Tuesday, July 6, 2010
NOTE
Hi. Just to remind you to start from 'Note About Lord Narasimha'. I don't want you to read the epilogue first. :)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Friends at smbs (mgu)[a truckload of 'em: Preshu, Dandu amongst others] and a few at acs [Prashanth, Nikhil] for your feedback on the first one (tnsu) and prodding me to write another story.
Three ex-colleagues at bangalore [Ridhi, Nikhil, Anoop] with whom I went to iskcon temple on a sunday; a picture I saw there gave me the idea for this tale. A small thanks to a friend at bhel [Anand].
My family plus relatives; they withstood my antics which helped me to finish this.
Three ex-colleagues at bangalore [Ridhi, Nikhil, Anoop] with whom I went to iskcon temple on a sunday; a picture I saw there gave me the idea for this tale. A small thanks to a friend at bhel [Anand].
My family plus relatives; they withstood my antics which helped me to finish this.
EPILOGUE
On the way from Sahasrapuram to my home, I had checked into an internet café. The village had no network coverage and I would’ve missed any calls from friends. If they couldn’t get me on the phone, they would have probably mailed. I signed into Gmail and saw an unread mail. It was from Anand, a good friend of mine. The subject of the mail said it all! I opened the mail. It read:
“Congrats! U got rank # UR-1827 for the aims mbbs entrance exam. I also got a rank (#UR-868). Gr8 man! Tried calling u on ur cell…..where’ve u been? Call me bck 1ce u read this!
Anand”
The feeling was amazing. I had never expected to crack it this time too. Had the results come earlier this time? Or didn’t I check what time the results were scheduled to be declared? I needed to see the result on the web-site.
Suddenly, a friend from the US initiated a chat with me. Meanwhile, I confirmed my rank on the site and gave a command to print it. I wanted to log-off and resume my journey to my home. I had to meet Raman Namboodiri and tell him everything that had happened at Sahasrapuram. He wouldn’t believe it! I decided to say good-bye to my friend who was on-line. But as I keyed in those words, he asked about Keerthi. I stopped typing.
Rakesh: Keerthana told me she was cming there. Did u meet up?
Me: Ya, we were together visiting a shrine. But she left abruptly.
Rakesh: Did u make out?
Me: What!?!
Rakesh: Just kidding. Her wedding’s nxt month. With an American.
Me: Wedding?
Rakesh: Ya. KRT…..she wants an open relationship…..u interested?
Me: Wht r u talkin abt?
Rakesh: Wants…..no…..needs…..2 hve sme fun wherever she goes. Last yr she went 2 Mumbai n looted a guy there. Got news that she rocked on him Woo Hoo!
Me: Wenz she cming back there?
Rakesh: Shud b here this weekend, thatz wht I heard. Ok man, gotta go…..my gf is callin. C ya later.
Rakesh logged off. The chat with him reminded me of a Latin proverb which went: ‘Everyone knows many things. But no one knows everything.’ I buried my head in my hands on the table.
“Is this your print-out?”
I got up and turned around to see the café guy hold out my entrance result. I took it in my hand and sat down. So many things were passing through my head…..she had been watching me for the past three years without my knowledge…..the way I thought we could be together again…..the way I yelled at her…..being told that she had left abruptly when I returned from the house where Vrinda stayed.
Anyways, I had time on my hands. Time to check whether all I had heard was true. Time to see whether she would come back. Time to decide whether I should go in search of her. Time would tell.
***************
“Congrats! U got rank # UR-1827 for the aims mbbs entrance exam. I also got a rank (#UR-868). Gr8 man! Tried calling u on ur cell…..where’ve u been? Call me bck 1ce u read this!
Anand”
The feeling was amazing. I had never expected to crack it this time too. Had the results come earlier this time? Or didn’t I check what time the results were scheduled to be declared? I needed to see the result on the web-site.
Suddenly, a friend from the US initiated a chat with me. Meanwhile, I confirmed my rank on the site and gave a command to print it. I wanted to log-off and resume my journey to my home. I had to meet Raman Namboodiri and tell him everything that had happened at Sahasrapuram. He wouldn’t believe it! I decided to say good-bye to my friend who was on-line. But as I keyed in those words, he asked about Keerthi. I stopped typing.
Rakesh: Keerthana told me she was cming there. Did u meet up?
Me: Ya, we were together visiting a shrine. But she left abruptly.
Rakesh: Did u make out?
Me: What!?!
Rakesh: Just kidding. Her wedding’s nxt month. With an American.
Me: Wedding?
Rakesh: Ya. KRT…..she wants an open relationship…..u interested?
Me: Wht r u talkin abt?
Rakesh: Wants…..no…..needs…..2 hve sme fun wherever she goes. Last yr she went 2 Mumbai n looted a guy there. Got news that she rocked on him Woo Hoo!
Me: Wenz she cming back there?
Rakesh: Shud b here this weekend, thatz wht I heard. Ok man, gotta go…..my gf is callin. C ya later.
Rakesh logged off. The chat with him reminded me of a Latin proverb which went: ‘Everyone knows many things. But no one knows everything.’ I buried my head in my hands on the table.
“Is this your print-out?”
I got up and turned around to see the café guy hold out my entrance result. I took it in my hand and sat down. So many things were passing through my head…..she had been watching me for the past three years without my knowledge…..the way I thought we could be together again…..the way I yelled at her…..being told that she had left abruptly when I returned from the house where Vrinda stayed.
Anyways, I had time on my hands. Time to check whether all I had heard was true. Time to see whether she would come back. Time to decide whether I should go in search of her. Time would tell.
***************
14
Back at Raman Namboodiri’s home, I narrated all the events that had taken place. He was bewildered. He told that it was the first time he had told anybody to do something solely based on intuition.
“After compelling you to go to Sahasrapuram, I was so worried that I could not sleep at all for the past few days. I had this feeling that something had awfully gone wrong. I even thought that I shouldn’t have sent you there.”
My partial skepticism about astrologers returned. Could he have been that worried and sleepless? Just then, a man arrived on his two-wheeler with a packet in his hand. He mounted off his bike, came and gave it to Namboodiri.
“Uncle, this medicine will get rid of that snoring problem you complained about yesterday.”
“Keep it there, I’m busy” said Namboodiri pointing towards a table. “Snoring problem,” he told me, smiling sheepishly.
I nodded in agreement.
“Now, you have to trace out the girl, huh?”
“No,” I replied. “Keerthi will come back to me. It’s okay.”
There was a reason to feel elated and another to feel somber. But for now, it would do good to keep my mind empty. I had to just BE.
“After compelling you to go to Sahasrapuram, I was so worried that I could not sleep at all for the past few days. I had this feeling that something had awfully gone wrong. I even thought that I shouldn’t have sent you there.”
My partial skepticism about astrologers returned. Could he have been that worried and sleepless? Just then, a man arrived on his two-wheeler with a packet in his hand. He mounted off his bike, came and gave it to Namboodiri.
“Uncle, this medicine will get rid of that snoring problem you complained about yesterday.”
“Keep it there, I’m busy” said Namboodiri pointing towards a table. “Snoring problem,” he told me, smiling sheepishly.
I nodded in agreement.
“Now, you have to trace out the girl, huh?”
“No,” I replied. “Keerthi will come back to me. It’s okay.”
There was a reason to feel elated and another to feel somber. But for now, it would do good to keep my mind empty. I had to just BE.
13
Vrinda and I went towards the gathering of people at the centre of the village. Taksha was tied to a pole and was being lashed. He was obviously found guilty of the crimes he had committed. Since he was a danger to society, they hadn’t decided what exactly had to be done. I even suspected him to be a necrophile. He would be a good specimen for students of psychiatry. Devarajan declared that whipping was the mildest punishment for his deeds. They pondered over the option of alerting the police. They were worried of losing the power to self-regulate the law and order situation in the village.
In the midst of the lashes and screams of anguish from Taksha, Vrinda’s presence was noticed and the whipping ceased. There was total silence at the gathering. She narrated her story as everyone looked on. Getting down to her knees, she apologized to everybody. After a few moments, the priest stood in front of her and told her to visit Lord Narsimha’s at the temple and seek forgiveness from Him.
I got a feeling that maybe an omen had saved her from punishment. Vrinda had narrated that just before Taksha was about to hack her with his knife, I came out from behind the pillar and my timely appearance prevented her death. The priest’s look of awe when she described this said it all. As per Hindu mythology, Lord Narsimha had come out from the pillar to kill Hiranyakashipu and save Prahlad. The priest noticed a small similarity in the events.
“Lord Narsimha sent this man to protect you,” he said to Vrinda. “You are really a non-believer. You must stay here as a devotee of the Lord. Go to Him and show your gratitude.”
I was at peace. My visit to this place helped to bring a whole group of inhabitants of a village to restore their faith. Their ignorance had been swept away. There would no longer be any ‘darkness’ at twilight. There was no question of doubting God’s existence. I recalled Prahlad’s words to his father Hiranyakashipu:
He is, He was and He will be.
It was time for me to leave Sahasrapuram. The people folded their hands towards me to express their gratefulness. I bowed back.
In the midst of the lashes and screams of anguish from Taksha, Vrinda’s presence was noticed and the whipping ceased. There was total silence at the gathering. She narrated her story as everyone looked on. Getting down to her knees, she apologized to everybody. After a few moments, the priest stood in front of her and told her to visit Lord Narsimha’s at the temple and seek forgiveness from Him.
I got a feeling that maybe an omen had saved her from punishment. Vrinda had narrated that just before Taksha was about to hack her with his knife, I came out from behind the pillar and my timely appearance prevented her death. The priest’s look of awe when she described this said it all. As per Hindu mythology, Lord Narsimha had come out from the pillar to kill Hiranyakashipu and save Prahlad. The priest noticed a small similarity in the events.
“Lord Narsimha sent this man to protect you,” he said to Vrinda. “You are really a non-believer. You must stay here as a devotee of the Lord. Go to Him and show your gratitude.”
I was at peace. My visit to this place helped to bring a whole group of inhabitants of a village to restore their faith. Their ignorance had been swept away. There would no longer be any ‘darkness’ at twilight. There was no question of doubting God’s existence. I recalled Prahlad’s words to his father Hiranyakashipu:
He is, He was and He will be.
It was time for me to leave Sahasrapuram. The people folded their hands towards me to express their gratefulness. I bowed back.
12
“I’ve realized my mistakes, Shyam,” said Vrinda. “But I’m not coming with you. I’ll beg forgiveness to Devarajan, the priest and all the people here. I must do something to make up for the killings. I’m also responsible for the slaughter because though the people weren’t murdered with my connivance or knowledge, they were done under my cover. I know that I can’t console the people who have lost their relatives. But I can’t escape from the consequences of what I have done.”
“Taksha would have still gone on with his killing spree,” I countered, “like he’s been doing all these years, by some other means. He’s a pedophile, after all. You heard what he said. He was planning to kill Siddharth’s grandson and blame it on the priest’s laxity. What more could you say about him?”
“No, Shyam. I must stay back. Besides, I get the feeling Pranav is still around here. I promise to come back, but only after sometime. Not now.”
“You’ll hallucinate. I’m worried.”
“Don’t. I’ll be alright. Trust me. I will come back and write my Final year exams. What have you been doing after degree?”
She sounded much better. I smiled.
“Nothing much. I’ve been trying for a medical seat for the past two years. This is my third attempt.”
Her eyebrows went up.
“Wow! A medical seat? Don’t worry. May this be your last attempt. May you pass your exam this time. God bless.”
Her reference to God swept me over.
“Guess, its time for me to pack up then?” I said.
She smiled.
“Taksha would have still gone on with his killing spree,” I countered, “like he’s been doing all these years, by some other means. He’s a pedophile, after all. You heard what he said. He was planning to kill Siddharth’s grandson and blame it on the priest’s laxity. What more could you say about him?”
“No, Shyam. I must stay back. Besides, I get the feeling Pranav is still around here. I promise to come back, but only after sometime. Not now.”
“You’ll hallucinate. I’m worried.”
“Don’t. I’ll be alright. Trust me. I will come back and write my Final year exams. What have you been doing after degree?”
She sounded much better. I smiled.
“Nothing much. I’ve been trying for a medical seat for the past two years. This is my third attempt.”
Her eyebrows went up.
“Wow! A medical seat? Don’t worry. May this be your last attempt. May you pass your exam this time. God bless.”
Her reference to God swept me over.
“Guess, its time for me to pack up then?” I said.
She smiled.
11
By the time we reached Siddharth’s home, Keerthi had left. I was told that she had insisted on leaving the place alone and a man was instructed to accompany her. He was shocked to see Vrinda standing outside his home. I explained everything that had happened, to him.
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