*From & To Sathish* - Thread 4 - Page 77

Good morning. I wish you a beautiful Saturday. All the best and I hope you have a great weekend.

A boat motoring along on gray and tranquil sea made for a nice capture. An orange halo in the distant background of the horizon buried in thick gray rain clouds made me smirk ' ok da, for the sun to come out of that cloud trap, it surely is going to take time and by that time it will be too hot and bright to hang around its presence.'

But strangely, all the pigeons kept swooping around me and even some of the dogs nipped my tracks as if saying ' Sat, don't go, please. Not yet. maybe, you will not get great pics but your time will be well spent.'

Sighing, I sat down on the sand and near the memorial of Karl and my eyes that were glued to the sea and hidden sun, now looked, searched for the plane whose droning noise hit my ears and turning to my left I saw an arrow streak towards the east and I thought ' that must how it must have looked, all the arrows that left Arjuna's bow and towards the Kurus.

And just below that white streak left by the high soaring jet, I saw another bird streak along with it and both their paths crossed. The tiny smudge of the plane circled and returned back towards the airport and the high flying jet raced towards the Eastern seaboard. The sun, like Lord Vishnu's Viswaroopam, rose mightily from the clouds and burnt it twin stream and then swallowed the jet too in its blaze.

I remembered watching an astronomy video on Youtube which showed a comet that streaked too close to the sun and first lost its tail and then its life as it got pulled by the immense gravity of namma superstar, Surya Bhagwan.

I remembered Oppenheimer's words as he saw the first nuclear bomb explode during the Trinity test and maybe he said it with a reason for two of them were dropped on Japan and that ended World war 2.

"Now I have become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

Srī-bhagavān uvāca

kālo 'smi loka-kṣaya-kṛt pravṛddho

lokān samāhartum iha pravṛttaḥ

ṛte 'pi tvāṁ na bhaviṣyanti sarve

ye 'vasthitāḥ pratyanīkeṣu yodhāḥ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwLS8rL1MoM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8H7Jibx-c0#action=share

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P6VkSmaBqY

Even, when I don't have much to say and just stand around in most of the scenes, Satish still tries to do something nice and neat when it comes to acting in the scene. There were times when I was a hero and acted in almost 10 to 15 scenes a day and talking non-stop and I used to pray to god for a break and a scene when all I had to do was just stand and do nothing but emote quietly, almost quietly and yet the director will clap and say ' SEMMA EXPRESSION SIR."

AIYO, PONGA PLEASE, ROMBA VETKAMA IRUKKUTHU.'

JUST 40 SECONDS THAAN STARTING FROM 5.26 TO 6.15 BEFORE THE LIGHTS FLASH AND CRACKERS CRACK AND DIWALI BEGINS.

Jannal Oram 380

Nearly 30 minutes had passed since Raman had left them to assist V.K.Singh and the Intelligence agency, Raw in their attempts to hunt down the killer Jamun.

Jeeva stood up and told both sets of parents that she was stepping out of the house to breathe some fresh air for it had been a long time since they had been able to do that and do that in peace and without any threat of danger to life and limb.

The moment Jeeva opened the door and stepped out, her senses were assaulted by the monsoon cooled air that along with the scent of all the trees and flowering plants immediately put a smile on her face and totally relaxed her senses.

The door was like a portal to another dimension and holding it slightly open, she looked at her family and said ' Oldies, you are really missing out on a beautiful moment. Come and join me for I think I am going to be here for some time.'

The door closed leaving Valli and Kamakshi exchanging looks and Shaktivel and Mani exchanged their own look and said that they were going to stay put and probably play a game of rummy while the ladies took their time doing their thing.

Valli glanced at Shakti who nodded and Kamakshi looked at Mani who only gave her a knowing smile and all four of them stood there knowing perfectly well what was on each other's mind.

Kamakshi looked at the other three ' well somebody has to bell the cat and since the cat is my child, I will try to do the honors' and looking at Valli ' I feel like a scared and guilty child whenever I talk seriously with Jeeva for she is never wrong and her judgment is always correct. This started when she was ten or so and hasn't changed a bit since then.'

Manigandan adjusted his legs and arthritis ridden knees complained and he moaned in pain and all three turned to him. He raised his hand and waving it said ' Same damned pain. I am okay.

But don't you think it will be better to wait for Raman to be present when you talk with Jeeva for it also concerns him and as a matter of fact concerns only him.'

Kamakshi and Valli looked at Manigandan to see if he was thinking straight and Shakitvel with a slight but sly grin patted Mani ' Sammanthi, Knowing my son very well the ladies think it is wiser to broach this rather sensitive topic and talk to Jeeva and I think it is a wise decision too.'

Manigandan thought for a second too ' yes, the poor child has enough on his mind and has suffered tremendous blows both to his body and soul and this rather private matter is not something that requires his attention right now.

Raman's dad worriedly ' not only now Mani, not ever for Raman will never entertain such talk and most probably will warn us off gently and let us off the hook with a subtle warning.'

Both the wives looked at both their husbands and then Kamakshi thinking of something suddenly turned to Valli ' I will go make her favorite drink and armed with that, we will go meet her and see what we are going to see. Just give me a few minutes.'

Far away from their secluded and secure place and in the heart of the city, in a flat leased to a Fictitious corporate company, Jamun sat quietly in the darkness thinking and planning about his next strike against Raman.

His mobile phone rang and the ringtone that he had set for his unknown caller and friend alerted him as to who it was and Jamun calmly picked it up and said ' Hello.'

' Raman and his family have been shifted to a secure base and his security is now being handled by the army and Raw. I have no inside line or any contacts with them and I would not even dare try to reach out to anyone in this prevailing sensitive and volatile atmosphere for it would mean, game over for me. I hope you understand that...'

Jamun remained silent and the mystery caller friend continued ' I have no idea who you are or how you look and neither do you know who I am or in which department I am in?'

' Are you taunting me?'

' In a panic-filled voice, the man squealed ' No, no, che, che, I was doing nothing of that sort. I was just trying to tell you that I am a middle-aged man with two grown-up daughters and my eldest child's wedding is in a few month's time. I have everything to lose sir if I am found out that I am helping you and that I was a close contact of the late Santoshi Lal.'

Jamun did not reply and just ended the call for his emotions were too much to bear and control any longer and he began to cry like a baby.

He cried for what his life had been and what Gulab's life had been. He cried for Gulab who now lay dead buried under earth and for his unborn child that now lay decomposed along with its mother.

' At least you died in your mother's womb and in her flesh while I am still alive here in this f..k..g world.'

Jamun wiped his tears and thought of Gulab and his mind made up got up and began to prepare to let go.

Good morning. I wish you a beautiful day. All the best.“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart”― Helen Keller

Long ago, very long ago, I decided that tears and fears were better off for both them and me, hidden and buried deep inside my soul. I buried them in containers but with lids such as rage, anger, violence to cover them, rather than reveal them as weaknesses to myself and more importantly to others.

But, sometimes come,some senti film and in them senti scenes that caught me unaware, and unprepared and without my knowledge, tears that brimmed, and shone like crazy diamonds, flowed down like twin streams down my cheeks.

Now, older, wiser and weaker to life and other lives, I seem to be crying more in happiness and joy and at all things that make up this beautiful journey called existence.

Maybe, old age has made me even more of a sentimental fool now than long ago and that I had so desperately tried to hide and mask but now which I embrace with open arms and hold dearly to my chest, for, now my eyes see more and my soul understands more about the rhythm of life and lives that surround me.

Sometimes, I sit quietly on the platform on the beach imagining I am in a ballroom with people dancing and waltzing around me and only the Lord knows what the others are imagining and in whose ballroom I am waltzing around.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwx3RvDWvDM

On bended knee is no way to be free

Lifting up an empty cup I ask silently

That all my destinations will accept the one that's me

So I can breath

Circles they grow and they swallow people whole

Half their lives they say goodnight to wive's they'll never know

Got a mind full of questions and a teacher in my soul

So it goes

Don't come closer or I'll have to go

Holding me like gravity are places that pull

If ever there was someone to keep me at home

It would be you

Everyone I come across in cages they bought

They think of me and my wandering

But I'm never what they thought

Got my indignation but I'm pure in all my thoughts

I'm alive

Wind in my hair, I feel part of everywhere

Underneath my being is a road that disappeared

Late at night I hear the trees

They're singing with the dead

Overhead

Leave it to me as I find a way to be

Consider me a satellite for ever orbiting

I knew all the rules but the rules did not know me

Guaranteed

Good morning. I wish you a beautiful day. All the best.

Suresh informed me that he would be in Chennai around the end of October and so it was tentatively planned that we would meet up for dinner on the 1st of November.

Suresh is a dear childhood pal from Krishnaswamy Matriculation school and I have known him from my 5th std and that means nearly 42 years. Add the names of Niaz, Vijay, Kathir, Kishore and Devikanandan to the list of 40 odd years and this is the same list that has been meeting up for Dinner the past few years.

This time, Suku endra DR.Sukumar joined us along with Anand for Dinner at Matsya,Tnagar and although the ambience was a bit crowded and too close for comfort, the aura and halo of childhood memories and sitting among childhood friends, rubbing shoulders and sharing food made everything disappear into the background.

That is the beauty of the state wherein you are with someone you love and care very much and when in the company of friends, Add childhood friends and beauty is joined with Magic and innocence.

Ten people look at an object and although 90 percent of all their combined views will be similar in general,all of them will still have one or two different thoughts or views about the object.

I know that some of you may baulk at this revelation of mine, which is that I have known that I am old wine in a new bottle. Even, when I was just four or five, I looked and felt things differently and I always felt the tug between an old man's mind and a child's mind inside me.

Well, now that I am old, the old man has settled in comfortably for the remaining run,with the child having passed the baton of the race and receding into the blur and static of the background of Time that has passed. Hey, I meant the child but not what he taught me before receding and that is, look at everything with wonder, innocence and with a sense of awe.

8 of us sat at the table and it was like being in a magic show and in a time travel machine and I travelled at the speed of light through the wormhole and back to the time before hair grew on the face and chest and well..

Before Adam's apple, before our voices went from High pitch treble to low frequency Bass effect. Before, our faces got lined by the travel of life and time and fate and the time when we began to laugh and pay the highways called laughlines that line our cheeks and before the tracks of tears joined hands with them.

You will ask of me ' Sati, why do you feel so much, write so much, think so much when you can be better off remaining calm, still and let life's ebb and flow be the only motions.

And my answer as always will be ' there will come a time to be still when I, my limbs will freeze with the hands of my own clock. There will come a time when nothing will matter anymore, you to them and them to you and when you will be just another face on the wall and many years later, somebody in the distant future will point and ask ' who is that appa?' and maybe your great or great, great-grandchild will reply ' elder ma, peru, nalla peru. Maranthu pochu. poi, paati ille thatha kitte kezhuma?'

But, until then, be Alice in wonderland, be Harry Potter, be the cub in lion king and enjoy the magic of friends and the beauty of friendship.

To all you, childhood friends and I mean all of you, I give you my love, best wishes and blessings to you and your family. Be well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtrnHY21zZw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Mjr3rDvQtg

"A mind is a fire to be kindled, not a vessel to be filled." Plutarch, Ancient Greek biographer and essayist

At the entrance gate of a university in South Africa the following message was posted for contemplation:

Destroying any nation does not require the use of atomic bombs or the use of long range missiles.

It only requires lowering the quality of education and allowing cheating in the examinations by the students.

Patients die at the hands of such doctors.

Buildings collapse at the hands of such engineers.

Money is lost at the hands of such economists & accountants.

Humanity dies at the hands of such religious scholars.

Justice is lost at the hands of such judges...

The collapse of education is the collapse of the nation.

Jannal Oram 381

Words are but pictures of our thoughts. John Dryden

Thoughts are but the creations of our soul. Acting on those thoughts is what sets things in motion. As long as thoughts like the soul lie hidden in the abyss of our conscience, it is all okay and even if the embers flare up as ghostly flames in a person's eyes, they are still embers. But, a single ember is enough to start a forest fire and by then it is too late and it spirals out of control. Where do we place a lid on such embers? where do we shut off the air and kill off the oxygen to the embers? where, but at the very source and at the very beginning of it all, in the soul and in the mind. Good, bad, ugly and evil all stem and ooze from our soul and when they spill out into the open, they flow mightily as two rivers, twins from one womb. But, one carries light and one wallows in the dark. Satish

Raman had felt a sense of uneasiness from the moment his new boss V.K.Singh had mentioned the name " Abbas" and reluctantly, he pushed it away from his thoughts and burying it for a later date, he looked at all the young, bright and shiny minds who stood staring at him.

He smiled charmingly and apologized ' I am sorry for drifting away for the name of the terrorist and the way Mr.Singh said it kind of filled me with a sense of dread and I was thinking what the consequences of his entry to India are going to be like in the near future.'

Shaji, Balbir, Sukhi Ram, and Preetha all exchanged a certain look and a knowing smile that comes from having worked together and in close proximity for a long time and Raman not knowing what their secretive exchange was, disarmed them with an open smile ' Listen, my young friends, I am but a civilian and absolutely have no clue as to the whats, whys, hows, and whos about your field. So, please humor me and treat me like an amateur and kindly share with me what you all just shared.'

Shaji in his heavily Malayalam accented English ' No sir, we did not share anything that would offend you or hurt you.'

Preetha jumped in ' Boss, in these few years that we four have been working together, we have seen several dozens of threats of this nature and almost all of them have just been rumors and have fizzled out in the end.'

Balbir in his Hinglish Delhi accent ' Bhaiya, we in this business of intelligence are most worried about the lone wolf for it is very difficult to track that person and how much ever we try, we can never prepare for the strike that the lone operator will launch.'

Sukhi Ram from Bihar CBI cadre spoke in beautiful convent English ' Mr.Raman, people such as this dreaded IS terrorist Abbas Khan belong to a group and sooner or later can be tracked down but not the lone sleeper terrorist that wakes up to the poison that is spread by these religious fundamentalists.'

Raman looked at all of them with appreciation and respect ' Thank you very much, and thank you for being here with me while we try to get this killer before he kills more innocent people.'

Raman's eyes scanned the whole place in a 360-degree circle and he whistled softly ' so many of you youngsters and all working to protect and defend our country. I only wish there were more of you out there in the normal world who could take lessons and leaves from your lives for the majority of today's youngsters seem to have lost their ways.'

Again, all four of them looked at each other and Preetha said ' we too, I mean most of us who work here and also in other stations all over India come from that same kind of youngsters that you just mentioned but once we were given a goal, an ambition and a purpose, our lives and our thoughts all changed and we all found our way here.'

Raman's heart swelled with pride and respect for the younger generation and he raised his hand to his forehead and saluted them ' I stand corrected and Please accept my thanks for that is all I have to offer right now.'

Shaji protested ' Raman sir, we have been following for some time now and in all our opinions, we have yet to meet a person who is as kind, gentle, brave and courteous as you. It is we that must salute you, sir.'

Raman's eyebrows furrowed, came together in question and then relaxed in realization and he looked at all of them with a smile ' so, it is your batch that has been monitoring my mobile phone, my e-mails and all that happens in my home.'

Balbir spread his hands helplessly and raising his right hand, pointed in the direction of V.K.Singh and said' Bhaiya, we work at his behest and orders and we just see, listen, analyze and report and the rest is up to him and his boss the defense minister.'

Raman nodded ' okay, now that is out of the way I think we better get down to work and see what we can do about this man.'

' baby, the only way you can beat this guy is through his heart and there is no other way to bring him down.'

Raman remembered Jeeva's words and he now understood what it meant

and he looked at all of them ' I need to see all the CCTV footage of the Government hospital where the first blasts took place starting in the evening and then I want all the traffic footage in and around the hospital.'

All four of the young agents sat down at their work stations and began to quickly type commands into their computers and on a large screen the size of a 40-inch monitor, Raman saw the image of the hospital flicker and come alive on the screen.

He mumbled ' whoever you are, The game is on and I am going to track you and take you down.'

Jannal Oram 382

Raman gazed fondly and with respect at all his four new work colleagues and placing his arms on the chair that Balbir was seated in, asked a general question ' How does this work, people?'

Preetha swiveled in her chair ' well sir, we start by writing simple commands or create new programs that will allow us access into the computer or server that we are targeting and once we gain access, we enter quietly without alerting their firewall and security software that is protecting them. It all depends on the security features that the target is using.'

Shaji enthusiastically joined in and said ' we have a couple of supercomputers at our disposal and with some very powerful hacking software, we....'

Shaji stopped seeing Raman raise his arms and holding them said ' ok, I don't need to hear anything more than that but still I am curious about the word you used, Hacking... shaji'

Shaji shrugged his young and bony shoulders and adjusting his glasses ' sir, Any decent programmer worth his or her salt can become a hacker. Hacker is just another word for a computer criminal who uses programming and other software to illegally enter another person's computers and either snoops, spies or steals from it.'

Raman looked at all four of them ' so, are we hacking into the state government's servers?'

Balbir raised his hand ' Raman bhaiya, we are racing not only against time but also with a killer on the loose and we have no idea what he is going to do next or where he is going to strike next.'

Preetha looked at Raman ' sir, getting a license takes up a couple of days if one has to walk the narrow and straight path and without having to bribe the officials. Imagine what it will take and how many departments we have to cross before we get permission and access to the servers that we are after.'

Raman being the lawyer that he was ' but what about ethics?'

Sukhi Ram smiled ' Ethics boss, where were your ethics when you took law and justice in your own hands and dished out death sentences to all those people who died at your hands and all those bones that you have broken starting from the incident at Citi center mall.'

Shaji, Preetha, and Balbir cursed ' you stupid idiot, wtf are you doing?'

Raman absorbed what had just been said and taking only moments to analyze it, looked at all of them ' you are perfectly right and I should not be the one to talk about ethics, so, please accept my apologies.'

All four young faces and all four bright minds looked very embarrassed and Shaji said ' sir, you are hero boss and you might not know it but everyone here thinks and feels the same and more importantly our boss thinks very highly of you and has been protecting you from the very beginning of all this.'

A curious smile played on Raman's face and he asked ' beginning, I am not sure that I am following you.'

Sukhi Ram ' sir, we have a lot of CCTV footage of your movements and we have collected a lot of it from the time we were handed this case but our boss v.k.singh. Of course, all that is under his control and I doubt it very much if it will ever see the light of the day.'

Preetha in a soft voice ' sir, most of us have been here for the past two or three years and it is only now in the past few weeks that we have seen Mr.singh in a good mood.'

Raman tried understanding this and spread his hands in a " why, why is that" gesture and it was Shaji who gave him the answer.

' sir, Mr.Singh lost his only son during an encounter with Pakistani terrorists and he lost his wife in an accident a few years back. But, now he thinks of you and dotes on you like his own son and even if he tries his best to hide it, he is not able to for we know him better than you do.'

Preetha's eyes filled with tears and Raman worriedly asked her ' are you okay preetha?'

She nodded ' sir, we four are one of the best hacking teams around and although our names might sound very dull and boring, our minds are not.'

Raman waited for her to finish, but she couldn't and Balbir slowly stood up ' Raman sir, we hacked our own boss for the fun of it and are now regretting it very badly.'

Raman shook his head ' what happened? did he find out?'

Preetha ' no, he did not but we found out something.'

She looked at all the others and then at Raman ' sir, he is suffering from cancer and it is in its final stage. past chemotherapy and other treatments that could have been possible if it had been caught in an earlier stage.'

Raman felt like somebody had punched him in his stomach and worriedly and sadly he looked in the direction where both V.K.Singh and the Brigadier were talking seriously and he thought, must be about that Abbas Khan.

He chewed on his bottom lip and then sighing looked up at all four of them ' that means we have to get this done fast and get it done correctly for it would be a great feather in his cap and would also be a great way to get out or go out, whichever comes first.'

He clapped his hands softly ' okay, screw ethics and let's get this done and as quickly as possible.'

All of us are jokers and all of us are heroes

some of us are jokers in our own stories

and heroes in some other lives

but jokers and heroes beware

for the joke is on all of you and us

for death is the biggest joke played

by god with an ace

and if death is the biggest joke then birth

is the beginning of that joke

and death is the punchline

You might think, the f..k.r has finally gone loco

but no, I have not

I take every breath, savor it, relish it, cherish it

for the next one is different

and for I know that there might not be next one

See, I turned another wise mundane cliched life

into a thrilling, suspense-filled tale

well, I too am a joker and hero

and I too am zero and number one

but I know that this too shall pass

if you follow my drift and catch my point

Sometimes, like a buffalo wallowing in sticky mud, my mind seems to be mired in clay, hardened and unfit to create anything.

In times like that, I slowly pick and choose some pieces of music that really must have been composed with God and angels sitting along with the composers and telling them what is right and what will not work and guiding them in creating a masterpiece that will stand the test and tastes of time.

These pieces that I share with you, are, but a few from the vast collection that permanently reside in my computer hard drive and yes, in my soul.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuh3WyfVL2M

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

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

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u69CkyLJUKU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEx_AjLmh2o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rh8gMvzPw0

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

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7d0Lm_31BE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp_pARd3ZT4

India is the richest country in the world...

"Even if we sell the temple bells in India, it shall become a superpower"

But the funniest thing is people fail to understand that they are like Servants in their nation.

Owing to which a farmer commits suicide cursing God and his misfortunes

The poor in this country fails to recognize the true culprits behind his poverty.

The youth is unaware of the people responsible for his unemployment.

Do you gather Punya by offering hairs to God, really..?

Does prosperity come to you by offering a coconut..?

In reality...

Hair and coconuts offered to god make for big money and big business.

What does one achieve by offering Gold/Silver..? In fact these are just auctioned off.

Of what use is such Charity....

Try to donate seeds to farmers.

Try to help in a poor girls marriage.

Try to adopt an orphaned child.

Try to feed a hungry person.

Try to help a handicapped person.

Try to donate to a village school library.

Try to donate to an old age home.

Schools in villages have no shelter but temples have Marble flooring.

Parents make hundreds of queries for donating Rs 200/- to a school but donate in thousands to a temple without any question.

Will such a nation become a superpower in real sense.

We call ourselves an agriculturist nation and your farmers commit suicides almost in every state.