Pages from the Zany - F I L E S

Anything which is the first time will have special significance to us. Be our first day on this earth, the first steps taken with our little legs, our first day in school, first day of college…the list is endless. Every time it is a new beginning. A new discovery. Speaking of college almost the whole of our first year is of great significance. It is definitely a new beginning. We discover surprisingly our new potentials, talents which were hiding in us all through our school life like how I discovered my potential for writing. All through school I have never written a proper essay for my English class!

Entering college….having no more dull boring school uniforms, big bulky bags, and two plaits. It was like entering a whole new colorful world. When I asked my first years if they share my opinion, I was really surprised. ‘It does feel great, but I actually miss my 2 plaits!!’ said Aarthi a first year commerce student. Many actually missed there school uniform and two plaits (though the other side of the story is they never properly wore two plaits in school so they are missing them now!!). A sociology student said that now there are no more school uniforms, there is freedom of expression. Well for the bag part –‘the bags have not changed, they are still bulky’ said Tejasvi and Bhavitha, both commerce students. (Of course being in commerce you will have to carry your big bulky R.L.Guptha book even through your second year, nobody can help you!!!.)

We have one of the finest campuses in the city. ‘The campus is great-only thing is at times it is dirty’ was the unanimous reply from the first years. While Meera of sociology had a better idea, she loves the campus so much that she said she wanted ‘cleaning day’ on campus on a Sunday every month!! She doesn’t mind spending a few hours in college, but it has to be accompanied with credits! (Maybe our students union will look into this idea, and improvise on it!)

One great regret they had been that they were not been ragged!! ‘Seniors do not behave like seniors; they are just like us’ says Aarthi. While Tejasvi was of the view that ‘They say they are friendly seniors, yes I agree with it. They are quite approachable. But I have my friends to be friendly with. I want my seniors to be seniors, really bossy and should rag us’. Well but officially ragging is banned in our college we can’t help it! ‘Seniors are approachable but they never approach us’ said Shristi of the fine arts department.

What is college life without a little bit of classes...Ok I am a bit exaggerating; we have a good amount of classes to attend in college that is supposed to be the prime reason for us to come to college! Our college actually has a great attendance system to draw students to their classes. It is attendance every hour. ‘It is actually a fantastic way to make people come to college’ said Meera. Most of them felt that it was terrible, it was standing in there way of bunking classes. (You see our administration is much cleverer than us! They have got 60 years of experience handling students like us and have come up with this master plan of attendance every hour!!)

As for the transformation from school life to college life, most of them were missing school life ‘College life is great, but I actually miss school at times. It takes time to settle in a new environment after being nurtured and guided for 15 years in school’ said Nikila rajiv of the commerce department. Most of them feel that school is best…as they are just in their first year, in two more years I am sure they are likely to change their opinion! While some prefer college is best as it gives them more responsibility and independence, and helps to define you better than in school.

Our journey of life is never ending, we walk through paths and passages, hills and caves, we meet a number of people, and some become our best buddies, while others just go past us. But in the end we have to leave our best buddies and move on with our life. Like joining a different college that suits us. When asked the first years how did it feel to leave their best friend and come to a new place and make new friends? The responses were varied. Some of them were lucky enough to have their best buddies still in the same college. ‘It is just a one way road, you have got to travel along it, I do miss my friends, yet I made great friends over here’ said Michelle of the BCA department. ‘Making new friends just happened effortlessly, without me realizing it’ said Sristi of the fine arts department. ‘It is awful to leave your best buddy, but I have made a great many friends here. And it also gives an opportunity to interact with different types of personalities’ said a first year literature student.

Well all is well that ends well. The three years of college life is definitely going to be great as we are in one of the best colleges of the city. And like how we treasure our school life with all those nostalgic feelings that arise when you see a student on the road wearing your school’s uniform we will treasure our college life in three years up the lane. And the same nostalgic feeling will arise when some one says they are from our college! All I could say is we are in one of the best parts of our life. So live like there is no tomorrow, rejoice each and every moment as it won’t come back again!

This is the class that let my mind loose. The class that nurtures my writing skills. My thoughts flow free with no barriers – I think what not in this class…but Maam’s monotonous voice is keeping on echoing in my mind..again and again..what do I write…I am getting bored in this dumb class…
Hey, it seems like Alice is listening to class. Sherine is writing and passing notes and pretending to listen to class. Sophia is doing her short hand lessons. Chitra is doing sudoku. Sagaya, Deepthi, Yazhilini, Helen are staring at maam with no other option!! Aruna and Shilpa are listening to class.
Ok..fine the spelling of ‘inconvenience’ is INCONVENIENCE..Yay...got it right the 7th time..thanks to Alice and Chitra!!
Now what..Banking maam wants us to take some points…lets write it down shall we…

TYPES OF CROSSING [heading]-(what crossing?? Oh yeah, cheque crossing….not road crossing!!!!)
1) General Crossing- Sec 123 – definition- (the normal one yaar)
~ Essentials of general crossing:
a)2 lines are of great importance in crossing – (very important...yes I know this for a zebra crossing it must have black and white lines!!!!)
b)Lines must be drawn parallel and transverse – (ok! I know parallel zebra crossing lines – transverse???!!!....ok she has gone to the next point)
c)Lines are generally drawn on the left hand side so as to not to obliterate or alter the printed no. of the cheque and it should not cut or cross some of the writing – (in simple words, do not scribble unnecessarily on the cheque!!!..Got it people!!!)
d)The words ‘and company’ and its abbreviation are written between the lines, they by themselves do not constitute crossing, but it has been a practice to write them when the drawer does not know the name of the payer banker – (if he doesn’t know the name why does he draw...When he draws lines too...it must be lengthy enough to constitute ‘and company’ and what ever abbreviation it has!!!)
e)Similarly the words ‘not negotiable’, ‘account payee only’ may be added to the crossing – (but I have a query here…if you add not negotiable...Then the cheque (literally) is not a negotiable instrument right!!!..Then what is a cheque now….??!!!)

(Ok, I know I am taking Banking class very LIGHTLY..And I know this is going to reflect in my exam!!!!!)
~ Significance of general crossing:
a)It gives direction to a paying banker - (oh so it means otherwise the banker is blind and doesn’t know the rout to take…I pity him!!!)
b)The direction is that the amount of cheque should not be paid at counter but to a fellow banker, that is it should be made through an account and not at the counter of the paying bank – (but what if that fellow banker runs away…and doesn’t all operations of the bank pass through the counter..Be it passing through an account or another way...It is still done at the counter right!!!!)
c)If a crossed cheque is paid at the counter in contravention of crossing,
# The payment does not amount to payments in due course; paying banker will lose his statuary protection.
# He has no right to debit his customers account as it constitutes breach of customers mandate – (I even more pity the banker)
# He will be liable to the drawer for any loss he may suffer – (I declare that I will never take a banker’s job...it seems to be a very difficult one yaar….counting the no. of breaches he can do...Which I am bound to do!!!!)
d)The main intention of crossing is to give protection to it but general crossing gives only limited protection – (then why the heck did I learn this whole crap, if it isn’t going to give full protection) in the sense that if a thief is not the customer of the paying banker he can encash the cheque through forging the signature of the payee. However it can be deducted – (then what is the damn problem over here!!!). To avoid this danger special crossing was introduced – ( so basically protection is not the main intention……it is letting in the thief and letting him to forge the sign!!!)



2)Special crossing – definition – section 124:
~ Essentials of Special Crossing:
a)2 parallel lines are not at all essential – (so how do you cross with out zebra lines….you will have to jump and fly to cross huh!!!)
b)Name of the banker (collecting banker) has to be necessarily specified on the face of the cheque – (so a cheque has a face, body… interesting!!!) it alone constitutes Special crossing – (ALONE!!!....so the essentials is it must have a face and a name on it…so simple… even each one of us can become a cheque…. We all have a face…on it we write a bankers name… we become a cheque!!!!)

(Bell rang….hmm..end of an hours torture…….will seeya in next class….tille then adios….this is zanychild a.k.a vidya!!!)

The very concept God enthralls me!!! I am not an atheist….I believe in God…but I am not into the process of praying, going to temples…I don’t think that it is a necessary criteria to be fulfilled to prove that you believe in God. I believe in God as in me… ‘My conscience’…that is my god. It keeps a constant watch over me... it is my conscience that makes me feel happy, guilty, sad… it shows me what is right, what is wrong, what is good, and what is bad…. Isn’t that what God should do… it even guides me in my life, my problems and my activities. So I take it that God is within me…. It’s my conscience…

Well I am not against people who are very God fearing, go to temples, churches and mosques… and who blindly follow God… let them follow their faith while I follow mine… but I always wonder how this concept ‘God’ or the word ‘God’ evolved… how did people start believing in God. From the evolution of homosapiens… from Apes to Nomads and Caveman to Civilized people now. Where did God come into existence.....? As a remember history ….. I think nature was worshipped as God first… and there comes the existence of God….Fire god, Water god, Mother Earth was also God…. But wait, my friend over here says God created nature… yes… I think people do believe God created Earth and nature… so … what period should I say as god evolved?? … Well all is well and ends well… God evolved someday… and he/she has evolved… so let’s get deeper into the topic of God… But… one more point. God was recognized only when proper humans evolved… it is only the humans who found the concept of God… it is us who says God evolved first… but it is discovered only in our period… so as of now I say…God came into existence as humans came into existence.

God evolved. Period. Then what happens… people give forms to the God for a more accurate picture. Except the Islam community and some parts of the Hindu and Christian community which do not perform idol worship… so thus a series of Gods came into existence… let me list the no. of Gods I know (God or Goddess all the same). Well I start with my Hindu religion… lord Shiva (the destroyer), Lord Brahma (the creator), Saraswathi, Lakshmi, Mahalakshmi, Venkatachalapathi or Balaji, Ganesha, Muruga, Parvati, all kinds of Amman’s, Hanuman, Krishna (my personal favorite), The Navagrahas, Kali, Rama… the list is endless. Then there is Jesus and Allah… sees how simple it is to list the names of God’s of other religions… as the Hindu mythology… I think every day a God evolves!!!.... well there is one advantage… you wont feel bored going to the temples… as there is a great many temples for the great many Gods… you know you get variety to chose from!!! And each and every God has a fascinating story behind them… I tell you Mythology is a very fascinating subject… you just wonder, wonder and wonder more if you go deeper into the subject of Mythology.

So where are we in my article…? God evolved, he/she was given forms. Now what does that aspect of god do in your life? Why do we need a God? Why do we believe in a supreme power or force above us? I guess it is to keep us inclined to our respective paths in our life…to be stable… not to lose our focus of minds… to achieve our goals… Basically the illusion of God is created… so that people will fear doing the wrong thing. The essence of God watching over you will prevent people from doing bad…. The fear that God will punish them for their wrong doings in the future…. but you know what that God is… it has no form… it is within us, as I said our conscience…. It punishes you by making you feel guilty, bad… so people everywhere to escape this laud the good.

Well, well… while talking about good… we should definitely talk about bad (shouldn’t we?) Good and bad both are juxtaposed to each other… only when there is good we know there is bad, only when there is bad there is good… God symbolizes good, while Satan symbolizes bad… we can say that without God there is no Satan and vice versa...

SATAN …… the very sound of it brings a bad, dark, mysterious feeling to us… Satan symbolizing bad is actually a good thing… because for every positive aspect in life there must be an adjacent negative aspect. It is this negative aspect that makes the positive aspect much stronger.

Now, as I think….as my thoughts flow…. God primarily came into existence due to the bad or negative aspect of life… think about it yourself… if everything in your life is well and good why will you pray or believe in god? It is when things aren’t proper and life is not going the way you wish it to go, that you look up to God… after some time when things start taking shape and everything goes fine you thank God… for rectifying your life… thus you pray, thank, pray, thank….that’s how life goes on with its ups and downs. It is only and only when things in life aren’t proper and bad karma prevails in your life and bad things happen in the world that you look up and wonder ‘is there a God?’ Well the very question has the answer… if there isn’t a God… why are you wondering about him in the first place!!!

Now I think Satan is God (and I know you people out there are fretting when I am gonna end this article. but this one really set me thinking!!! About me and what I am doing in the world!!!) well now I say Satan is God because….he/she is God of bad…but as God is usually associated with good they gave him/her the dark name of SATAN (hey..But in Hindu mythology…Satan is also God. We have Yama dharma...Remeber!!!)

What ever name you give…God/Satan, the almighty, the supreme power… it is all a total illusion….if this illusion wasn’t there… the world would have been destroyed… people’s life would have been haywire… the words ‘guilty’, ‘feeling bad’, ‘conscience’ wouldn’t come into existence. The force of love would have become weak… people would be crazy, cold hearted, have a heart of stone… the world would be a living hell. There will be no balance in Earth… the balance of right to wrong, good to bad, God to Satan, heaven to hell is very much required for our lives to run smoothly…

But the whole point of my article is to find out who is God??? it is us…each one of us is God…we choose either to be God or Satan…It is within us… our inner feeling…our inner feeling exists because of us…so we are God…or Satan…we say God rules the world…in a practical point of view. Who rules? We right….so we are God….you may ask if we created nature…I suggest you to go and read the archeological and scientific research on how Earth was formed. Heard of big bang theory and all that stuff….so no supernatural force created Earth…it was all a natural evolution…so I stand to my point that we, each one of us is God/Satan…you might criticize my point of view…I say it is all in your mind….it is a funny thing….your mind I mean…you tend to believe what is not existing….but you don’t believe things that are right before your naked eyes…. Funny people we are…

Note:- I am not against anyone. This is purely my point of view and I believe each one of us is God…

People I encounter look at me and say….
To my parents…….such a lovely daughter.
To my brother……you are lucky to have her as your sister!!!
To my friends……a friend indeed
To my teachers…..good student isn’t she?

(Statements stated above are purely true and valid…seriously believe me people!!!!!)

Hmmm…..I wonder to how many they should have said these...

Why is it necessary to be good to people around you. I am not saying we mustn’t be good to people around us…but why deceive ourselves just to please others. I believe life should be lived fully cherishing every movement, every fight and argument one makes, every real praise one says to people around them and with full spirit of joy and cheerfulness and straightforwardness...

Why is it necessary that I will be accepted by the society I live, only if I live to its customary expectations?? Can’t I live my way of life? Can’t I follow my own crazy rules in life? Why should I always live to others expectations which envelop my original expectations from me, which I have perceived……..or would have perceived if given a chance!!!!

I am a good student…..and I hate being one! Till 10th standard….I was this girl who used to get ranks within the range of 5 – 15th …..life was great and rocking then…my parents were happy with me….as I was back then…but on reaching class 11 (miraculously and fortunately and unfortunately) I topped the class due to the increased interest in the subjects I took…..and from then on…..it was no turning back in my academic life….

Responsibilities, expectations and more expectations and workload came rushing to me….those things which I never cared about in my previous year…responsibility and me!!!......Lol……I am the laziest person on earth…and I guess the last responsible person on earth…

My parents, family, teachers, school started expecting more from me… if I fail to top anywhere…..they would be like…what happened?? Any problem??? Tell us, you didn’t top this time…..is something bothering you???? (Well what is bothering me is everyone around me!!!)

And slowly and effortlessly they changed me. They made me more focused on my studies and even made me possessive and what now mattered to me were marks, marks and more marks!!!! I even felt the first pangs of jealousy in me…..if anyone got more marks then me, I felt jealous and at the same time bad about being jealous….I couldn’t understand my behavior then. I develop instant hatred to the person (though I forget it quickly…) and feel low myself and start degrading my potentials. But I never (fortunately) express my feelings outside…so I was this nice good girl to everyone. Even though I knew I was deceiving myself portraying a false cheerful image to people around me…..

Well, I had my good times being a good student…people looked at me…and I turned suddenly from the not so popular to the somewhat popular girl…..but not that it mattered to me…I always wish to be unknown……and well my friends who used to call me to chitchat now called me to clear doubts…and some became my friends only for the very reason I study….and well life went on….

It was all well and good for two whole years…I topped the class consecutively….no one would ever dream otherwise that I will not top the boards….and really everyone was expecting my board results to be great….and the day of exams came…and I gave them pretty well….and on completion went into holiday moods.

The day of results……it came….and I stood 5th in my class…..what happened in-between…..4 of them raced me….it didn’t matter to me…I got an awesome 94%...but people around me, were shocked that I did not top the class….that made me feel bad…..and well I did not even talk to my grandpa…who called me to congratulate me for getting wonderful marks….but I was crying and whining the whole day….I was happy with my marks….but crying came natural…and I even remember my grandpa telling to his friend…who had called him happily saying his grand daughter got 90% in the boards and was celebrating it……that I was crying after getting 94%....!!!!

Well….at last I stopped crying…went to school….greeted everyone on their marks…..and even congratulated those who topped me….heartily….telling to myself…I can not top always…god gives everybody equal chances….and my chance too will come some time in future….

And thus school over…I joined college…there too I started studying…but let me tell you. I personally feel coming to coll…the amount of concentration I am giving to my academics had gone down drastically as compared to my school days……and well I have been giving my best…and class 12 board exams had brought me down to reality…that marks doesn’t matter…it is only the knowledge you gained matters….even now my school thinks…..well my school friends think I am still the topper in class no matter what marks I got in my boards…..and I have tried to change myself….no longer do I frequent the pangs of jealousy and hatred to people in me….

By the end of my college life…..my probability of becoming jealous of people should go down and reach zero…is all that I aim…and well I decided to live life completely…and it isn’t always study…it involves equal amount of fun too.....and when will you enjoy life if you don’t do it know…

All I want to say is…life is short enjoy it to fullest possible core…..with no feelings of hatred and jealousy….


Adios!!!!

Zany child as always

The great ‘game’ of cricket has us all enthralled in its captivity. To the extent that one time fans and long time connoisseurs of the game, have turned into fanatics of the sport. This is hard to deny especially after some Zealots gave vent to their feelings at the Indian cricket team’s poor performance, at the world cup by breaking the windows of cricketer’s houses and indulging in such barbaric atrocities. Things reached such a stage where the team was publicly castigated in the parliament by our honorable ministers.

That was definitely the height of ludicrousness. The cricketers were even threatened with dire consequences if they lost the World cup match to Pakistan. It is perhaps a sad reflection of our times that a Majority of the public couldn’t care less if India lost the world cup final to Australia as long as they thrashed Pakistan. The fanatics act as if the team Commit sacrilege by losing to Pakistan. For a true blue fan of the game like me it is certainly a deplorable situation that the game nowadays finds itself in, Especially in India.

Moreover the Indian team is praised sky high if it wins by every Tom, Dick and Harry but castigated too by all and sundry if it loses a match. Things need to be put into perspective here. Nobody is perfect in this world, the man who came closest; the great Don Bradman was dismissed in his last test innings for a duck. No team can win every match. Even the Australians lose from time to time. The spectators need to be broad minded for the good of the game at large. There exists a wafer thin line between fans and fanatics nowadays and it is too easily crossed by those who watch the game.

Even experienced, retired professional cricketers commenting on the game get carried away and become highly critical of their team when it loses. They blast the team in public and this sometimes leads to a lot of unnecessary bad blood between the players and the retired stars which must be avoided for the robust health of the game at large. The players are of the opinion that they appreciate criticism but sometimes when it is exaggerated and unjustified, they feel let down and hurt. Frankly tell me, does a team need the backing of its supporters when it is doing well and on top or when it is at its lowest ebb? It should be the latter, but unfortunately the contrary happens.

The team is derided by the so called loyal supporters when it loses. It doesn’t matter if the team fights bravely and loses a match by 3 runs or if it fails to put up any semblance of a fight and gets thrashed by 100 runs. In the case of the former,(the fans if they can be called so) claim the team snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, while in case of the latter they claim the team is soulless and is not interested in playing for the country and are more concerned about their bank balance and their commercial ventures. Nothing could be more grossly unfair to the players.

When the same team wins and performs magnificently, they are hailed as world beaters though the players never think along such lines. A pragmatic approach is required at this point of time. Sachin Tendulkar never declared he will score a century each time he walks out to bat. He can only try to achieve it .It is only we who expect it of him. Hats off to Tendulkar for having delivered consistently all these years despite the enormous burden he has to shoulder every time he plays for the nation. Still we are insatiated.Our expectations increase manifold each passing day. The fans bay for his blood even if he fails in a couple of innings ignoring what he has achieved in 15 years of international cricket. I can only pity the man and his profession. To err is human, but to forgive is divine.

But the paying public is not prepared to yield even an inch let alone forgive the team for losing which is a sad reflection of our times. We all fail to appreciate the fact that the 'gentleman's game' implies that not only the players but also the spectators and those connected with the game too should behave like gentlemen. We have allowed the great game to reduce us to fanatics which doesn’t augur well for the future of the game. It is an irony that if the same fervour, unity, commitment and loyalty exhibited towards cricket in India were shown in all other walks of life, we would have become a world superpower a long time back.


** This article was purely and entirely written by my brother and I take no credit for it……it was written a year back…

she was playing in the rain....
A beautiful child she was....
she had a little face....
tiny hands and tiny feet in tiny shoes....
she was adorable
she loved the rain....
bcause she and the rain share a special relationship...
yes indeed
like the rain she came down to earth
fresh and pure....
but on reaching earth.....
the rain either becomes usable water or dirty stagnant water.....
and she became a victim of blood cancer.
she was ignorant of it
she was hospitalized her whole life.....
she did not make much friends
her only friend was the rain...
it rained when she was happy
it rained when she was sad
it rained when she was lonely
the 1st drops of rain touched her face
she felt as if a warm and comforting hand touched her...
her company with the rain was coming to an end....
she was ignorant of that too
the doctors had marked her date...
the date of her departure from the world...
they said in a day or two...
the weather reports read
'monsoons are over
no more showers in the comin days'
she was completely drenched
she refused to change into dry clothes......
she slept.....
she died the day after at noon...
the day was hot till noon...
but black clouds appeared around noon
it rained harder and mighter.....
it bid adeiu to its dear friend....
no body understood the weather that day...
nor did they know that the rain cried....
only the soul that rested in noon
could hear the sobs of the rain..........

It started as a slight drizzle and became a huge shower. Shakthi looked through the window into the outside world. It was dark, gloomy, raining, cold… she felt secure inside the house. The feeling pf warmth… light… the sense of protection one felt here was inexpressible. This small home built in the not so posh area in Chennai, taken for rent by her and her lovely husband Karthik was heaven for her.
Karthik opened the door, came in drenched and said “are you feeling alright now… are the tablets working?” “I guess so” she smiled at him. He gave her a peck on her cheek, and asked her to sleep and said he had a project to submit tomorrow and so will be busy that night.
She had met with an accident 3 months ago. A bad one, which made them realize their true love….


3 years before…

‘yaro yarodi unoda purushan’

It was a friends wedding. That was when she saw him. He was goofing around with the bridegroom, telling him he was going to dread marriage life. When she asked him …“why dread marriage life? What is wrong with our bridegroom?” He smiled and said “why…nothing wrong with the bridegroom. But who will leave enjoying life to come entangled in marriage blues and commitment”.
She interrupted “you aren’t lucky enough. It’s ok; there are many handsome guys around” and left the place with her friends. He stared back at her with his mouth open, while his friends asked him to stop flirting around.

That was their first meeting… in some small village in Tamilnadu…

Few weeks later…

Shakthi was going to her college via electric train. Karthik saw her from the opposite train. They just stared at each other…
That night Shakthi told her elder sister Poorni about seeing him…while Poorni asked her why is she bothered about some guy. She just replied “some stupid fellow is hanging out of trains and looking at girls” and sighed and went to sleep.
Karthik started following her. He used to ride his bike in full speed raising the engine at her street. He used to come to the station everyday. His friends said he was crazy…he did not even know her name. The only information he knew was that she was a medical student…
Finally, one day he saw her in the train, came to her, took her college book, saw her name and said
“Shakthi, I am not in love with you… I don’t think you are so beautiful… but I fear… all that will happen… think and tell me…” and left the place without waiting for an answer.
The next day he came to college. She went to him
“What is your name?”
“Karthik”
“Karthik… are you rich, do you fail in class often, sit in the last bench… because only rich guys like you come behind girls like this” and turned to go… he called her and waved a bye. She smiled at him…
There goes our next song ‘pachai nirame…pachai nirame’
Karthik made his little niece call her home and speak like her friend’s sister. Shakthi came to the phone. He said “hello...”
“You… who gave you my number?”
“It doesn’t matter…there is a function at my home tomorrow. You have to come…”
“No, I can’t how can I …”
“Look, I am not calling you out to a movie, park or beach… just my home for a function. If you don’t come, I’ll come there to your home. Note down the address. No.17, Ram Chandra Avenue, T.nagar. And come in a sari and not in chudithar”
Without waiting for an answer he kept the phone down.
The next evening… Shakthi came to his house with her sister, dresses in a traditional silk sari. He smiled at her, she just looked at him.
It was a function for Karthik’s sister – in – law, who was 7 months pregnant. She sat with the women who had come, and was singing bajan songs with them. His mother wanted to know who she was. He said ‘the girl he was going to marry’. The word spread like fire in the house. Everyone was pointing at her and saying that Karthik was going to marry her.
Karthik accompanied her and her sister back home in the train. She was very angry for what he said. He said “did I say you wanted to marry? I said I wanted to marry? Anything wrong in that?”
“But you must’ve asked me before….”
“Ok, shall I ask now…?”
“No”
“You are angry that I didn’t ask… If I ask. You say no”
“What now”
“Shall I Say?”
“What”
“That… ‘I love you’”
“What does it mean?”
“Hmm… I love you means, I will do anything for you”
“Will you jump out of the train?”
“No”
“Then”
“What now”
“Is love more important now…?”
“I think so…”
Her station came; she left him standing at the door of the train…
It was Poorni who started the topic at home. She asked her parents what they will say if someone’s parents came to ask for a bride in their home. She added it was not her; it was Shakthi they are going to ask for. Shakthi fled from the place. Her mother called her asking what was happening. Shakthi did not reply. It was Poorni who said “yes mom, Karthik, son of famous criminal lawyer Narassiman… he is a good guy. His parents are coming tomorrow to ask Shakthi’s hand in marriage to their son….”
Her mother shouted at Shakthi, “what is happening Shakthi. Is Poorni telling the truth? We sent you to college to study, not to go behind some guy… you know, even Poorni is not married, she is working to pay your final year fees. You are so irresponsible”
Only her father asked her mother to stop scolding her. They will deal with matters as they come he said.
The next day… Karthik’s parents came to their house. Their house was one of the railway quarters; her father was working in the railways.
Karthik’s father remarked, they had difficulty finding the house. All houses looked similar. Shakthi’s father said “middle class families will be like this only…”
“Oh….ok…so is this your daughter” he asked indicating Shakthi.
“Yes… Shakthi and Poorni.”
“What Poorni, you are the older one I guess. So are you planning for an arranged marriage or like your sister you too…?”
While Karthik’s mother nudged him to keep quiet and said “he is always like this, asking one question or the other, he is a criminal lawyer you see…”
Karthik’s father then said “I have brought up my son Karthik, just like a normal son. I never showered him with luxury.”
“But I have brought up my daughters like princesses”
“Well I thought my son would become a very big software engineer. I did not think he will fall for all this love…”
Shakthi interrupted “sir, no one caught your son in the net. He only…”
“Shakthi…” her father motioned her to keep quiet.
Karthik’s father then said “but I brought up my son teaching him law. Once children reach the age of 20, they must be able to decide their lives…and if it is not for your daughter, if he had brought any other girl on the road and said that he wants to get married to her. I will have to accept it.”
“Stop it sir, when do you get this pride…when you become a little rich…sitting in my house, you are comparing my daughter to someone on the road….”
“Maybe we should forget all our indifference and think about the future of our children”
“Sorry sir”
“What answer will I say if my son asks me…?”
Shakthi’s mom said “that we have dignity”

Karthik saw Shakthi in the station and asked “hey…what happened…?’
“Nothing, they talked, they spoke wrongly, and it turned out to be an indo pak war…”
“Hey…it was just for a formality we asked them permission. Are they going to marry, it is us who is going to get married.”
“What can I do…Karthik? How long do you know me….? 20 weeks…but my parents are my life for 22 years, I can’s leave them, my house, my dog….for you”
“But I will leave everything for you…..”
“Today you will leave everything for me. How should I believe you that tomorrow you won’t leave me for another girl?”
“Hello….your logic is disgusting… now what….sacrifice huh… I am the prey…”
“what is there that there is so much love between us… you saw me…chased me… you made me laugh a little…now you are making me cry… that’s it… if I had said no in the first place, what would have been your reaction…”
“Well, I must’ve thought that you aren’t lucky enough….”
“Think like that now…” and she went away.
He raced behind her “hey…”
They didn’t see each other after that. He had asked her that they could just be no friends…no marriage…no parents…just they both…but she had refused. She said if it is decided to leave the matter, it must be forgotten. We mustn’t push along, and see what happens…
Their lives went on…they did not see each other after that meeting. She even joked back then that she would pray that he would get a very ugly wife.
One day, Karthik’s niece called Shakthi’s number just for fun and handed over the phone to Karthik telling it was for him. Karthik took the phone and said “hello” at the same time when Shakthi said “hello”. There didn’t speak…at last Shakthi kept the phone down.
Some days later Karthik caught hold of Shakthi’s friend and asked her where she was. Her friend asked him back “it seems you and Shakthi had broken up… then why you are bothered?”
“Yes… where is she? I haven’t seen her for the past few days”
“She has gone to US”
“US…!”
“Ok…ok… she hasn’t gone to US; she has gone for a medical camp”
“Medical camp… huh… where?”
“To Cochin”
“Oh…ok…when will she be back?”
“In 3 days… I guess”
“3 days…..”
“Yep…3 days…then she will be back here only na”
“Yeah… thanks…ok...then bye’
“Ya…bye”
He reaches home…urged his mom to give him a cash of Rs.2000, said he was going out of station and will be back in a few days. His mom asked him to take care and be back soon.
There is our next song…. ‘yevano oruvan…’
He reached Cochin the next day… he searched for the medical camp…only to find that it had gone to the next village… he traveled all the way to the next village in the pouring rain.
She was very disturbed in the camp… she couldn’t concentrate on her job. On the last day of the camp they had gone on a boat ride…he saw her from the bridge above the river. She did not see him. He ran all the way down the bridge to the bank of the river.
When she was getting off the boat she saw him approaching her… she was rooted to her place…when he reached her, she broke down to sobs…he pulled her up.
“Hey...”
“Why…why… did it take you so long to find me Karthik?”
“Shakthi I love you….I cant imagine a life with out you…”
“Will you do anything for me…?”
“Should I jump out of a running train…?”
She nodded no “marry me….you be in your place…I in mine…we will break the news when time comes….”
“You want to elope….huh”
“What do you say…yes or no…”
“A doctor’s word has to be followed…” and pulled her into a hug…

The day of the marriage…
Shakthi’s house…
She and Poorni were getting ready. Shakthi was a bit hesitant, it was Poorni who said it was nothing wrong… and asked her to get ready soon… they came out dressed. Seeing both of them in a sari, their mom remarked “what a surprise both of you are wearing sari? Where are you going?” Poorni said “where else mom, I am going to the office, she to the hospital…”
When they were coming out their father came and asked “where are the princesses going?” Shakthi said “I feared that I won’t see you… going to the hospital pa”
They reached the bus stop. When the bus arrived Shakthi said “Poorni….shall we go back home…I am so scared…”
“Ok…come we will go”
“Poorni….”
“Just get in Shakthi… you are becoming paranoid…”
They reached the temple…all their friends were there. Karthik was yet to come… his friends joked that he fled off fearing marriage!!!

Karthik’s house…
As he was coming out of the house…his father was getting in the car to go to the court. Seeing him, his father asked him “where are you going?”
“Friend’s house….”
“Where is it, come I will drop you on the way…”
“It’s ok…pa you proceed…its getting late for you…”
“That’s all right… get in...”
He had no option but to get in...
His father asked him “so…what are you going to do?”
“Me…nothing…”
“I know that…I asked you to take Law…you said no and went behind computers…now what are you going to do?”
“Oh...That….pa, if you could give me surety for the bank loan for the office…then I will have no problem...”
“Humph…what else can I do….I have to give you surety…”
He at last reached the temple… while going in one of his relatives saw him…
“Is this Karthik…that too in the temple…weren’t you a person who doesn’t believe in god….”
“Ya…I’ve come to the temple…aunty, I am planning to elope with a girl what do you say?
“Oh my…you are always like this…go go…god will save you”
“Yes…he will”
He came in. everything was arranged by his friends. They both then exchanged garlands and he tied the man gal sutra…
There is a very sweet song being played behind… ‘Mangalyam thanthunathena …’



End of part 1

It was one of the religious centres of the country. Located in the south of India in Andhra Pradesh. My day to visit it from Chennai with my family started.
16th June, 2006:
Morning…
4:30 – alarm rang bells in my ears….
4:40 – mom shouting at me and my bro to get up, or else we might miss the bus…
4:43 – I got up; my bro is still sleeping…
4:50 – I rush out of my room dressed for the journey in a traditional silk chudithar…
5:00 – every one at home is almost ready… doing last minute chores at home.
5:15 – ready to lock the house, checking all the locks in each room, seeing if everything is properly done.
5:20 – leave house to catch auto, to go to the tamilnadu tourism office, where our bus is going to come.
5:45 – reach the office after a bit of searching. It was our first experience with the Tamilnadu tourism board.
6:00 – our bus arrives; it is a mini van with 15 seats.
6:10 – we board the bus; I take the window seat as it is my custom!
6:30 – the bus moves at last… we start our journey.
8:40 – we stop for breakfast at thiruthani, not a bad breakfast… and it was supposed to me limited breakfast with 2 idlis, 1cup of pongal, 1 vada, and sambar and chutney. But the restaurant guy wished to give me a second helping of pongal, I never asked for it. And I myself was trying hard to finish my plate. Lol. Anyway I refused; he tried to persuade me, but then left.
9:00 – we boarded again and resumed our journey; I can’t much account what happened in the next two hours, because I was sound asleep…
11:15 – we reached lower tirupathi; from there we had to change our bus with the local Andhra Pradesh devasthanam bus. The bus wasn’t worth noticing. All that I knew was it wasn’t comfortable one and a very rickety one, in this bus we were going to climb the hill.
12:25 – we reached upper tirupathi, the journey up was quite tiresome, with all those hairpin bends, but the climate was great…
12:30 – our guide made us leave our entire luggage in the cottage and we started walking to the temple. The climate was in such a state that we guessed it was going to rain.
Yeah, it had to rain; I had finally come after some years to this place!
12:45 – we were moving in the long queue for our 100 rupee ticket… inside the temple. Outside, as I said it was raining nicely, it was a lovely sight to see, with the fresh smell of the earth arising by the rain…
1:45 – I guess that was the time we reached the main entrance. Till now the crowd was tolerable. I was beginning to believe that it is not going to be so crowded, and I will have an easy darshan with lord Venkatachalapathi. But how will that happen, once we entered the main entrance, all other people from other queues also joined us, and it was a big queue. No that would be wrong, it wasn’t a big queue, and it was a BIG crowd. I never had to move, they just pushed me in, and I went along with the crowd.
2:00 – still pushing among the crowd. My brother got separated from us, lucky fellow, he went inside and got darshan and came out. We were just trying to get in, when he waved us from outside. My mom called him to come in again. He jumped through the barriers and joined us again. Finally I met lord Venkatachalapathi. Lol. For like 2 seconds. All the security was inside pushing us out. There was no one outside to manage the crowd.
2:15 – we finally made it to the hundi, and gave our offerings. But now we were stuck inside the main entrance, we couldn’t go out. The stupid security was letting everyone in and no one out for a certain period. How dumb can that be? As usual, we pushed through the crowd with great difficulty and managed to get out. Once outside, another security was pushing us out. Hmmm…. Indeed great organization. Even the lord can’t question them, because even the lord will be handcuffed if enough money is not collected in the hundi. I couldn’t believe it when my mom said this. With so much pride to the place, must not they have a proper administration?
2:30 – we finally reached out after getting prasad, we went to some temple nearby, and was going to the cottage. I was dead by that time. My legs were begging me to rest!! But we had to reach the cottage at 3:00 as our guide said, so that then we can go down hill and have lunch.
3:03 – we made it to the cottage, our guide asked us to once again board the local bus down. But we were not moving, why? One north Indian family who came with us were missing, no not entirely, the men were there, their wives were missing, Lol, and our guide was trying to trace them. And also all the cell phones were with the guide, so the ladies in that family did not have cell phones, so no way to contact them, but to search..
3:45 – finally, found them. The bus started. It went pretty fast then the one in which we came up hill…
4:30 – we reached downhill, and had lunch. It too wasn’t bad.
5:00 – we were going to this other temple, which is the temple of the mother of lord Venkatachalapathi. It was a nice one; we went in the quick darshan. It was all good and nice, but here too, you could get to see the goddess for just a maximum of 2 seconds.
5:45 – we were out of the temple, and boarded our bus.
6:00 – we started back to Chennai.
I did not sleep much, but then too I can’t say much about the journey back, as it was all very dark outside.
7:45 – we reached the same restaurant, where we had breakfast in the morning. No one was very hungry, so we had a light dinner. The restaurant had a T.V. and we asked him to change the channel to Espn, to watch the world cup football match. We were the only one to ask for it. You know my brother can’t miss the opportunity to see the match. But, one thing I regretted was that the restaurant T.V. got all the channels, there was no CAS system there. Why should chennaities alone suffer?
8:10 – we boarded the bus again.
10:15 – reached Chennai –guindy, back to home sweet home.
10:30 – reached home finally, I then had to sleep, and I had a class at 6:15 the next morning.
Overall a nice journey, perfectly after my college reopened. The irony was all through my holidays I was at home; once college starts I go out of station.
Lol
Zany child as always…

“Venky, get up everyone’s coming home” he heard his mom’s voice waking him up in the morning. He tried his best to pull the covers back to his head, but alas, his mom was quicker. She pulled the covers from him, and made him get up. He got up yawning and grunting, while his mom pushed him to the bathroom and said “get ready soon; they will be here any minute”.

Restlessly Venky a.k.a Venkataraman got ready and came out to the hall hearing noises there. When he entered a two year old ran up to him and shouted “Venky Anna”. While his aunt came up to him and cried “oh, look at Venkata, evalo perusa valrnthutaan (how big he has grown), I still think he will be a small child, how silly of me” and patted his back, while the two year old clung to him. His aunt looked at him pointing to the child said “you indeed remember juju don’t you, Aarti’s precious daughter, you must’ve seen her as a baby”. While his aunt’s daughter Aarti came around and said a ‘hi’ to him and carried away her daughter. While her aunt was still nagging him saying “doesn’t juju look cute…. She is a beautiful child….” While Venky just muttered to himself ‘juju, nice name indeed for a child like a name one keeps to ones’ pet’.

He saw his grandma approaching, he went and touched her feet like a nice little grandson and said “how are you Patti (grand mom)”. While his grand mom pinched his cheek real hard and said “Venkataraman aa ithu, (is this Venkataraman), hmmm…” and analyses him from head to toe and says “konjam satha podanum, vayasu paiyan ippudiya olliya irrupan, paru killa kooda mudiyalai (he has to put on weight, is this how a teenage boy be thin, see I can’t even pinch him)”. Venky just responds as “Venkataraman illa Patti Venky (it’s not Venkataraman it is Venky)” and just stands there at his place and is thinking how thin he is, indeed he had an athletic body, he did not find him thin, but according to his grand mom he guessed she will accept him as healthy if he is fat as a teddy bear!

He then said he had to get ready for college and left the place and went to his room, only to find it in a big mess. His whole room was upside down, the two twins (Aarti’s first twin sons) were now repairing his guitar. He fled to them and pulled the guitar away from them. Twin no.1 demanded “Venky Anna. Give it back”, twin no. 2 said “we are trying to fix back the wire that came out”. He looked at his guitar in horror, not a wire, many wires were dangling down. He shooed them away from the room and drooped on his bed with his hands on his heads. His mom entered and asked him to adjust to the people in his house, and even more alarmed him by saying that he had to share his rooms with the twins. If he couldn’t get along with this, his mom further made him frustrated by saying that, “Venky come home on time for this one week, no hanging out with your friends late in the evening, ok, please Patti (grand mom) will not like it if you come home late”. He kicked the floor and went to get ready.

He had put on an open shirt with a t-shirt inside, seeing him his grand mom came and buttoned the shirt up to his neck making him choke and in the process advising of proper clothes that should be worn to college, and she put some ash on his fore head, saying he must believe in god. He almost spoke back while he caught his mom’s pleading look, he just left. Once outside he unbuttoned his shirt and sped away on his bike. On reaching college, his best friend Varun joked at him “What Venky, looking all religious man”. Venky just grunted and said, about his relatives at home, Varun said “man, that’s going to suck having them for a whole week, and so are you not coming to Kitu’s party, she will kill you if you are not there, she will fret for a whole week saying what a useless boyfriend she has got, who can’t even attend her party.” Venky said “well it won’t become as worse, that then, she would have to dump me, oh my god, I promised her I will take her to a movie today (groan) and did I tell you that life sucks”.

“How could you do this to me Venky, I’ve been waiting to watch this movie, and you just say ‘sorry I can’t make it today’, now… now…. I don’t need any explanations. Don’t tell me you can’t make it today because of your relatives, such a lame excuse, you hoped I will fall for it, never…. Just go Venky, I am so disappointed” Kitu stormed out of the room. Venky just looked back at her helplessly, and said to himself ‘just for a movie she is mad, what will happen if I tell her I can’t make it to the party too…’ while Varun came in and said “probably, she’ll kick your ass man”.
When he reached home, the air was filled with a delicious aroma; his grand mom was making sweets. When he went in, his grand mom came to him and stuffed his mouth with a big piece of ‘mysore pak’ telling him she made it for him. She even joked “china vayasula nee, thirututhanama Mysore pakka eduthu sapiduva, ithuku unnoda thatha odantha (when you were small you used to steal this Mysore pak and eat it, your grandpa was a part of the crime)”. Venky just said “athu china vayasula Patti (that was when I was small grand mom), now I don’t like it much” and went to his room.
His whole room was a mess, he couldn’t say anything, and the twins were messily sleeping in his bed, he just went and sat in his chair and was messaging Kitu, pacifying her, and using all techniques to woo her, while suddenly he jumped at the voice of his aunt, she came into the room and was asking him to take his coffee on the table. Seeing him engrossed in the cell phone, said that “ennada (what da) all the time you are doing something with that phone of yours…. Hmmm… I can not understand this generation kids, my time wasn’t like this…” and left the room.

He rushed to college the next day; Kitu was in such a bad mood, when she heard that Venky was not coming to her party tomorrow. She wasn’t convinced with his excuses. She did not talk the whole day, however hard Venky tried. At last he gave up, and sat dejectedly during lunch. Varun was goofing around as usual in the canteen area, trying to woo the first yr girls. Then noticing Venky slumped in the chair, he went up to him and hit his back jovially, telling him problems came and went. And Kitu was just in one of her bad boyfriend phases, she will get over it. Then, Venky made up his mind, no matter what he is going to make it to Kitu’s party tomorrow. He did not care of his aunt or his grand mom or the messy twins.

he went home determined. He told everyone at home that he will be late tomorrow; he did not care if they had a puja at home. He needed to go to his friend’s party. Even his mothers pleadings that he has to be there tomorrow, as his father has gone out of station and the puja needs a male member of the family fell on deaf ears. He wasn’t willing to change his mind. His grand mom said something about how children now-a-days are becoming very irresponsible and careless and said she completely disapproved the behavior of Venky. Venky just shot back saying, he did not care what she said.

The party was a total blast the next evening. Venky was having all the fun he could. When he was dancing with Kitu, his cell phone vibrated… he saw the display and cut the phone. When Kitu asked him who it was, he just replied ‘home’ and went back dancing. After a few minutes the phone vibrated again. He got so frustrated that he gave the phone to Varun and asked him to tell he went somewhere. Then again after a few minutes, the phone which was now in Varun’s hand vibrated again. Varun said maybe he should take the call. Kitu agreed with him, she said it may be urgent.

Venky grunted and took the phone. He heard his mother’s voice all panicky. She was almost crying over the phone. She asked him immediately to come home, saying between sobs that the screens in the hall caught fire. They were doing this puja and the twins were messing around with the match box, no one knew it and they had accidentally set the screens on fire. She did not say more, she was sobbing hard. Venky panicked, and transferred the message to his friends. The all rushed to his home, he was all sweaty when he reached there. An ambulance had come. He rushed inside; his mom came and hugged him. “Oh Venky…look what happened. Juju got injured…..what we will do”. His aunt was crying badly in one corner. He heard that his grand mom has collapsed. He felt terrible. He felt guilty for what happened. They rushed to the hospital, and miraculously juju recovered, and his grand mom was alright. His friends consoled him; still he did not feel good.

He went to his grand mom’s room the next night and asked her to forgive him. He blamed himself for whatever that happened. He said he mustn’t have gone to that party. He must have remained home. He then broke off. He was crying like a child. He said he couldn’t have bared it if anything had happened to her. Hearing his cries, his mom and aunt came to the room. They tried to console him it wasn’t his fault that it happened. They must have understood his needs that he needs to spend time with his friends too. It was there fault that they had been careless enough to let the kids play with the match box.

His grand mom just smiled and said “onnoda thappu illa Venky, anna onna mattum therinchuko, nee evalo importance unnoda friendsuuku kudukuriyo, athula pathiyavathu unnoda vetiku kudu, naanum unnoda vayasa thandi thaan vanthiruken. Ennaku theriyum ippo unaku ellame friends thaan, nanga ethu sonnalum onnaku thappa than theriyum, aaparum purinchikuva, ippo poi paduthuko (its not your fault Venky, but know one thing, how much importance you give to your friends give at least half of it to your family, even I was your age once. I know now for you everything is your friends, what ever we say you will find it to be wrong, you will realize it later, now go and sleep)”

He looked at her through watery eyes and went to bed, making a resolution that he will never hurt his family again, by his senseless behavior.

I’ve recently been thinking about a topic to blog about. Well no hope in that area, I guess it is a tough area to think about. You may think what is tough for a blogger to think about a topic to blog for. Well, I am in loss of topics; I could not find a suitable topic, so finally I decided I will blog about my search for topics in my brain.
I know this is a totally boring topic, but guess you people out there can humor me by reading it….
Read on...
This is how it went…

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Knock knock”-the door was tapped in the headquarters of my body, the brain.
“Come in” motioned Mr. Brain.
It was one of the nerves of my nervous system (I read once in my biology book,( as long as I took biology that is till class 10) that the nerves take messages from all through your body to the brain). The nerve entered; let us name the nerve ‘A’. Ok.
Nerve ‘A’ said “sir, she is bored” (that is me for the uninitiated). Mr. Brain yawned and said “she has no other job other than getting bored. Ok, let’s see what we can do to our best to fight the boredom” (yawn).
Nerve ‘A’ “yes sir”.
Departs, Comes after some time and says “let us search for a topic to blog about”.
Mr. Brain responds “ok, search process starts”.
“…………..Searching all files…..
No files found…..
Waste of time…..
Wait….
How about current affairs? She has not written much about current affairs. Hmm…how about ‘TamilNadu-the state you live in’. Not a bad idea. She can write about how the state has been in the past months, like… the election comedy…where the two parties campaign was a full time hilarious comedy, roping in cine actors, color TVs and computers, rice at rupees 2, supporting of quota system, to the recent suspension on ‘Da Vinci code’ screening in the state when the entire country gets to watch it, even the world sees it.
But wait…
She can’t write current affairs…”
Nerve ‘A’ interrupts “But, why sir”
Mr. Brain glares at him and says “Can’t u see I am working, well because she will mess the topic big time! She seldom watches the news, and she has no facts to prove her writing, and what is current affair writing without a pinch of facts and statistical data”
The brain thinks and searches again…
“………still searching…………..
No hope….
Hmm…..
She can write what she is best at….
Stories…
But no she can’t write that….”
Nerve ‘A’, looks up again and open his mouth to question.
Mr. Brain signals him to keep quiet and says “she always writes mills and boon kinds of stories, I am sick of it. And mostly she never lets the lovers to unite. She separates them miserably, except for that one story ‘mistaken identity’ (this is there in the blog) where I convinced her to unite them, and I am still scared what will happen to ‘dreamz’ (also in blog). Well I know she is planning to write the film ‘alaipayuthey’ in her own version, but that can wait for now. I can no longer bear her stories. Do give me a break….
So that topic is dropped”
Nerve ‘A’ grunts and goes to work.
“………searching continues……….
Nothing visible yet….
May be she should write a poem…
The one she wrote ‘show me the meaning’ (in the blog) wasn’t all that bad.
But…”
Nerve ‘A’ looks up with a not again look...
“You know a poem needs a lot of work...
You’ve got to get the words right and the rhyming right, or at least she should insert some similes and metaphors. For that she has to think. And I know she is not ready to do it. She is indeed the laziest person in earth, thanks to me….
So even that topic is dropped...
Hmm….
Maybe she should write about her….
Her way of leading life...
But...”
Nerve ‘A’ is no longer surprised.
“Well, who would want to read about her? The most boring, dull, zany child in this earth. A person who is so sensitive, to whom crying comes as naturally as eating!!! She has written enough about her in her blog ‘discovering myself’ (in the blog too)…
Maybe something else….
How about her friends…
Well she can part them in two as her school friends and college friends and maybe she could compare and see, with whom she is most compatible with.
That seems like a good idea…
But…”
Nerve ‘A’ is no where to be found…
Mr. Brain searches for him and finds him hiding under one of the cells, he pulls him out and holding him says “you have to be there when I search, you cannot let me alone suffer her boredom, and I know we all are doomed for life inside her….
Now where was I…?
Yes… indeed, her friends…
She cannot write about them because she knows her school friends for almost 5 years while she knows her college friends for well, a year maybe. And each friend of her is a separate fish in the pond. Impossible to compare them….
Maybe she should write about ‘How she loves planet earth’….
Or….
‘How jobless she is?’
Or…
‘How terribly she is wasting her holidays’
Or…
‘How often she uses the ‘lol’ word’
But…
I think she won’t make a good job of it”
Nerve ‘A’ is about to collapse, but steadies himself.
Suddenly a green light blinks in Mr. Brain’s mind ‘beep beep beep’
“Got it… just the topic for her…
But not a very interesting topic…
Oh my god…
She made me too boring as her…
Then how else will I think of such a boring topic…
…..”
Nerve ‘A’ is frustrated and yells “will you please spill the beans on the topic chosen, I can no longer bear the suspense, but please don’t say the ‘but’ word again… I beg…please let her write in whatever boring topic you have chosen, I do not care if she made us boring, but right now I need to blow off my steam, so just say the topic and I will deliver it to her, and get away with it”
Mr. Brain says “ok, ok even I am thinking of blowing off steam after this jobless job of searching…. Nerve ‘A’ want to know the topic, well it is nothing but our entire searching process and our conversation….
What do you think…?
Anyway I do not care a bit of what you think, you just carry my orders I hate to take suggestions from others, well go deliver the message to that boring zany child”
Nerve ‘A’ happily is about to go to deliver the message, even though he thinks this is the most boring topic in the world, while he is stopped by a “But nerve ‘A’…” by Mr. Brain.
Nerve ‘A’ collapses on the place.
Mr. Brain comes to him and gets him on the feet and says “I just wanted to say that do we have to give that topic, it is really boring, maybe she should stop blogging for a certain period and go and read ‘the fountain head’ which she has been trying to complete for the past 2 weeks, well but if you feel she should blog, go deliver the message, you are so put out with the whole process, maybe you should deliver it and go on a holiday, I grant you full permission…..”
Nerve ‘A’ rushes off before he hears the ‘but’ word from Mr. Brain.
While Mr. Brain is muttering under his breath
“Maybe I gave the wrong directions…
Maybe she should read ‘the fountain head’ and stop blogging for certain while…
Maybe I made a mistake…
This would have been the most boring blog….”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But those words indeed fell on deaf ears, as here you see the blog written. And maybe it is the most boring blog, but hey, I wanted to blog something desperately, kindly bear with my crap.

Note: sorry all biology students, I used the little biology I knew.
Maybe my Mr. Brain will come up with a better topic next time,
Currently it is searching for a suitable topic for this blog…
Bingo…
It found the topic…
And you find it in my headline.
Lol
Zany child as always…

The sun blazed in the sky

The streets were empty

No birds sang in the sky

The trees had stopped swaying

You showed the meaning

Of feeling lonely……

Telling me it was what

I have been living all these years

You showed me the meaning

Of feeling in love…...

Now

The sun smiled at me

The streets were filled with laughing people

The birds sang day and night in the sky

the trees nodded to me

Every time I saw them

You showed me the meaning

Of being wanted….

You showed me the meaning

Of living life……

You showed me the meaning

Of happiness……

You showed me the meaning

Of my existence……

You told me the answers

to all the questions in my life…….

You showed me that

I could bring joy to people…..

You showed me the meaning

Of a fruitful life…….

but….

Why did …

You show me the meaning

Of falling apart…..

You showed me how it felt

To have a broken heart……

I was ‘no one’ before you came

You made me ‘some one’ after you came

But

Was it all to make me return back to ‘no one’

Do answer me

no longer

The sun smiles at me….

No longer

The people in the street laugh….

No longer

The birds sing in the sky….

No longer

The trees sway….

Not through my life

Will I forget?

What feeling lonely

Means…

You taught me a lot of meanings in life

And that was the best one……….

Well if you are one of the persons reading this crap; join the club for being the most useless, jobless persons of this beautiful planet earth like me!! Well, why else would you try and endure crap like this-discovering myself indeed, lol. Which I tend to write when I am mindlessly bored, and have no other useful work to do other that dreaming of Mr. Right!!! (For more info read the blog on my Mr. Right)

So…. Who am I? What am I doing in this earth? What is the purpose of my existence? What am I suppose to achieve in this earth? What has future in store for me? …….Such a bag full of questions to which answers are to be discovered.

Who am I indeed? …. As far as I know, I am Vidya Natarajan. Period. Nothing more nothing less. A female species on this earth. Lol. And a good little 17 year old girl indeed who is going to be 18 in a month and half. Lol. I think that is what I am, a stupid, dumb, zany, boring child in this earth. Lol.

Hmm… so what do I do on this earth? Study. Lol. That is not much truth there I guess. Well indeed I study, and people say I am good at it. But there is a lot more I can do then go on studying law, tax… (Groan) it sucks. Lol. But the thing I love to study is only one subject and that is Accounts. I almost love that subject. No other subject has interested me like that so far. Well… other than studying, I write crap like this, I listen to music, I paint, I cook, I watch T.V. nothing I does is complete, I am an amateur in all these arts. You can see it yourself from this so called disorganized blog. Lol.

The purpose of my existence – I seriously have to find that so called purpose. Indeed I guess I have no purpose to exist. I am one among the millions in the world, living life like that, with whatsoever no ambitions. And living the way life takes them. Well I do not have any specific goal in my life. I just study, as people around me are studying. And well I took up the courses in college, because people thought I would be good at it. Lol. I don’t even know if I like the courses I have taken up. And my current goal is to clear all papers without a black mark. That’s it; I don’t know what I want to do after that. That is a million dollar question still hanging around in the corner of my head, when I try to think of it, my mind screen goes blank and says that ‘the space is empty, please try again later’!!! Lol!!

What have I achieved so far? Surviving 17 long years in this earth. Passing out of school in a clean mark. Getting a seat in the prestigious college in the city. Passing my ICWA foundation with awesome marks without realizing it. Trying to develop my inner talents, like painting and writing. Enduring boring law and tax classes!! Making myself interested in accountancy. Well... Indeed I have achieved something, so far as far as I am concerned.

The future… the present itself is so bleak to me!! How could I look into the future? I don’t even know what I am going to do today, and you ask me about tomorrow!! On a more serious note, well let me think, it will have some very interesting things in store for me I guess, like making me meet Mr. Right!! Lol. Hmmm, passing out of college, finishing ICWA colorfully, getting a brilliant job with an awesome salary... so much to look forward into the future indeed, but still a hell lot of time left for it.

There are still a hell lot of questions, I am trying to answer. Lol. But when I try to think of what questions they are, like I said, my mind screen goes blank and says ‘the space is empty, please try again later’!!! Lol. I really am a crack pot (if that is a word) and well, zany at times, dull at times, stupid at times, scared at times, scary in turn at times. Hmm... With all these characteristics bundled up in a single, poor person like me, how the hell do I discover my true character? It’s difficult, to see what I really am, it is much worse then multiple personality, as this is not that case, it is one personality with so much characters. Lol. God help me…don’t make me become crazy trying to discover me. Perhaps you will know me better as you are the one who created me. Lol. But god I have one question to ask, did you create me in a hurry, with a lot of tensions in your mind, that you made me soo complicated to understand. Lol. I think u did just that thing. Don’t you know the dare consequences of it god, look now how much I suffer trying to discover me in my free time? Trying to fight my boredom!!! Lol.

Well I guess, I need to give up discovering myself, or else I will turn into a mental case, if I go on typing crap like this. I am very grateful to the person who reached this stage of the article. Indeed ‘hats off’ to you. You have great patience. Trying to endure crap like this. Lol. Kindly do bear with me if I bored the hell out of you. But in the first place it was your fault to read the blog. You did it in your own free will, and so you cannot curse me if I bored you!! Lol!!

Ok, ok let me put an end do this. All you jobless people go find some useful job and be engaged in it. I am going off to do the same thing!! You know if you are jobless for a long, you tend to lose your sanity like this. See the live example is me out here. Lol!! What are you waiting for, get out of this blog.

Lol
Bye
Driving people insane and zany as always
Zany child

Quote

personality
***Your Personality Profile***


i am nurturing, kind, and lucky.
Like mother nature, i want to help everyone.
i am good at keeping secrets and tend to be secretive.

A seeker of harmony, i am a natural peacemaker.
i am good natured and people enjoy my company.
i put people at ease and make them feel at home with me


The World's Shortest Personality Test
http://www.blogthings.com/worldsshortestpersonalitytest/

Quote

weirdo
***i am 50% Weird***


Normal enough to know that i am weird...
But too damn weird to do anything about it!


How Weird Are You?
http://www.blogthings.com/howweirdareyouquiz/

Quote

hawaiian name
***my Hawaiian Name is:***

Quote

people's envy
***People Envy my Ingenuity***


i am a person with unique ideas, big plans, and a zany outlook on life. Many people look to me for inspiration.
People envy my creativity and "who cares?" attitude. They feel very ordinary next to me - and they usually are!


What Do People Envy About You?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatdopeopleenvyaboutyouquiz/

Quote

wat cofee r u
***i am a Black Coffee***


At my best, i am: low maintenance, friendly, and adaptable

At my worst, i am: cheap and angsty

i drink coffee when: i can get my hands on it

Your caffeine addiction level: high


What Kind of Coffee Are You?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofcoffeeareyouquiz/

Quote

wat kinda writer
***i Should Be a Science Fiction Writer***


my ideas are very strange, and people often wonder what planet i am from.
And while i may have some problems being "normal," i'll have no problems writing sci-fi.
Whether it's epic films, important novels, or vivid comics...
my own little universe could leave an important mark on the world!


What Type of Writer Should You Be?
http://www.blogthings.com/whattypeofwritershouldyoubequiz/

Well, to start with the country is not going to prosper from jobless amateur writers like me. And also lazy people like me, who decide to do a thing 1 day and end up doing that thing a week later, an example is this blog. I wanted to write all these a week back and I could not, not because I was busy or anything, I was too lazy to open MS-Word and type. (lol)

So well coming back to the title where REALLY is our PROUD country heading to? I have no idea. It is not definitely not on the path of development, you may argue against it. But it might in fact be the truth... if u ask me how…continue to read on.

What is happening in our CAPITAL Delhi, some of the most intelligent students are falling victim to ‘lathi charge’! Hello isn’t there ‘right to speak’, isn’t our country a ‘free’, ‘republic’ country. Did we not get freedom from the British way back in 1947? Has not 58 years passed now? Or did we get free ourselves just to enter another episode of the freedom struggle.

Come on do think of it, the young blood, the future of this precious country, is being beaten up for voicing their views. Well, what they are struggling for is indeed a very good cause. They are struggling against reservation. They are struggling not to bring differences between the students on the basis of caste or creed. Well what they need is not reservation but scholarships and more seats. If most seats are reserved for the backward classes, what do the others do? It isn’t true that all people in the backward classes are poor; they are many who are well off in the backward society. While many in the forward classes are poor. So what we need is giving scholarships to poor families and the less salaried and not reservations on the basis of classes.

If this continues, it is true that the cream of the country will go to foreign countries, and give their services there. No one would stay in the homeland, if they are treated like this. The will not want to stay in a country which doesn’t give them opportunities. And it is no use blaming them; they are not patriotic and leave abroad. Indeed they are patriotic, but patriotism alone will not help them to survive in life.

When the whole student community in the country is protesting against reservation, the one great state or should I say city that supported is my good old city ‘Chennai’, well way to go Chennaities. If you question me why they supported it, well most govt. medical colleges in Chennai have been following reservation for almost god knows how many years!! And well, you will be awarded if you find one forward caste student in 1 of these medical colleges. And the plight of CBSE students is even more pathetic in the society. I have so much pride in being a CBSE student. They get only 2% of the seats in the TNPCEE. Even though, they are the intelligent lot than the State Board students. So they head out of the city to national institutes, now with the reservation thing, well where do they head?

Now let’s come to the next issue… the great ‘Da Vinci code’ movie. Well the book came a year back and is one of the best sellers, then did anyone protest. But what is the commotion now. In fact India is not a Christian country, it is a secular country. But still the movie can not be all that bad in our country. When I see the people protesting for it in the ‘idiot box’ I bet you they don’t even know what the movie is about, they just come to protest hearing all the scandalous details about the film. And how could they miss such an opportunity to protest and come on the ‘idiot box’!!

If you want to watch real entertainment go see ‘DD’ when they put live telecast of he parliamentary meetings. It is really so much fun, to see such respectful leaders who we have selected and made them to sit in a very precious position in the parliament. What do they do? Well they break the tables, and go near our honorable speaker in groups and throw tantrums like little children. Is this how they manage our country? Banging on desks, brawling like kids, and the opposition party true to their name opposes to each and every word said by the ruling party in the meeting. Otherwise it wont be fun you see to be an opposing party. They may even oppose the ruling party, when the ruling party accepts what the opposition party is saying. They will oppose by saying, how can they accept what we say, that is not politics, it is a rule that they should not accept what we say, and we will continue opposing saying they are not accepting what we say!!! Otherwise what is the use of our opposing party if they accept everything, we will then have no chance to oppose, and it is all totally wrong?

With these entire plight what exactly comes out as the result is that India will be….

2006 – India is a developing country

2010 – India is a developing country

2015 – India still a developing country

2020 – Still a developing country

--

--


--

2050 – India finally a developing country

Hopefully the above future mustn’t happen to our country
Hopefully we will become a developed country within the next 10 years
The country will be ruled by young bloods
India would become the best country to live in the world
These all will happen only when the plight of the country undergoes a complete transformation.

“Oh my god, what have I got myself into” wondered Tanushree. She was going to act like her perfectly identical twin, Anushree to her fiancée, Adithya. Because, Anu had to go to Australia for an important project and Adithya said he would agree for the marriage only after seeing Anu in person and this was the time when he was free. He said it is a life time decision, and it can’t be taken by just seeing the photos and chatting on net and via phone.

Well you may wonder why Tanu has to act like her twin, and they could just say to Adithya that Anu was out of the country, and they could meet after she returns or plan something. You might think this to be an absurd reason, for switching identities for such a crucial thing in ones’ life like marriage. It would lead to fooling the people around them. Well the reason for this decision is that Adithya’s parents did not want Anu to work; they wanted their daughter in law to be a good house wife. But Anu loves her interior deigning work, and she could supplement Adithya’s work as an architect. But they did not agree to it. And they made her leave her job 4 months before marriage.

Well, now you may wonder, that Anu has left her job, now what was this trip to Australia for. Well this was her last project she was assigned 6 months back, and finally the deal had finalized and her company needed her to represent them. So they did not bother to explain the situation to Adithya’s family. When he mailed Anu he was flying down to Chennai from Bangalore she was aleady in Australia. So she had no option but to beg Tanu to act like her, as they were perfect identical twins. Tanu was completely against the idea, and said it was ridiculous that she can’t act like Anu to her fiancée, had she gone nuts. But with so much of persuasion from Anu and her parents, she agreed at last.

Here starts our story…

Tanu was waiting in the lobby of ‘god’s residence’ where Adithya was staying, she was cursing Anu under her breath that she had to pay back her sometime for this embarrassing act they had pulled up. She almost got blasted in her office “day today” where she was working as a journalist, that she couldn’t cover the evening story because she is going home early. She was very nervous to meet Adithya whom she had only seen in the photo and has never even spoke to him or mailed him. This was sounding weird, she had tangled herself into a mess, and now it was difficult to entangle now.

He came down the stairs, in a white T-shirt and jean. He looked….she couldn’t express how he looked in words. She stood there staring at him. He looked even more handsome in person, than the photo. He waved at her with a smile, she didn’t dare move. She was rooted to her place. He came to her and waved before her face
”hey Anu, what’s up”. She coughed back and looked around her. He said “Anu, I’ m talking to you only, are you there in this world”. She finally found her voice “yes, sorry, hi” she stammered. He mocked at her saying “this indeed happened to girls when they see me” and gave a chuckle. She managed to smile. Then he said we could grab a bite and led her to the restaurant.

He asked her whether she felt bad for leaving her job. Tanu was about to say she would never leave her job, just to get married but bit back her tongue just in time and replied “ugh... at times, but it doesn’t matter anymore does it”. They had a wonderful dinner with all the candlelight and all; she felt how lucky Anu was. She wished that the person sitting in front of her was her fiancée and not Anu’s, “oh my god, I mustn’t think like that, then I can never forgive me” she said this without knowing that she did so, and Adithya gave her a puzzled look and asked her “what’s wrong”. She stammered again and said “nothing”. Well a girl would stammer a little if a guy squeezed her hand to assure her everything in this world was right. She than worked her hand out of his grasp. It did feel wonderful to have his hands on hers; she again cursed her not to have such thoughts and reminded her again and again that this was Anu’s fiancée and not hers. She had to work on this thought harder she guessed.

Then she reached home, she recalled the events in the evening, and it was all so pleasant, except for the fact that Adithya said she looked so different in person; she was worried that he would have found out their act. But then she still had 6 more days to go, in which she would be hidden under the identity of Anu. Tanu then sat to do her story for ‘day today’, which her editor wanted on his desk sharp at 9:00 am tomorrow. “Oh my god” she said again, Adithya wanted her to wear the watch that he had sent to her on their birthday to Anu. Anu had taken the watch, what was she supposed to do now. She panicked. There has to be some way, she wondered…

They were meeting for lunch that day at “dhabba express”...

She reached there 5 minutes late. He was waiting for her by the car and went in with her. When he saw that she was not wearing the watch that he brought her, and asked her about it, she replied that the watch needed a change of battery so it was in the watch shop, and she said she was sorry that she couldn’t wear it. He said it was ok. They then talked about nothing much in the next half an hour. He again asked her if she missed her job. Tanu did not know what to reply. He continued saying that it was because of his elder brother’s broken marriage that they did not want a working daughter in law. His brother’s wife was working and had an affair with her boss and left his brother, due to which his parents were against that idea.

Tanu then argued against it saying not all women are like that. When finally Adithya said he was sorry, he did not know that she missed her job so much, he indeed liked her work at the hotel pasha, which was her best according to him. Tanu did not know much about Anu’s work, so she just nodded to all that Adithya was saying. He said infact she and her twin sister were ideal working women, he knew what a good interior designer Anu was and what an eminent journalist Tanu was. He said he had read her articles in the magazine, it was very good. Tanu went on to describe her work in detail. When Adithya caught her off-guard saying that, she knew more about her sister’s work than her own. Tanu gave a stupid grin and covered her mistake of blurting too much about her by saying that, indeed she and her twin shared a great relationship. They knew each other inside out, and had this invisible connection between them.

She then went on to talk about her relationship with her sister so far, and how they switched their identities for an exam, and the fun they had fooling people by switching identities. It was all going good, when suddenly Adithya laughed and said “hopefully you have not switched identities now and fooling me”. Tanu went pale on her face, while Adithya said he was just kidding, he knew they wouldn’t do it. At last Tanu understood he was just joking and not serious. She found her voice.

Adithya called her that evening saying that, he wanted to see both Anu and Tanu together. Tanu said it wasn’t possible, as according to her Tanu had gone to Australia. When Adithya asked her how come the articles she was writing are published in the magazine daily? She replied that this was the 21st century, and Tanu’s articles reach the magazine through mail.

After talking to him, Tanu felt so bad for fooling him. She thought she could say the truth to him, when she asked Anu about it, Anu begged her not to spoil her marriage. So Tanu kept quiet, but she always felt guilty to fool him, and cursed herself.

The act they pulled went smooth for 4 days, then when Adithya and Tanu went to hotel pasha. The hotel manager on seeing Tanu enquired about Anu and how she was doing in Australia. Tanu tried to evade his question, but he was persistent and required an answer. He wanted Anu to visit him for decorating one room. When Tanu tried to tell him, she was Anu and Tanu had gone to Australia, aroused doubts in Adithya. The hotel manager half convinced that he was talking to Anu led her to the room, which needed redecorating. Tanu knew nothing about this redecorating business; she went to the room and embarrassed herself telling all the wrong things. All this time Adithya looked at her confusingly, not understanding what was happening. At last Tanu said she couldn’t concentrate on the job, and pretended she had a headache and said she would leave now, and come back tomorrow.

Adithya left her at home without a word. He wanted sometime to think over what happened in the evening. From the first day, Anu seemed to be a different person, than the one whom he had spoken on phone and the net. Tanu went home worried to the core. She wondered what would happen if Adithya found their little act? Would he break the engagement? She had a severe headache when she hit the beds that night.

When she went to her office the next day, it was only to find out Adithya standing in the lobby. She decided that this was the end. When she reached him, he glared at her. He welcomed her as ‘Anu what a pleasant surprise to find you in your sister’s office’. She pleaded to him, not to say anything now. She asked him to go the car park, and said she would be there in 10 minutes, and then they could go to some place and discuss this issue. He agreed reluctantly, as there was no other option for him.

She got permission for the day off that day, and met him in the car park. He was furious and both of them did not talk till they reached the drive in restaurant. She got down, and he ordered them both coffee, and demanded her for an explanation. Why did they switch identities? Where was Anu now?

She explained everything from the first to him in a calm way, and said she was totally against this idea, but they made her do it for Anu’s sake. And pleaded to him, that this was not Anu’s fault and she understood that he was angry, anyone would be. But asked him to forgive them this time, saying it won’t happen again. Adithya reasoned with her, how she could be so sure, that this won’t happen again. He said Anu had lied to him before marriage and how could he trust her after this. Tanu tried hard to pacify him, saying he could talk this directly to Anu, who would be coming tomorrow, but Adithya said he had made his decision; the marriage would be called off.

At the Airport…

Anu had landed in Chennai. She came down the stairs that was when the blood from her face drained. She saw both Adithya and Tanu waiting for her. She couldn’t read the expression in Tanu’s face. She then thought, maybe she had invited Adithya to receive her, maybe he believed that it was Tanu coming from Australia. And they had come to receive her. She thought she was right when Adithya said “welcome back Tanu”. But was stopped by Tanu’s “please Adithya”. Anu was cofused, she looked from Tanu’s face to Adithya’s face. When finally Adithya turned to her and said “why did you do this Anu”. That was when she could hear her heart beating hard in her ears.

She blinked and said “what are you saying” to Adithya. When he raised a hand and asked her to stop acting, he said her tiny little act did not work out anymore, and he was calling off the marriage and walked off. Anu could not believe her ears, she ran after him saying she had an explanation for all this. While Tanu just slumped back in a chair, muttering to her that this was too much for her act.

Tanu and Anu both reached home. Anu was crying all the way home. She even cursed Tanu that she did not act properly while Tanu thought to herself, this was the most ridiculous thing she had done in her life. They reached home and repeated the news to their parents. They were so worried about Anu and went to console her, leaving Tanu alone. Tanu said to the now empty room in her house “thanks god, you did help me a lot to break Anu’s marriage and now she blames me for that” and she hit the chair with her leg out of frustration and went to her room.

Tanu got up in the middle of the night all sweaty. She had been dreaming about Adithya. She wondered what he was doing now, and regretted she would never meet him again. She then went to sleep with a vow that she will not think about the person who broke her sister’s marriage.

Adithya couldn’t sleep that night. He couldn’t stop dreaming about her. No it was not Anu he was dreaming about, it was Tanu. He always liked her articles and was in fact so happy that he was going to become her brother in law a week back. The world had turned upside down in the past week. That week was the most happiest in his life. He thought it was ridiculous to think of her. He had nothing to do with their family. They had lied to him and fooled him. But deep in his heart, something said it was not Tanu’s fault.

He was going back home the day after, he thought he would see Tanu before he left. Then he decided against it. He will never meet her again in his life. But he very much wanted to meet her. He was thinking what she was doing now.

Tanu was thinking the same. She wanted to meet him before he left. She found no fault in his outburst, only Anu was cursing him. That because of him, he left her job and everything, and now he walks out of the marriage. Tanu did not support him, as each time Anu said this she threw accusing glances at her.

The day Adithya was going to leave Chennai came; Tanu was restless in her office. He was going to leave in 2 hours. She decided she will go and meet him for one last time. And left her office to go to the station, at the same time, Adithya started to go to her office. She reached the station and could not find him. When Adithya reached her office, they said she had gone on half a day’s permission. He went back to the station disappointed.

Tanu seeing him walking dejectedly towards the station, called him excitedly. Adithya hearing his name being called searched the crowd of faces in the station. He finally found the face to which the voice belonged. And gave a silly lop sided grin at her. He approached her. They did not say anything for a few seconds.

“Tanu”

“Adithya”

They both said at the same time and laughed at it. They were grinning like idiots at each other. Finally Adithya said “so what’s up’. She smiled at him and said she wanted to meet him for one last time and thank him for the wonderful week they had. He asked her if that was the true reason she was here. She did not reply back. He lifted her face towards him and said “do I have to believe that”. She just looked at him; he then suddenly kissed her gently.

At last Tanu pulled back and said that they were in a public place. He laughed and let her go. And then he proposed to her, and asked her to marry him, or else he would become a saint. She laughed and said “definitely Adithya, but on one condition”, Adithya said “shoot that one”. She said she will not leave her job. He laughed and said, he will make sure of that, as he himself was a follower of her writings and articles, and for no reason will she stop writing for the magazine.

They married 4 months later. Anu said she did not mind, and it was her fault and she had again started to work, and she hoped Tanu will be happy with him. Adithya had made his parents accept a working daughter in law.

Thus, there at last I gave a happy ending for the first time….