the officer expressed his fears, "Don't take me wrongly! These doctors have made some mistakes in their diagnosis earlier. Its better to take a second opinion!"
Seema gave him the face mask, "Its time you put on the mask and be silent!". Though she had silenced the officer, Seema too had her fears and she prayed to the God to make the officer's words not true.

Story Of A Crush

Preetham was discussing of ambitions during the lunch break, "As a kid, I had the ambition to climb the steepest of the mountains. Now... I am trying to climb up the hierarchy in this corporate world... Hmm... How about you, Manya? What was your ambition as a kid?"

Manya went to a dream like state, "Hmm... Had many.. I wanted to be a Miss India... But after seeing Mr India, dropped the idea... If I become invisible who will come to know about my beauty.... Then I went on to dream of becoming a Air hostess and giving those cutest smiles.. Even practiced those smiles in front of the mirror... After 9/11 I could not get those smiles back and so dropped the idea.... Then I also wanted to be a doctor too....I still remember of how I was captivated by this ambition at the tender age of fifteen"
Preetham was admiring her, " You must have witnessed the suffering people, young and old... Like the great king Ashoka, you too got influenced... But in your case it was short lived... Am I rite?"

Manya smiled at her senior's guess, "No-where near!... It all happened in a train... It was around 10.30 PM in the night and my parents had gone to sleep. But something kept me awake. May be the cool romantic winds blowing onto my face. Then I heard a bike's sound breaking the wind. When I peeped out, I saw a bike approaching the moving train. The train was a bit slow as it had just left a station and hence the young man in the back of the bike got down and as I kept looking, he just came running and jumped onto the train."
Preetham was impressed with the introduction, "Must be a dacoit! Looks like a scene from the movie Sholay! Except there it was a horse and not a bike....Continue Basanthi!"

Manya, "Hmm... Yeah! In a a way he is a dacoit.... A Stealer of Hearts! By the way he was studying medicine and was on his way to his college after the vacations. He was around 21 and I was fifteen. I looked at him earnestly and he looked me back curiously and said that something was very wrong with me and volunteered to check. I said very honestly, 'I am not well.... But I don't want to wake up my parents'. I prayed they didn't woke up at this opportune moment"
Preetham couldn't believe his ears, "Gosh! Your a big liar! I need to once again go through your profile and the references!"

Manya smiled back, ".... And then as he took my hand to check the pulse, My heart started beating in a more rapid fashion. The doctor replied coolly 'Seems you have a light fever'. I wanted to shout at him, 'If you hold that hand for some more time, the temperature would definitely rise and I would swoon and fall on the ground'. At the moment, as if to spoil the fun, the coffeewallah entered and doctor said, 'A cup of coffee would do better for your health' and I accepted it with happiness and quoted what my mother used to say, 'always listen to doctors' though her actual warning that I remembered was something different, 'Stay away from strangers' '"
Preetham just shook his head "I always thought you as a quite simple girl. Hmm...You turned out to be something else."

Manya was reliving that day, "And from one cup... I went to have five cups... I came to know more about him. When he told me about the surgical procedures, I felt as if He was reciting a nice romantic poem to me. The cups of coffee increased to fifteen as the dawn approached. I felt that the Sun was very jealous of me and so it had come too early. But the time for departure had come as the doctor's station was next. When departing he gave me a nice friendly hug and said, 'Lets hope we will meet again'...."
Preetham concluded the sad part, "And you never meet him again? rite!...."
Manya finished her story, "Never! But that's how I got the ambition of becoming a doctor. So that I would meet him again somewhere someplace... But I don't know when, why and how, that ambition slowly vanished into thin air... These teenage crushes!!! "

A Tall Story!

Preetham warned Manya, "Today, I will introduce you to our Clients Manager Somesh. He is that person who always keeps a straight face and hardly laughs...." But as they entered his cabin, they saw him having a hearty laughter to himself looking at the computer screen.
Preetham couldn't digest the scene he was watching, "You are behaving so unlike you, Som... What happened?"
Somesh said with a smile, "Its said that what you always avoid is that which ultimately happens to you"
Preetham answered with a tragic look, "Oh God! Don't tell me that you have lost the job?"
Somesh quickly retorted, "No Re.... I have fallen in love....I knew only the word Love till now... Now I know the definition of Love"

Manya had already taken the seat and slowly hissed into Preetham's ears, "They say in a temple, every statue has a story behind it. In this office, every employee has a tale to tell... "
Somesh had begun thus, "It all began when my mother told me about this girl Shwetha. I being against all these customs of arranged marriage, wanted to speak to the girl myself and without the elders knowing anything about it. So I found that the girl had a common friend in my friend's wife Ashmitha.But Ashmitha said she had lost contact and would try to establish it through a link..."
Somesh had to explain a concept to Manya, "This is how the concept of client acquisitions work. Most of the time we get them through links and leads.... "
Manya got a bit irritated, " Thanks a lot for the General Knowledge!"

Somesh continued, "She found a link and as If luck had it, I got a chance to visit a marriage in the link's city. I told Ashmitha to get her link contact me on my cell phone. But there was something else in store for me at the marriage. I was viewing the marriage customs from the comfort of my seat when suddenly everything in front of me went blank. My view got blocked. A girl six feet tall had occupied the front row. I just tilted my head to a little right to get a clearer view of the stage and that's when the girl turned around and smiled at me. Something happened and I fell for this girl."
Preetham tried to take a guess after taking a one good look at the five feet nine Somesh, " May be the extra 3 inches did you, Som!"
Manya didn't like the way her senior broke the momentum, "Lets leave the worry of inches to her tailor! Please continue the story, Sir"

Somesh looked at the impatience on Manya's face, "And wherever I went in that marriage hall - the reception room or the dining room, she was there. She kept on giving that cute smile of her... cuter than those chat emoticons. When I was about to leave the hall after wishing the couple, she mustered up some courage and stopped me before I could step into my Car, 'Are you Mr Somesh?' I was a bit surprised as I answered, "Yes! And Do I know you?"
She was the link that my friend's wife was talking about. Ashmitha had told her that I would be there at the wedding. She had a nice name too... Lavanya. After chatting for some time she came to the topic, 'Asmitha told me that you wanted to know more about Shwetha....' The way I answered the question was unexpected even by me, 'Hmm... I wanted!...Not anymore! Now I want to know more about you, Lavanya' There was a pause on her face for few seconds and then she smiled. And that's how the romance started"

Manya was overexcited on hearing such a romantic story, "Its always like that... this thing called love. It just pops out of unexpected quarters and at unexpected times. All you need is eyes to recognize the same. Some people fail to notice it...."
Preetham cut short Manya's love philosophy, "... but when the love is so tall!... six feet!... there is no chance of it going unnoticed!..."
The comment had Manya and Somesh in Splits.

The Ladki-Dekho Program

Manya was so lucky. When most of her colleagues spend bucks on conveyance, she was able to save on the same, thanks to her boss Preetham. He picked her up from her home and dropped her back in the evening. And she had nothing to fear as he was a married man. But that day her boss's car was not going in the direction of the office. Manya didn't dare to ask, but she was a bit nervous. A few distance later,a nicely dressed young man in his late twenties joined them. Manya started getting doubts about this young man. Preetham immediately removed the suspense of the journey as he introduced the young man to Manya, "He is Manish, a creative director in an advertising company. He is my Wife's Chacha's Sister Grandson! Let's cut it short! He is my close relative! We are going to see a girl for him! A village girl!"
"A Ladki dekho program!", Manya cried with excitement. She loved to be a part of such adventure.

Preetham expected a short drive. But when Manish started giving the directions, he found how lengthy and difficult the drive was. When all the turns and potholes and curves and climbs and signals were done with, Preetham saw the meter reading and felt as if his dear car was reprimanding him for making it climb a steep hill and that too thirty kilometers.
As they got down, Manya teased the boy, "Usually shrines of goddesses are found on hill tops! And I am sure, we are going to see one such goddess today!" and she turned to her boss and seeing a very tired look on her boss's face comforted him, "We are finally there! We have reached the destination!"

But Manish was quick to correct her, "No! Not Yet! We need to walk further two kilometers. There is no further road connection to her house."
So they began their walk. And what a walk it was. It was very steep and down the hill and looked like they were walking directly into the Earth's crust. Manya tried to lighten up the environment, "Looks like this is the place where Mother Sita entered planet Earth!" But It failed to invoke any smile on her boss's face

Then much to the relief of Preetham and Manya, the house appeared. Manish introduced them to the man of the house, "This is Madhav, a retired bank employee. It is he who had set the match. He will take us to the girl's house." The question spontaneously sprouted out of Preetham's mouth, "What! This is not the girl's house!." Madhav smiled, "Its just another five minutes walk through the garden..." As Madhav guided them, Manya slowly hissed into her boss's ear, "These villagers! They call the forest - a garden!"

The tall trees didn't allow any sunlight to scatter through them and the path to the girl's house was a rough one filled with strange bugs and reptiles. Pretham struggled a bit, "Shit! I should have got the trekking guide" , Manya who was enjoying the scene tic beauty replied " And I should have bought my camera!"
Suddenly a small house appeared from nowhere. Manya who was so lost in the scene tic beauty looked at the house and asked Madhav, "Which Saint's Ashram is this!" Madhav corrected her, "No! This is not any Sanyas's(saint) Ashram. It is Kanya's (girl) house"

The girl's parents were at the door step for their welcome. When Preetham and Manya entered the house, they felt as if they were entering a dark cave. The girl's father said, a bit hesitantly, "No powers today!" Manya thought, 'Bechara Manish.. Now how will he see the girl? " But then the girl came, not with the tray in her hands, but with a candle! And in that candlelight, the boy saw the girl's radiant smile. And that one look did the magic. The girl demanded that she wanted to have a private conversation with the boy. Manya thought, 'Such a small house, and with so many people in here, where will the girl get privacy to talk with the boy!'. Next minute all of them were made to walk out of the house except the boy and girl.

The chit chat continued for half an hour and when the boy and the girl finally came out, Preetham was able to read acceptance written all over their faces. It was time to take leave. Preetham was about to depart in the same route by which they had arrived, when the owner of the house remarked , "There is a nearer route. You take this route and within a minute you will reach the main road." Preetham thanked the girl's father and bidded goodbye to them.

After they dropped the boy at his place, Manya asked her boss, "Sir! He made you drive for thirty kilometers and then he took youall the way down into that pataal (nether world) and made us sit in that dark room.... When there was a simpler route! Aren't you angry, boss!..."
Preetham smiled, "Yups! I was angry when my dear car was made to climb that steep hills. I was angry when we stepped down the hills to reach the house. But my anger vanished when I saw the acceptance on both their faces. Tiredness and all negative emotions disappeared when I saw two hearts coming together."
Manya was all praise for her boss, "Hmm! That's Great!..." Before she could bestow the praise upon him, his cell phone rang. Her boss had quite a mixed reaction on his face
Preetham explained the reason with a straight face, "Its my wife! She says the proposal has been finalized and she wants me to take the boys parents to the girls place this weekend!"

The Morning Blues

"If you would like to save on some conveyance tomorrow morning, just walk half a kilometer towards my in-law's home.. I would be there tomorrow... I will pick you up", said Preetham to the newly joined Manya.

So next day, Manya was at Preetham's in-law's place. But Preetham was busy talking over the cell phone to his seniors in America. So Manya took this opportunity to exchange some words with her boss's wife Seema. And she didn't fail to mention the first night story that Preetham had shared with her. Seema bursted out, "If that night was not forgettable for him, the next day morning experience is an unforgettable one for me."
Manya looked at Preetham and thought that she had some time to listen to a nice story

Seema started, "Next day morning... I woke up from my sleep and found his side of the bed empty... I got a little worried... Has my earlier night action discouraged him!... Has he decided to quit family life and become a sanyas!... I looked under the pillow for a farewell note... Luckily, I didn't find any..... Then I searched the entire house... There was a no sign of him... a short time later I heard a small sound as if an engine was vibrating and It was coming from the room which I rarely entered...."
Manya decided to take a guess, "Hmm... Is it the attic or Is it the kitchen?"
Seema smiled, "Neither... It was the Pooja room... I was an atheist. I was always under the impression that he was just another God Fearing human being. But when I saw him that day in that meditative state, it seemed he was only one step away from nirvana..."

Manya was really thinking to herself, 'This pair seems to be as different as chalk from cheese' But her mind was interrupted by Seema's furtherance of her plight, "Worse than that was, he woke up very early at four thirty am. I am a night owl and he a early bird. But there was a time when I used to wake up that early..."
Manya again decided to take a guess, "During examinations?"
Seema corrected her one more time, "No re.... It was during that time when India went over to Australia and won that test series... Otherwise... Its not earlier than eight AM.. It would have been still late had it not been for my younger brother who wouldn't have left any breakfast for me if I was not at the breakfast table by eight thiry... that chotta bakasur..."

Manya thought herself 'whoever has done the match must have had it all wrong' But next sentence from Seema came as a consolation, " Then there are some advantages of having a early bird as your husband...."
Manya knew those and every girl would know those, "Hot cup of coffee from your husband and hot water ready for bath.... Am I right?"
Seema congratulated Manya this time, "You are right... But I was not lucky even there... My husband always takes a cold shower, says 'its good for meditation' and I say 'its not at all good for me'.... And coffee... his theory is that, 'Before sun shows up on the horizon, one shouldn't have anything for his stomach' , but when Sun does show up, my husband would have closed his eyes and gone into a meditative trance.... So there goes hot water for bath and also bed coffee...."
Manya felt very bad that a girl's dream had shattered..

But when Preetham was ready, Seema concluded, "He is everything that I never wanted him to be. But somehow he manages to drive me crazy. I love him like Nuts. And he is definitely very far away from attainining nirvana. And I have reset my body clock to suit him a long time back."

And then Manya bid her bye and on the way Preetham commented, "My Wife! She is everything I never wanted her to be. But somehow she manages to drive me crazy. I love her like Nuts..."
Manya gave a stupified look. When Preetham asked the reason for the same, she smiled, "A deja vu feeling...."
But she had a serious doubt, 'Whats this mystical force that binded these young couple together'
Can anyone tell her the answer.

The Argument Continues....

The characters appearing in the blog are all fictitious and any resemblance to characters already appeared in the blog is pure coincidental

"Preetham! Nice Name... But why did you change your name?" asked Manya to Preetham. Manya had joined Preetham's organization a day earlier and Preetham was trying to explain to her the reponsibilities of her position. But Manya knew Preetham from his early days and It was after two years that she was meeting him. So she had many questions to ask Preetham. Preetham smiled as he answered her question, "Hmm.... My girlfriend was told by the astrologer to change her small stylish name to a more unconventional Seema Rani, she forced the astrologer to give me a new name too. But the good astrologer found me a glamorous name Preetham...."

Manya smiled at the name game played by the astrologer and continued the chat, "You changed your name, your place, your job etc... But you haven't changed much... And Its two years since you got married. Hows that?"
Preetham just smiled to himself, "Its all because of the arguments we have.... don't misunderstand me.... Its healthy arguments.... now that she has gone to her mother's place for delivery and wouldn't be back for another three months, I miss those arguments very dearly.... Even during the sacred first night we had a heated argument..."
Now Manya definitely loved to hear that story. The job role description can wait for some time.

So Preetham started his story, "On that night, I just casually remarked to her, 'Is our meeting, just another random event in this bizarre universe or is there a definite order in the way nature operates?
Seema didn't think twice before commenting,'Oh! Don't try to find order in everything! Don't be fooled by those theories. Its for people like Deepak Chopra'
But I supported the theory of order in nature and explained her, 'Even a single grass will not move without the nature's permission"
Manya couldn't control the laughter, "Did you believe you were sitting in the metaphysics class?"

Preetham continued, "I wanted to prove my point and questioned my wife, 'Can you tell me one good reason why you fell in love with me and don't lie to me!'
Seema came very near me as if to grasp my neck, but stopped halfway, probably taking pity on the Mangalsutra I had tied over her neck, and answered, 'I really don't remember!. Let's appoint a committee with my in-laws as its members to find out the answers!'
I felt that I had won a small victory, 'See! Answer is not with you. Its with the nature. Only nature knows who should meet whom and when'"
Manya was really enjoying the story, "Hmm.... And thanks to the nature, I meet you and listening to this delightful story..."

Preetham came to the concluding part of his story, " I was not willing to be written off so easily and so questioned Seema one last time, ‘Hmm… so you think that all things that happen in the nature are coincidences…’
Seema somewhat wanted to end the conversation, ‘Hmm… Lets finish it with something I read somewhere, ‘When we pray, coincidences happen. When we don’t, coincidences don’t'. Now don’t ask me what it means’
But I started pondering of the deep meaning the quote had and the suddenly found the room immersed in darkness. I thought I was getting lost in my thoughts, but actually, tired of my questions, my wife had switched off the lights and gone to sleep"

Manya couldn’t believe what she was hearing, “Hmm…. Boss! You were sitting inside a bedroom…. Not under a bodhi vraksh (tree) to be enlightened!”
But Preetham put the same question to Manya, “What do you think of the chapter? Is theory of randomness right or is there some order in nature…. ?”
Manya laughed a lot, “Both mean nothing at all.. But what I think is, you really wasted a very sacred night…"