From & To Sathish #5 - Page 49

Avan, Aval, Adhu 139

Partha moved his hand up and down, signalling Gayatri to lower her voice and then hurriedly whispered a warning to her.

' Whatever you do, remember to never ever dishonour his princess.'

' Princess. You mean the lady. The lady of his heart and the one who abandoned him.'

Partha again waved his hand, ' See, that is what I meant and what I requested you not to do. Don't use the words abandon or anything of that nature.'

Gayatri turned to look at Daksha, who nodded, ' Partha is Ravi's best friend and the closest and yet even he does not know what happened all those years ago ' and then quickly turned all her attention to the empty glass in her hand.

On cue, Ravi entered with the small package in his hands and all three looked up at him, and with a shy smile, he offered it to Daksha, saying, ' One more piece for your collection.'

Ducks screaming loudly like a child who has just been told by its parent that it can buy whatever toy it wants in the mall, set down her glass and clapped her hands loudly and excitedly grabbed the package from Ravi's hands.

' Master, what this time? What have you got for me?'

Gayatri too caught up in Daksha's excitement, asked Partha what was going on and he, in turn, pointed to Ravi and said, ' It's between him and her passion with ancient stuff.'

Before anyone could say anything, Daksha opened the package and slowly rolled the contents out of it and gasped in surprise and said, ' Wow! that is beautiful.'

The Gold dice inlaid with Ivory and the beads sparkled in the light that the fire was casting out and Gayatri gently touched it and asked Ravi, ' Beautiful. Where did you buy them?'

' I did not buy them. I found them' Ravi said with a cryptic smile and Gayatri understanding what he was saying and what Partha had meant by ancient stuff asked him with astonishment, ' Seriously! How old are they?'

' More than 2,000 years old.'

' Are they part of the Keeladi archaeological excavation that is going on right now?'

' No, Gayatri. I found them in our fields and if they are in good shape, I give them or send them to Daksha who is obsessed with ancient artefacts.'

Daksha in a conspiratorial manner whispered to Gayatri, ' Our friend has sent nearly a hundred artefacts and the collection is worthy of possessing its own museum.'

Gayatri asked her if she could see them and maybe take some photos of them and Daksha nodded, ' Whenever you have time but come now, let me take you to your cottage' and both women left sharing between them Gayatri's luggage.

Partha had never admitted to feeling it but had confessed to Daksha who had brushed it away saying that he was as weird as his friend. He sat feeling the same way once again and decided that enough was enough and thought it was time to thrash it out.

' Ravi' he called out and Ravi turning to see what Partha wanted, looked first and then stared hard and said, ' Partha, I know that look, you madman. So, stop torturing yourself and just spit out what's on your mind.'

Partha cursed several times and Ravi finding it very funny, observed, ' What's the point using the word F..K, F..K so many times and that too to a person who has no knowledge about it.'

Partha jumped up and pointed to Ravi, ' See, this is what scares me the most about you and makes it practically impossible to have a decent conversation with you and you say you are my best friend.'

' Okay, So, I see that your madness has indeed spread and is nearly complete' Ravi observed and then pointing to the sofa, ' first, seat your old a.se down and after you have calmed yourself down tell me what's gotten into you. But ' and leaning forward, ' let me make it very clear upfront that I am hurt and a bit confused with your choice of words. Especially, the word " scares" for I am kind of confused as to why you chose that word and that in the context of our friendship.'

Partha did not sit down and remained standing and seeing this, Ravi said ' Sit down ' but this time it was in a commanding tone and it had the desired effect.

Partha sat down and began to complain, ' See, this is what I was trying to say. You are ordering me to sit down in my own house and treating me like a child or one of your students.'

' In my opinion, people get what they deserve you moron. Now, stop wasting air and time and just speak your mind.'

Partha smiled, nodded, grimaced and did all kinds of stuff but without saying a word.

' Dei, Some of my students were discussing this character called Gopi in their favourite serial and wondering what or who that was, I googled him and then saw some of the videos of him. Your facial expressions are exactly like what that actor does when caught in a very sticky situation or trapped with his back against the wall.'

Gently squeezing his friend's cheek in an act of tenderness, ' Partha, this is me, da. Your Ravi.'

' I know da and yet there are times when I strangely feel afraid to talk openly with you.'

Ravi smiled understandingly, ' It is not fear of me that stops you, you idiot, but rather your own moral conscience that is making you feel thus.'

Partha raised his hands and protested loudly and boldly, ' Iyaa, saami. Naa varale. Please forgive me for bringing this up.'

Ravi glared at him and said, ' hear me out or else I will be forced to spank your butt and I swear I will do it and that too before the ladies.'

Partha knew very well that Ravi always carried out his threats and also knowing very well how strong his friend was, said in a meek voice, ' Okay.'

' Partha, no matter how close we are to each other there still exists a line between us. It is a good line and it is a line that is called decency, privacy and also decorum. It is sad, all that is lost or worse taken for granted in the name of love and relationships.'

Partha's mind expanded and a smile dawned on his face clearing the shadows, ' Okay. I get it now. That is the reason why I always hesitated to broach the topic of the lady you call Princess all these years and right now hesitating the same way to talk about Gayatri when in reality, my head is bursting with millions of questions.'

Ravi looked at him and said, ' All you need to do is ask. Trust me and ask whatever you feel like asking. But, extend that same trust to me too and understand when I refuse to speak about certain things or answer certain questions.'

He said it in plain and simple English but said it so kindly that the emotion and the dignity of the meaning behind his words hit home in a home run and he nodded with tears in his eyes.

' I know rather I understand. Please da, all I want, is for you to be safe, and happy. That is all I pray to God every day, and honestly, I pray for you more than I pray for my own wife.'

Avan, Aval, Adhu 140

Gayatri shivered as the Kodai cold sent feelers all over her body and Daksha smiled, ' It will get only get worse next month but not to worry for the radiator and water heater work just fine and we have a heavy-duty diesel backup generator along with solar power. But, with the sun so weak, it just about manages to generate a few watts that are enough for the lamps in the driveways.'

Gayatri's eyes ran all over the room and she complimented Daksha on the interiors and designs who smiled and said, ' All compliments should be directed to those two musketeers. Not me, Gayatri. I absolutely have no talent when it comes to interiors and furnishing. Partha is responsible for most of it although he bugged Ravi to no end by calling him from every small detail.'

Pointing to the other cottages through the window, ' Ravi designed the cottages, the layout and also planted most of the trees that you see here in Whispering Rocks.'

Gayatri slowly collapsed on the bed soaking in all the cold and information and suddenly asked Daksha, ' do you think I made a mistake by following Ravi?'

' I don't know about that but I know one thing for sure and that is Ravi is not upset about you coming here and that itself is a huge Eureka moment for me and Partha. For, Ravi is fiercely protective of his privacy and even more protective when it comes to us and when spending time with us. Yet...'

Gayatri smiling sadly, ' Yet. there it is, that word that in my context means only more tension and confusion.'

' Why do you have to look at it that way? Why don't you look at it positively, for after all Rome was not built in a single day?'

' I bet if the Romans had really wanted to build Rome in a day, they could have with the resources available to them.'

' and by that you mean, a city can be built in a day but impossible to win Ravi's love' Daksha observed and laughed to herself.

' Why Daksha? Why do you laugh when I have stated the obvious?'

Daksha looked at her, ' Do you want the man who falls for you the moment you show interest in him? It could be true love, even but just a few days, a week at the most has passed since you met him and you want Ravi right where you want him to be and need him to be.'

Gayatri was lost for an answer and Daksha continued, ' Is that the kind of man you want in your life and is that really the kind of man you are really interested in?'

' No, Daksha. It is not. You are right in your observations. But, honestly, I don't know what has come over me for I have never felt like this before. Never.'

She blew a storm of air from her lips at the curls that had slowly drifted back to their favourite resting place, her cheeks and said in a pleading voice, ' I too fell in love once and got married and soon divorced but that is nothing to what I feel now when I am with Ravi. Forget even being with him, just thinking about him makes me go dizzy, make me want to get up and dance, scream and yes also cry my heart out.'

She willed them not to appear but they take orders from a higher and deeper and truer will. The soul for that is where all that we really feel stems from. Even tears. Her eyes filled with tears as she spoke her heart out.

' Daksha, I don't know how to explain it or express it. I feel I have travelled all my life and many other lives to be with him. To become one with him. It's as if he holds the key to my happiness, peace and all my questions.'

Wiping her tears, ' and the best part is, that I feel complete and feel human when I am near him. I don't know how else to say it. I feel at home and have an immense sense of fulfilment when I am by his side.'

Daksha got up and sat down by Gayatri's side, hugged her tightly and whispered, ' I don't know what to say, sweetie but I wish you the best and I am really hoping it all works out for you with Ravi.'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvWPa18x5zQ

Avan, Aval, Adhu 141

They both sat staring at the fireplace and Partha as always unable to cope with the sudden silence and the lull in their conversation, asked Ravi what he was going to do with the situation he was in with Gayatri.

' What situation are you alluding to?' Ravi asked him and the innocent way he asked it only helped further his infuriation and glaring at him, Partha asked him directly, ' The situation with Gayatri, obviously?'

' What is it to you what other adults and grownups do with their lives, you sly dog?'

' Honestly, I am really curious to find out as to how my pal is going to bat on this sticky spinning wicket that he finds himself in.'

' Sticky or spinning pitch. It really matters not for your pal is very good in defensive playing.'

Partha's eyes went to his expensive Titanium legs and Ravi following his gaze realized how his friend's mind was working and wearing a serious expression, ' You are going to assault me with your metal legs and that too over a petty situation.'

Sitting upright, he issued a mock threat to Partha, ' Metal legs don't for an Ironman and Ironman does not stand a chance with Superman and forget me using my superpowers, I will spank you if you keep needling me. Metal legs or not. So, stop beating around the bush and ask direct and clear questions and I will answer them and we can get over this situation or whatever you are alluding to.'

' Okay da, Okay da. Play innocent and keep up the facade.'

Ravi sighed heavily and stared pointedly at Partha, ' Listen, this situation that involves Gayatri and her following me here to your place is all in her head. Not in mine. Believe me, I have not given any thought about Gayatri but worrying about her safety and well-being.'

Partha pounced on him and bouncing on the sofa like a kid, ' see, this is what I am f..king alluding to and this is the situation that I wanted to talk about.'

Ravi frowned and shook his head and looked at Partha in a way that expressed his own confusion and also expressed at the same time what he clearly thought of his friend.

' You mutt. You idiot. Let me ask you something. I worry about you and Daksha. Does that mean that I am in love with you and want to marry either of you? '

Partha waved his right hand in dismissal as if Ravi's rational explanation was not enough proof and countered, ' We saw you. Daksha and I saw you both hugging each other and, and......'

' and what?'

' Then you both kissed each other.'

Sighing in exasperation, Ravi muttered, ' Aiyo, aiyo ' and then with the same composure that a master possesses when dealing with a student whose brains are mostly clay and that too not moist but dry and dead, he said, ' She kissed me. I did not kiss her back and I did not reciprocate and honestly, it was not the typical romantic kiss that a man and woman share but more of a friendly kiss that was shared from an outburst that was a result of a sudden upswell of emotions. Nothing more than that.'

Partha cursed using expletives that made the fire crackle in fear and he looked at Ravi, ' Dei, I am desperate da. Here I was in heaven thinking that my friend who is half my soul is going to finally hook up and meet someone with whom he can share everything and here you are you wet piss blanket raining on my parade.'

Partha saw Ravi's face change expression and realized what was going to happen next but as always, Ravi was fast and too fast for him and his immensely strong and rough right fingers grabbed his left ear and began to twist.

' Piss blanket. Mister Parthiban, you dare call me a piss blanket ' and twisted even more and the pain was so intense that it literally brought tears to his eyes and he howled like a puppy and screamed for help and his cries were heard by both of them and they came running to see what was going on.

Ravi sat still holding Partha's left ear and he had fallen to his knees and was crying like a small kid and catching sight of Daksha, ' baby, help me before this demon rips my ear off.'

' Sorry boss, this is between both you brothers and friends and this is obviously something that is between a master and his student. Sorry hubby. You are on your own.'

Gayatri did not know whether to laugh or go to Partha's aid for the tears from his eyes were all too real and then she heard Ravi's deep voice ask him, ' Piss blanket. Correct me if I am wrong. When have you ever seen me piss in my own blanket.'

Then he mockingly frowned and said in a sweet voice, ' hold on now. If my memory serves me right, it is you who pissed and pooped all the time and kept howling " Machaan, bedpan, da. Can't hold it any longer " while you were in hospital and now you have the gall and ba..s to accuse me of being a wet blanket.'

' Okay, da. Sorry, da. My bad. My mistake' Partha yelled and Ravi relented and slowly let go of his ear and looked at Daksha and politely enquired about dinner.

' Sorry ducks, this cold air makes me very grubby.'

Avan, Aval, Adhu 142

Gayatri saw Partha getting up and standing near the thick curtain that covered the entrance, bending low at his waist mimicking doormen outside five-star hotels and then heard him declare in a very sonorous voice ' welcome to our humble abode and may your arrival bring more peace and health with it.'

No sooner had he finished, he looked at all of them for their reaction, but a well-aimed and a heavy cushion hit his face full and square and nearly knocked him off his feet and it was so funny that both Daksha and Gayatri burst out laughing while the slightly drunk Partha glared at both of them and only finally realizing that Ravi was the one who had chucked the cushion.

Ravi got up to join the others for dinner and using his left arm to put Partha in a headlock, dragged him along saying,' It's been more than an hour since our arrival and you are doing your doorman act now.'

Daksha winking her right eye at Gayatri, said, ' come, let's leave these adolescents to their pillow and cushion fights and go in for I am sure you will like our dining area.'

Wondering what lay beyond the curtain, Gayatri followed Daksha and froze like a statue seeing the magical place that Daksha had so casually described as their dining area.

A magical experience was the appropriate word for the moment she crossed through the doorway it was like entering a different world.

The front portion of the Reception area was about 1500 sqft and it housed the reception area, a small sitting space with the fireplace and a small dining table that could comfortably seat 5 or 6 people and then there was the large bedroom that obviously took up a lot of space. But, that was just the front, a cover for the rear portion of what had appeared from outside to be a large, luxurious cottage was in fact a gateway to another dimension.

Gayatri stood stunned and amazed watching the rear section of the house for it was both house, open space and also a

mini-ecosystem by itself. She whistled and clapping her hands in excitement, turned and said, ' Magic. Just plain old magic and exquisitely beautiful. Simple, elegant and yet so beautiful.'

' Gayatri ' Ravi called out to her and said, ' What do you think of this place? Please, share your thoughts with us.

' Heaven on Earth. If indeed Eden existed then it must have surely resembled this place.'

Her thoughts went back to that time when her dad just a few months after getting married to Madhu had informed her that they would be shifting to a new place in Mumbai and that it was going to be a penthouse in a very upmarket area of the city.

Calling it a penthouse had been wrong for the flat was as large as a stadium. At least that is what 8,000 sqft felt like and it was a huge leap from their ancestral home that had more land around it than the built-up area. Her Grandfather had purchased that land a long time ago when things were very different and when India had belonged to a different era.

But, the stone, glass, and metal place was slowly transformed into a garden of Eden by her step-mother Madhurima and even though Gayatri had hated her in those days, she had grudgingly admitted to herself that her new and young mother had not a green thumb but green body when it came to plants and trees.

Shaking her head in disbelief, ' You see, this kind of house featured in elite magazines meant for the super-rich.'

Ravi throwing his arms around Partha and Daksha asked, ' and what do you think of my friends here. That they are starving.'

Gayatri bemusedly, ' Definitely not. Tea estates and cottages do make a lot of money and that too in summer, I can imagine people lining up in queues to stay here.'

Ravi smacked his head with his hand, ' ma'am, this is but just the tip of the iceberg. Both of their families practically own Kodai and Madurai and have not just their fingers in all the pies, but their toes and legs are also deep in them.'

Then he mimicked Partha's doorman act and bent low to and said, ' greetings masters' and just as he raised his head, Daksha smashed a cushion into his face and said, ' master, correct me when I say cushion for cushion and not tit for tat.'

Partha picked up the cushion and complained, ' a feather would be heavier than this. What this villain threw in my face weighed a ton or more?'

Gayatri could not believe her eyes and ears for here was a Ravi that was so different from the one she had met in his town Kumarapalayam and it was as if he had time travelled and shed twenty or more years and become a young man.

He was laughing so much, sharing so much and giving so much and it was as if a different Ravi had popped out unannounced.

Then she heard his deep and mesmerizing voice call to her, ' Hello, Gayatri, come back from whichever planet or star you are in.'

' Sorry, I kind of slipped away with my thoughts' and returning her gaze to the house, she began singing praises of it and how well it had been designed and how well the forest, stone and humans had become one and existed as one.

' I live in a pigeon coop of a house. 800 square feet of it and compared to this heaven, that is a concrete prison in a concrete jungle' she said dejectedly.

The dining area that Daksha had so casually described was more like a Japanese garden for wood and stone, man and nature had entwined their desire and need for each other and had become one in purpose and thought.

On her immediate left was a wooden shed that served as a large, open kitchen but with all the modern amenities and above their heads towered massive trees that appeared more like gigantic umbrellas. The grass lawn ran away stretching and ending with a white picket fence and beyond that lay only the hills of Kodaikanal who Gayatri thought stood like sentinels standing guard around this garden of Eden.

A small pond with a Bamboo bridge over it and a mini waterfall gurgling were the cherries topping this idyllic heaven and Partha throwing his arm around Gayatri pointed to a bonfire and said, ' we will have dinner there, ma'am. Under the open sky and on green grass with that fire for sight and light.'

' Thank you for this Partha and Gayatri for I am sure that I am never ever going to forget this night.'

They sat on thick rugs not minding the bitter cold air that was kept at bay to a certain extent by the fire and they ate hot wheat rotis and butter chicken along with fresh green vegetable salad that seemed to have all the vegetables in the world.

They sat under the open night sky and ate like their ancestors must have done many thousands of years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF93Cy6E40U

Strange but beautiful music

“We're all a broken, in our own ways - In places, no one might see.”

Broken and no one, might, can or will ever see. But, it is a rule that anything and everything in this universe can be broken, will be broken and made after being unmade. Then, broken again, made...... and the cycle goes on and on. At least it appears that way with the available scientific data about the universe.

In the faint glow of dawn, at first light, on the eastern horizon, you will see our sun. Our sun, hanging there like a tiny red ball much akin to a newborn baby that is all pink and pale. But, even as you are watching it, the sun changes colours and changes faces and from a tiny red ball and soon reveals its true form, a blazing and roaring nuclear furnace whose core rages at several millions of degrees in temperature.

Imagine, the power of the sun, for we can feel its heat and light even though we are 93 million miles away and the same energy but not with the same intensity is felt on even the outermost planets and other objects that are part of our Solar system. Forget all that heat and light and just ponder on the word gravity and you will immediately think of " Apple, newton, fall, and that force that holds things together.'

Yes, That Gravity, the force that acts between any two objects with mass. For example, On Earth, with effort, an Olympic high jumper can clear a bar 7.5 feet high and remain in the air for just over one second. The same jumper on the Moon, with gravity six times weaker, could clear a 45-foot high bar and remain aloft for about 8 seconds. I weigh about 75 kgs and that is on Earth but I will weigh nearly 2 tons on the surface of the sun for our superstar's gravity is nearly 28 times stronger than our mother planet.

Forget the fact that our sun holds us in its gravity and spend some time thinking about all those billions or even trillions of other celestial objects that are orbiting the sun held in its place by its gravity. Wow, imagine the sun's gravitational power that reaches out to billions of km out.

But, the sun, our own private star is a kutty paiyan and practically an average yellow star which one day will shut shop and fade away to become an even kuttier brown dwarf of a star.

Out there in the cosmos there are some giants of stars that are hundreds, thousands of times bigger than our kutty paiyan of a star and they are behemoths.

It is like comparing an average man with that of the tallest man whose name appears in the Guinness world book of records. That too is a rather pale comparison and I will let you wonder about that.

These gigantic stars too will come to an end, near their climax and then in their final moments of life will explode in a violent event that is called a supernova or a much bigger hypernova. To explain these universe-shattering events, you have to maybe compare our own richest Indian Mukesh Ambani celebrating Diwali on his terms with that of the celebration done by God himself.

" WTF Satish. Nee enna loosapa " will be your immediate thoughts. Okay and by that I mean I am not loosu but just comparing.

What a comparison Sat? How the heck can you compare a puny human with God?

Yes, that is the difference and that very difference is the energy put out when these giants stars explode and cast away all their belongings, the outer shell etc like Buddha did and as the enlightened one retain but their mind and their thought. I mean that after the explosions all that remains of the giant star is a small dense object called a neutron star and in another form a Blackhole.

These objects are dense. I mean incredibly dense. So dense that a teaspoon of a Neutron star will weigh more than a billion tonnes. Now compare that with a teaspoon of sugar before you plonk it in your cup of tea of Kaapi.

' " WTF! Holy God! You serious" and my reply is, ' I am. Deadly serious.'

The reason for this is Compression. No space. Nada. Zilch. Zero. All the atoms in the neutron star are packed so tightly that all the laws of physics that we know work and apply on Earth just don't work.

But, even these densest, mightiest objects meet an end when they collide with other equally mighty objects and explode or become one.

“We're all a broken, in our own ways - In places, no one might see.”

So, I take you back to that first sentence. We are all broken in one way or another and the reasons could be death, loss, heartbreak, betrayal, abandonment, Insulted and shamed before others and also contempt. I mean at the receiving end of Contempt.

But, we break and yet do not remain broken for a long time. I know some do. For I too feel the pain from those scars, lines of my breaks although I have healed and still am healing myself in my own weird ways. YUP. Now you know that I am a madman after all.

Even though we are broken and made anew, we still have the potential to do great things for ourselves and for others around us and the world around us.

I don't know why but I see myself and all of you and my loved ones as instruments that make beautiful music. Yes, sometimes strings will break, keys will chip and wither away but they can be mended, healed and yes, they can make music again. New beautiful music.

All of us are nature's songs, and instruments that have been created to create our own symphonies.

F..k, I have run out of gas. Sorry, I meant steam.

Good morning. I wish you a beautiful day.

“It was about five balls: life is about juggling five balls in the air. They are health, family, friends, integrity and career/achievement. These balls are not the same; the important thing to remember is that the career ball is made of rubber but the others are more fragile. Paula Radcliffe

Avan, Aval, Adhu 143

Gayatri was feeling the strain of the past few days and her eyelids weighing heavily screamed ' Mercy, Mercy. Let us shut shop and rest for a while.'

Even in the gloom of the night, Ravi observing this signalled to Partha and mimicked a sleepy person and Daksha taking the cue nodded and said, ' I am done, guys. I have no energy left and I need to sleep and badly.'

Partha stood up and affectionately put his arms under Daksha's and gently hoisting her too to her feet, said, ' Okay. Good night headmaster sir ' and then asked Gayatri to join them and they would walk with her to her room.

Goodnights were being falsely exchanged between the three friends, so their guest and a new friend would retire for the night without losing face and worse without forcing herself to stay awake while they chatted on.

Gayatri looked at Ravi, ' You are not coming with us?'

' Gayatri, our man is going to sit here and probably remain here until dawn. Let him be.'

Then, much to their surprise, Gayatri feeling a sudden rejuvenation said, ' Goodnight Partha and Daksha. Thank you so much for all of this and for the kindness and love that you are showering on me. You guys look tired. So, please carry on. I am going to be here for some more time with Ravi.

Then with real concern, ' Please, don't wait for us and don't let us keep you from a good night's sleep.'

Now having said goodnight, it would look really odd if they lingered on or decided to stay back and Ravi realizing their predicament, tentatively asked Gayatri, ' What about you? You are not feeling tired and sleepy? Don't worry about me for I am used to staying up late in the night.'

Pointing to her face, ' You look very run down, Gayatri and the events over the past few days must have taken a heavy toll of both your mental and physical resources. So, go on and sleep it off for you look like you really need the rest.'

' Ravi, If you want to be left alone just say it. But, don't make excuses on my behalf.'

Daksha whispered, ' Partha, best we leave them alone for something good might just come out of that ' and turning to Ravi and Gayatri, ' You guys decide what you want to do. I am done and waving her hand, said, ' Goodnight' and with that, the King and Queen of Whispering Rocks walked away.

Partha could not hide his happiness, ' I bet Ravi did not expect a curveball from Gayatri and in the end got hit by his own boomerang. God knows what's going on in his mind.'

' Dei, you know Ravi very well and you know all the alcohol in the world will not make, shake or break him. If that's what you are inferring. Moreover, she is not going to make any moves on him. She is too good and decent for that.'

They entered their room and Partha who had been whispering until then answered in a louder voice as he shut the door, ' I know that she is far too decent for those kinds of cheap moves. But, my worry is that both are kind of broken and vulnerable and the last thing they need right now is to. to' and stopped and said, ' Ducks, what I am trying to say is

that ' and seeing him struggle for the right words to describe his thoughts, Daksha offered her own thoughts, ' they might misplace their emotions you mean?'

' Right. exactly. Misplaced emotion.'

' Actually, the word is Transference.'

Partha stared hard at his wife and shaking his head sank tiredly onto the bed and lay there staring at the ceiling.

' I feel sad for Gayatri.'

' Why?'

' Because of what she must be going through right now and what she might go through in the future when she leaves and leaves all alone and on our own?'

Daksha slowly undressed lost in the moment and worried for both of their guests and said, ' Nothing much we can do for them right now other than, offer them our hands to hold and a shoulder to rest their weary and sad heads on.'

' Ducks, you know how much I love Ravi and yet there are times when I feel he is a bit mad and I mean ...'

' Sweetie, all of us are broken and a little mad in our own ways and that in a way defines us and in the end, those oddities are what makes us interesting and lovable.'

Partha slowly sat up and turned Daksha around so her back was facing him, helped unhook her bra and she let it fall to the ground. A moan escaped her lips as she felt his lips on her neck and felt his strong hands slowly and gently caress her breasts.

She quickly got out of her panties and pushed him down and straddled him and then slowly offered herself and screamed as his eager mouth found her wet, and eagerly opened pink softness and as she felt his tongue lick her dripping wetness and circle her aroused c.it.

Avan, Aval, Adhu 144

Seeing him stare at her with a ghost of a smile playing more in his eyes than his lips, ' What's with that look?'

Ravi now smiled with his lips, ' I thought you were ready to hit the bed seeing the way your sleep-filled eyes were drifting towards each other and hinted the same to Partha and Daksha. But then you sent them off and with no place to go but keep up the pretence, they left instead of you.'

' I would have left if you had also decided to call it a night.'

' What do I have to do with you going to sleep or not going to sleep?'

She looked at him for a few seconds that really felt like minutes to both of them and whispered in a sad voice, ' I will most probably be leaving in a few days and God only knows when we will meet again. When I realized that you were going to stay here while our friends retired for the night, I don't know why but my tiredness and sleep vanished leaving me wide awake.'

Glancing in the direction that Partha and Daksha had headed off, ' You and your friends will have the rest of your life, all your life to spend time with each other. But, not us. Not I and you for once I leave here, leave you and leave alone, it will not be the same again.'

Ravi sighed sadly and said, ' I am sorry, really sorry for what you are going through. I feel guilty and miserable for causing you all this pain but......'

Gayatri irritatedly blew air at the strands of hair that had fallen on her right cheek and when they did not comply, she hurriedly brushed them back and tucked them and lodged them behind her ear.

Ravi could not help but stare at her in utter fascination and Gayatri noticing his stare and also the strange expression of melancholy in his eyes asked him jokingly, ' Master, I ask you this question knowing full well what a brilliant man you are. Have you solved some problem involving maths or physics by staring at me?'

Smiling, Ravi apologized and not wanting to reveal what he had remembered, he turned his face and staring into the fire said, ' Remembered something. Something that was lost in the fire and the times of life and then remembering something else, ' Gayatri, ' I might be wrong and if it is so, then please forgive me and don't be offended by my observation. '

' Master, you are not going to be wrong and I am not going to be offended. So, tell me what you observed about me' and looking at him for assurance, ' it is about me. Am I right, Ravi? You observed something about me?'

' Yes ' Ravi answered and recollecting her expression when she was brought into the dining area, ' It was not just the way your eyes lit up but the way your whole body reacted when you entered from the front portion of the cottage. I mean, apart from being surprised and amazed, you appeared to me to be moved in a different way.'

' Different? In what way, Ravi?'

' In the way, people react when they see or experience something that they have already experienced or see something that reminds them of something about their own life. It is called Deja Vu.'

Gayatri's eyes reflected the fire that was burning before them and the flames danced in the air and they too were reflected on her face, and Ravi saw her eyes smirk as her lips parted and she spoke, ' Deja Vu. You mean the same way you reacted now when I blew at the strands of hair that were irritating my cheek.'

' Touche! You are right. It's obvious both our reactions are based on our memories.'

Then Gayatri did something that moved Ravi and only made him feel more protective about her.

She slowly laid down and resting her head on his lap began to talk.

' This place, the garden and the way the house was in symbiosis with nature reminded me of a home that I walked out a long time ago.'

' Why, Gayatri? Were you illtreated or made to feel unwelcome in your own house?'

' No. Never. My stepmother was the kindest and most beautiful soul you will ever meet. Poor thing, she did her best with me while my dad was alive and also after my dad passed on.'

' So, why don't you go back when you know she is such a nice person? What is stopping you?'

' Pride, I guess although I have begun talking to her and things are better now since we have been communicating.'

She reached up to Ravi's face and gently tweaked his cheek and said, ' You would have liked her. Everyone likes her for she somehow seems to touch people in a strange and mysterious way. Like the way you do or rather the effect you have on people who come in contact with you.'

' Why do you say, " You would have liked her" in the past tense?'

She stared at him and then turned her eyes away and Ravi tweaked her cheek and said, ' Remember, we are good friends and good friends do meet their friend's families and are also invited to their homes. Be it Mumbai or be it the Moon, even.'

She sat up excitedly, ' You will come to Mumbai. You will come to visit me. Promise.'

' Promise. I will come whenever you want me to come and I will stay with you in your house.'

Don't take her for granted, she has a hard time

Don't misunderstand her or play with her mind

Treat her so gently, it will pay you in time

You've got to know she's the sensitive kind

Tell her you love her, each and every night

And you will discover she will treat you right

If you believe, I know you will find

There ain't nothing like the sensitive kind

She gets lonely waiting for you

You are the only thing to help her through

Don't take her for granted, she has a hard time

You've got to know she's the sensitive kind

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GStdIzreUyM

Vaanathai Pola 447

He was the most intelligent person in the world and he knew it. Azhagan had known for a very long time that along with his gift of abundant natural intelligence he had then over the years gathered almost all the knowledge available to mankind. It is a given and an understandable power when you have lived for more than 800 years and that too with powerful aliens for friends and protection. Azhagan had thought about it many times over the years and had secretly but in a wise and humble way concluded that it was not just on earth but he was the most informed and knowledgable person in the visible universe that lay all around not the earth but around the entire Solar System.

All the intelligence, knowledge, wisdom and experience now lay shattered just as his shattered and fatally wounded body lay in the arms of Raman and he felt what was happening to his dying body.

' Life. He is repairing me and making me anew and also granting me the gift of life' Azhagan thought and then wave after wave of energy pulsed all through him and in it he felt her along with Raman.

He opened his eyes which were full of tears and looked up at Raman who was holding him like a child in his arms and said, ' You saw her. You saw my mother.'

' Yes, my lord. I saw her. It was she who woke me with her tears and cries for help and it was she who broke through the mists of the coma I lay in.'

Azhagan could not help it and sobbing like a small child, he confessed, ' Ram, please forgive this old man and grant him a moment to cry his heart out for it has been many centuries since I cried my heart out.'

Tapping his chest, he smiled beautifully and said, ' Raman, you know something. I feel lighter. A lot lighter after crying. Maybe I should do this more often for it seems to have dissipated a lot of stress and strain that I have been carrying around all these years.'

Azhagan stared at Raman with amazement and then said, ' I think I am going to be okay. Please, put me down and help me sit up and let me breathe once again and taste this new lease of life that you have gifted me.'

' My Lord, I don't understand you. I don't know what I did or what happened to you after I embraced you. But surely, I did not give you a new lease of life' and laughing to himself Raman looked at Azhagan, ' Life, come on my lord, that is something that is the purview of God or some higher entity.'

Azhagan shook his head as if he himself could not believe what was happening and that he had been brought back to life when he had been certain that his time had indeed come and passed.

Raman looked all around him totally bewildered and asked Azhagan, ' My lord, what is this place? What are we doing here? ' and pointing to all the dead giants, ' What in God's names are these beings? Are they some kind of alien beings like you?'

Azhagan gently cupped Raman's face and said, ' Sit down, child and let's chat for a bit and I will try my best to explain to you all that has happened here and back in Chennai after I finished injecting you.'

His eyes slowly moved all-around level four and paused for a few seconds on the bodies of the dead giants that lay strewn all over the place and then returning to Raman, Azhagan began talking and explaining everything to him.

' Child, neither me nor those dead giants are alien beings. Not in the real and pure sense, like we belong entirely from another planet or star system. But, we are just products of genetic mutations and experiments that the real aliens conducted many thousands of years ago.'

Pointing to the bodies of the giants, ' They came later. They were created much later than my kind but sadly seem to have retained all the fierce and wrong predator instincts of our ancient ancestors who lived in caves and in the wild.

Raman's voice wavered alternating between fear and disbelief as he asked, ' What about me, my lord? What am I? '

The whole room suddenly pulsed and vibrated as if it was feeling the after-effects of a distant earthquake and Azhagan's eyes flared slightly as he stared at Raman and said, ' You, child are the connection between heaven and earth. You, my little brother, are the new Adam and it is up to you to protect this Planet which is really the Garden of Eden.'

The boys who went into the dark and came back with light.