*From & To Sathish* - Thread 4 - Page 87

Vaanathai Pola 22

“The piano keys are black and white but they sound like a million colours in your mind” Maria Cristina Mena

India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stood up from his chair and folded his hands and said ' Namaste. Please, sit down.'

With a smile playing on his lips and twinkling in his eyes, he said, ' Tho aap hai Raman. Nice meeting you sir. Modiji could not stop raving about you and the food he ate with you when he came to visit you in the hospital.'

Placing his hands on the table, he leaned forward and joked, ' Maybe, if politics don't work out well in the future, then I and you should get into the food business where I am positive that we will mint money.'

Raman smiled and replied humbly, ' sir, all this credit goes to my Mother-in-law Kamakshi and my wife Jeeva. They will be moved and overjoyed when I repeat what you just said.'

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh smiled and then turned his eyes and attention towards V.K.Singh, ' If my flight has been requested to take off late making way for you and for whatever problem that you have brought to me then it must be bloody serious and that is a cause for concern.'

General V.K.Singh, Additional secretary, office of joint operation, RAW smiled, ' sir, first of all we both thank you for making time and agreeing to see us at this last minute and just before your departure to Moscow. I know what all changes would have been made to accommodate us at this last minute. So, we, thank you for meeting us.'

Rajnath Singh smiled and then his expression turned serious as he spoke, ' what is it V.K ? Please, explain in detail.'

V.K.Singh shook his head and pointing to Raman, ' He is the one who found the link and is the best person to explain it for I myself just heard it before coming here.'

Raman stood up holding the thick file in his hands and requested Rajnath Singh if it was okay to approach him and stand next to him and explain what he had stumbled on in the files.

' Sir, I know that I should have prepared a video and a photo slide files which would have been easy to present but I did not.'

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spread both his hands in question, ' why not, Mr.Raman?'

' For security reasons sir and this is for your eyes only.'

Raman spoke in slow and measured tones and in the same manner of his that had impressed many a judge who had presided over the cases that had become before them in the High court of Chennai.

It took him nearly five minutes to condense and still explain in detail what he had accidentally stumbled upon in the top-secret files and then he returned to his chair and sat down and looked at the minister and waited for his reaction.

Rajnath Singh removed the glasses that he had worn to see the pictures that Raman had showed him and placing them on the table picked up the phone and requested his personal secretary Shukla to come in.

When he came in, defence minister Rajnath Singh told him, ' delay the flight by another hour' and looking at both V.K.Singh and Raman asked them, ' what will you have gentlemen, coffee or tea?'

' Coffee, sir and thank you' both said in unison.

If their arrival had increased the burning in his rear end, this sudden command by his boss to delay his flight to Moscow only seemed to increase that pain and he shuffled off mumbling, ' Okay sir.'

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stared at Raman, ' so, ISIS is here and has been here in our country for a few years now.'

Raman nodded, ' yes sir. But, the million-dollar question is, what are they up to and what are they planning to do?'

Good morning. i wish you a beautiful day.

Buddha's doctrine: Man suffers because of his craving to possess and keep forever things which are essentially impermanent... this frustration of the desire to possess is the immediate cause of suffering.

"Imagine you come upon a house painted brown. What colour would you say the house was?"

"Why brown, of course."

"But what if I came upon it from the other side, and found it to be white?"

"That would be absurd. Who would paint a house two colours?"

He ignored my question. "You say it's brown, and I say it's white. Who's right?"

"We're both right."

"No," he said. "We're both wrong. The house isn't brown or white. It's both. You and I only see one side. But that doesn't mean the other side doesn't exist. To not see the whole is to not see the truth.

Life and living it is by itself an arduous task and getting anywhere in it and that too with success is a real uphill battle. Now, throw in love to go along with it and well things start to get really confusing and bad very soon. The fundamental thing that differentiates man and woman is our very nature and that is determined by our hormones and our bodies

In the best-case scenario, one of the partners allows the other in the relationship or marriage to take the dominant role and they go along happily and contented. But, in many cases, trouble brews in paradise when both are alphas and feel the need to dominate and rarely do these couples last long.

In my time on earth, I have seen quite a few couples break up, break up badly, break up and then turn around and say that it was the best thing for both of them. Many, who break up prefer to stay single for they don't want to lose the hard-earned independence that they have regained.

I have known for some time now that the world is divided into two and that is male and female.forget religions, forget castes, forget class, money, haves and have nots for they are all material bound and so immaterial. But, the division of male and female is real, clear and present and is the essence of mother nature's creation. Making these two and then bringing them together to love, hold, reproduce and create is surely a kind of joke, a cruel joke and I guess you readers will understand for in all your lives, there must have come a time when you spoke in french and your partner spoke in Russian.

Both of you speak, both of you say and then look at each other in frustration and yell, scream and ask loudly " what are you saying? what do you want from me?" and then walk away.

So man speaks in man tongue and a woman speaks in woman tongue and no wonder there is so much of contradictions, fights, troubles, divorces, suicides, murders in this world. But, forget not the meek and weak who are powerless to express themselves in a marriage for their partner's voice drown their cries, pleas and tears of fears.

Vaanathai Pola 23

The sun had slipped past the balance and was now heading towards the western side and it was the time when everybody began to break for lunch.

Rajnath Singh smiled and said, ' And all the supporters of Congress and other rival parties are up in arms across the country protesting the CAA ( CITIZEN AMENDMENT ACT) when in fact they should be welcoming it with open arms. This is one of the reasons why this bill was passed, to root out foreign nationals who have slipped through the all our borders that separate us from our neighbouring countries.'

Raman leaned forward, ' sir, if I may?' and the defence minister nodded, ' Yes, you may, and please be frank and honest for that is a rather rare thing in this city. Almost all are ar.e-kissers and are ready to nod to anything you say or do.'

Raman smiled and V.K.Singh felt his ulcer begin to work its painful magic for he recognised that smile of his young prodigy for it was the smile that a lion gives just before it is ready to pounce on its prey and his worst fears came true.

' Sir, Why weren't Sri Lankan Tamils included in the CAA when tens of thousands have been here as refugees from the 1980s?'

Rajnath Singh took a sip of his tea and then looked at the clock on the wall and replied ' Can I too be frank and honest, Raman?'

' Please do sir, and this is just a conversation and not any kind of debate and I swear that my opinions will have no bearing on my work which I have sworn to do to the best of my ability and I also promise that if I cannot do so, then I will resign from my post immediately.'

Defence minister Rajnath Singh humbly said, ' thanks Mr.Raman and before I answer your question as to why Sri Lankan Tamils were not included in the CAA bill, please answer just one question, what have you people of and the Government of Tamil Nadu done for these refugees apart from giving them food and water and then putting them in camps all over the state.'

He raised his hand and pointed it at Raman, ' what have you done yourself for these people?. Now, that I have asked my own question, let me answer your question with a simple explanation. If we had included the Sri Lankan Tamils in the CAA bill then there is a chance of nearly 20 lakh Tamils making an exit towards the border of India and which will also include many lakhs of Muslims.'

Sighing, the defence minister spread his hands and said, ' just imagine if even a hundred of them are trained terrorists or have links to foreign Islam Fundamentalists and what havoc and chaos they can create in our country.'

Taking another sip of his tea, he gazed at both Raman and V.k.Singh, ' I feel very sad about this current state of affairs. But, just stop and think of how much death and destruction this peace-loving nation has endured and how many attacks it has faced at the hands of radicals sent from Pakistan through Bangladesh and also Sri Lanka.'

Placing the teacup back on the table, he spoke in a grim voice, ' No more. This stops with this regime for we have been given absolute majority and the people have done that for a specific reason and which means, " time to clean house and get rid off all pests and poisonous weeds once and for all.'

He closed the file and pushed it back towards Raman and then addressed General V.k.Singh, ' Singhji, I am giving you full authorization in this matter and no matter what it takes, find this man and bring him to justice.'

Both the men stood up and thanking him for sparing the time to talk to them, wished him a safe and successful journey to Moscow and exited the office of the Defence minister of India.

What did Raman see in the files, that were so important and why was his boss General V.K.Singh in such a rush to take him to see the defence minister of India?

What did the Defence Minister of India see in the files that prompted him to give full authorization to both of them to act and do whatever was deemed necessary for the matter?

Who was in the file and what was he doing in the file?

What is Raman doing in the story Vaanathai Pola when Radhu aka Radha Krishnan is the hero of this story?

Who is Shinogai to whom Radhu spoke to and addressed as Ammi, mother?

Why is Radhu calling the man who lies in a coma, Brigadier Rajashekar Varma as Appa and dad?

Why did Brigadier Rajashekar name the first seed that he planted in the land called " The Flock" and the same which has now bloomed into a huge Banyan tree as " Shinogai ".

Well, all the answers to all the above questions will come albeit slowly but surely and the plot will be revealed.

I wish you all a beautiful day.

Vaanathai Pola 24

“There is one spectacle grander than the sea, that is the sky; there is one spectacle grander than the sky, that is the interior of the soul.” Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Delhi, RAW

General V.K.Singh and Raman did not speak or even exchange a look and returned to their cabin. V.K.Singh pointed to his mobile phone and said " switch it off, Ram for we are going to go totally silent.'

Picking up a phone, he pressed the button 3 and said,' my cabin needs to be cleaned. Right now' and then returning the handset to its cradle looked up at Raman who was staring at him,' I am sorry, Ram. Around us, cleaning means, searching for bugs and other devices that may be hidden.'

Raman's facial expression expressed clearly, 'WTF, here in Raw?' and V.K.Singh nodded, ' you will be surprised by the means that not only our enemies but our competitors will resort, to spy on us.'

The door opened and a young man carrying a small kit bag and a small dish-like object entered and placing the bag on the floor, opened it and quickly pressed many buttons and then slowly went around the whole cabin with his small dish pointing in front of him.

A few minutes later, he looked at General V.K.Singh and said, ' Absolutely clean sir. No bugs' and left the room.

V.K.Singh looked at Raman, ' okay my lad, now tell me what is going on in your mind and how did you make this connection about ISIS being here in our country.'

Raman opened the files and showed him about two dozen photos and picked out three out of them and pointed to a man,' this is the same man in all the three pictures but looks totally different in all of them.'

He opened a file that had a blue ribbon wrapped around it and looked at V.K.Singh who said, ' they are files that have been typed during the interrogation of some of the terrorists and people affiliated to them.'

Raman pointed to the names that had caught his eye, ' Rashid, Fanah, Shinogai and the most important one, Abbas, and looking at his boss V.K, ' is Abbas a common name among Muslims or is it the name of that dreaded terrorist that you were talking about back in Chennai while were tackling Dhanraj Malik.'

General V.K.Singh remained quiet and sank into deep thought and stayed like that for about ten minutes.

Raman spent that time going over the files again and again and only looked up to see V.K.Singh reaching for his mobile phone. He watched silently as his boss made a call after switching on his mobile and only reacted slightly when he heard the name of the person to whom he was speaking to.

' Otto, V.K here. Have you left? Okay then. I will see you tomorrow and I will not be coming alone.Bye.Mazel tov.'

The call ended and V.K. looked at Raman, ' do you have your passport with you?'

'yes' Raman answered and V.k.Singh said ' jolly good my boy for we are flying out to Jerusalem tonight.'

Getting up, he came around the table and gently placing his hand on Raman's shoulder, said, ' sorry Ram. I will step out for a smoke while you make the call.'

Jeeva, her dad Manigandan, Shaktivel sat around the table making small talk as both Valliammai and Kamakshi were placing their lunch on the table.

Jeeva's mobile rang and seeing it was Raman, she quickly picked it up and said, ' Hi baby. How is it going?'

Raman hesitated and then answered, ' sorry Jeeva, but I will not be coming back home tonight for the work is taking up more time than I expected.'

' Okay. So, I will see you tomorrow then.'

Raman searched for an answer but Jeeva came up with an answer that also carried the question, ' So, not tomorrow. Then, when are you coming back.'

Raman took his time before replying, ' sorry sweetie, but it is complicated and I cannot speak about it right now or for that matter, ever, as it concerns this nations security issues.'

Jeeva's frustration was clear and evident in her reply,' what about the two issues that I am carrying?'

“The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our separate ways, I to die, and you to live. Which of these two is better only God knows.” ― Socrates

Happiness.Contentment.Life and death

Those who are dead, are not dead

They're just living in my head

And since I fell for that spell

I am living there as well

As time is racing along with me in its arms, leaving behind the past and I try in vain to peer through the foggy stained memory and catch the last glimpse of it and then the present is receding too and by the time I shift my gaze back to the present, the future is here now, present and staring right at me.

Happiness, contentment, and peace are overrated states of existence and as for me, understanding and acceptance have become more important than the former three.

Being human is a unique experience for we feel so much and yet do and give so little.

I have sat on the beach so many times pondering these miracles and puzzles and then I am awakened from my stupor by the caress of a cold, cold but soft nose and I see four or five dogs all sitting and waiting and all the time staring at the bounty bag which holds both pedigree and biscuits.

People ask me, ' What do you feel about death and loss? ' and I say, ' a pain, sorrow that I cannot express. A loss that leaves behind a heart that races and slows and leave behind a choking and frozen sensation.

I don't have the capacity for howls, tears and other kinds of displays for I wear my heart on my sleeve but I hide my soul and grief rather well.

My tears and fears are my domain,hidden and well camouflaged.

Death will come to all of us. It will surely come for all our loved ones.

What can we do? what can we really and possibly do? what can the dying and the undead do when death comes calling for a loved one?

one thing,just one thing and which is stay calm and just stare right into its eyes and say " Go F..k yourself.'

My kid brother Sunil passed away a couple of days ago in Bengaluru and I was stuck at work in Chennai. I know what your reaction will be but that is the nature of the beast of my line of work.

An actor is a part of a team and if he goes missing, then the whole team collapses. I could not be there to say one last goodbye to my brother but then there is no need for goodbye as he lives on in my soul.

We shared the same womb, same blood and yet.........

Those who are dead, are not dead

They're just living in my head

And since I fell for that spell

I am living there as well

when we cry for the dead, who do we cry for people, for them or for us. whose pain tears the heart, the dead or we the undead.

So, tell me please, which is better?

Life or death.

Vaanathai Pola 25

Everyone needs a place where they can go to just ponder for a while. Silence is important; it's the only time you can hear the whispering of truth - Glenn Beck

Radha Krishnan could sit still and silent for hours at a time and he remembered the time when he had stayed still for two days with the barest of bare movements. He had been trained thus and indoctrinated in his body and soul. But, staying still without any target in sight but in mind also takes away the immense burden of keeping an intense and watchful eye over the surroundings for any sort of danger or threat that may approach him from either his sides or from behind.

His intense training methods had given him near super hearing, peripheral vision and awareness that bordered on unbelievable and unreachable.

Radhu heard the gate opening and the sounds of the children long before they arrived. He looked up from his book for he had seen a movement at the edge of the door and his eyes twinkled and his heart smiled for three small heads peeped at him like owls peeping out of their nest, waiting for their mother to arrive with their food.

Closing the book, he looked at them and said, ' My name is Radha Krishnan.'

The three heads disappeared and then slowly peeped back and Radhu could see that they were arranged in ascending order starting with the tiny tot who must have been four or five and the head above him must have been seven or eight and the girl with her twin pigtails hanging over the younger ones must have been ten or twelve at the most.

The second head brushed away the pigtails that were dangling in front of his eyes and said in an irritated voice, ' Meena akka, please tie your tails for they are poking my eyes.'

Radhu smiled and clapped softly, ' Hi Meena, come in and introduce the other two.'

All three heads vanished again and Radhu could clearly hear them talking to each other and then Meena stepped out, trying to stand tall and entered the office room with the two boys hiding behind her back.

Radha Krishnan could see that they were hanging on to her dress behind her and he could only see one boy's right leg and the other's left leg and with a smile said,' I have never seen a girl with four legs before although I have seen animals walking on four legs. So, tell me Meena, what kind of human-animal are you.'

Meena looked at him and Radhu looked back at her with only the smile and twinkle playing on his face and he saw they tiny girl making up her mind that he was indeed someone they could trust and then flashed her own smile back and reached behind her and dragged two heads out and said ' the one on my right is Appu and the one on my left is Pappu.'

Sweet groans of angels and exclamations filled the air as both the boys stepped out from behind her and the one on the left said, ' Akka, I am Appu and that skinny thing is Pappu.'

Radha Krishnan closed his book and greeted them, ' hello Miss. Meena. Hello Master Appu and Master Pappu.'

The youngest who looked like a round chubby chicken and called Appu, yelled loudly, ' sir, we are not masters. Thangamani sir is the master.'

Radhu was stuck for a reply and then The Flock's librarian, Thangamani master entered the room and looked at him with surprise and said ' Good morning. Who are you sir and what are you doing here in the office room ?'

Thangamani the librarian was about the normal average height and stood about five foot and eight or so inches and looked anywhere between 50 and 80 for a white beard covered most of his face and the same white covered his head like fresh snow.

But, Radhu saw that his eyes were a brilliant black and that shone with intelligence and kindness.

He stood up and approached him with an extended hand, ' My name is Radha Krishnan and I have just joined The Flock as part of the Faculty.'

Both men shook hands and Thangamani welcomed him warmly, ' about time that this place had an infusion of fresh blood and young blood to watch over The Flock's real Flock' and pointed to the three elves that stood watching both their masters.

Radhu went to his knees and stared into the eyes of all the children and introduced himself and then gently took all of them into his arms and they came willingly and he held them gently and said, ' I am Radha Krishnan but you can call me Radhu master.'

All three of them looked at him in wonder and curiosity and he looked at them and seeing the yearning and pain in their eyes, realized that all Orphans ached and yearned thus for the love of their parents that they had lost or who had abandoned them for their own reasons.

He held them gently and thought of his own father who had only been a father to him and not a husband to his mother and thanked him in his soul,' Abba, you knew I was not your blood, and yet you watched over me and Ammi gave me the same love and care that a father would give his own child. I am blessed to have had you in my life.'

Abba means father in Urdu. Who did Radhu call Abba when Rajashekar was his real dad?

What is the connection between Radhu and Rajashekar and the connection to Abba?

I wish all the forum members and their families a Happy Pongal. God bless all of you with more peace and health.

Vaanathai Pola 26

“If remembering tells us who we are, then forgetting keeps us sane. If we recalled every song we’d ever heard, every touch we’d ever felt, every pain no matter how small, every sadness no matter how petty, every joy no matter how selfish, we could surely lose our minds.” ? Frances de Pontes Peebles

Thangamani master gently ruffled the heads of all the three children and told them to go rest for a while and he and Raman stood watching as they left to go to their room.

Turning to Raman, Thangamani said, ' I am surprised that our flock's famous Trio have taken to you so well and instantly.'

' Why is that surprising?' asked Raman and the librarian replied, ' Appu and Pappu are brothers and came here as orphans a few years back and at about the same time that Meena came and she has been like their sister and a surrogate mother to them. They follow her like her shadows and will follow her even if her own shadow abandons her. If they have taken to you so well then it means that they trust you and see something in you that they rarely ever see in others and that includes me.'

Seeing Raman's look, Thangamani master continued, ' Like most of the children here, I think that the three of them have suffered unspeakable mental traumas that still echoes in their eyes and they judge the rest of the world with that same eyes. It took me several weeks to get them to say a word and yet here you are and they have taken to you which is remarkable for there is only one other person that they trusted implicitly.'

Raman asked, ' who was that other person?'

' Who else but our boss, Brigadier Rajashekar varma.'

Meena, Appu and Pappu ran towards the large Banyan tree called Shinogai and sat on the solitaire bench that their Guardian used to sit on every day at dawn and dusk before he was taken to the hospital.

A cool and pleasant January breeze ruffled the wild curly hair of Meena's and lifted the cowlicks on both the siblings mop of hair and she tried rubbing them down but a few popped defiantly like rice stalks and waved and teased her.

Appu wriggled closer to Meena and asked her, ' we come here only in the evening like master sir. So, why so early today?'

Pappu pinched him gently and said, ' quiet you little brown monkey. Can't you see that there is something on Akka's mind.'

Appu's face twisted in anger, ' if I am a little brown monkey then you are a big brown monkey.'

Meena burst out laughing and looking at Appu her favourite tot and said, ' that means I am the biggest brown monkey for I am your sister and older than you.'

She looked at them and wondered if she should share with them what she had felt about the new master and then deciding that she would and that it would be one less of a burden on her already burdened soul and was about to speak when Pappu said, ' Akka, the new master makes me feel very safe and it felt like our old master sir was hugging us.'

Appu yelled loudly, ' I wanted to say it first but you said it off. cheater.'

Meena pinched Appu's cheeks softly and said, ' what is stopping you now, little brown monkey? say it.'

Appu made a face that reminded them of the cartoon character Bal Hanuman and said,' new master sir's eyes look like our old master sir's eyes.'

Meena's eyes opened wide and she knew that Appu and Pappu's instincts were correct and had been the same that had triggered her own instincts.

A soul knows exactly which soul to trust and to reach out to. A soul seeks out that which is seeking it out. In the end, we are all souls trapped in different bodies, travelling in different directions and towards different destinations.

The Pandavas sat with their mother Kunti around the dead body of Karna and Arjuna turned angrily and yelled at Lord Krishna,' why, why did he have to meet his death at my hands? how will I cleanse my soul of this great sin?'

Krishna said nothing but looked at Arjuna sadly and then Kunti too screamed at him, ' you know and see everything and yet you stood by doing nothing. You say you are our friend and protector and yet you did nothing?'

Lord Krishna replied, ' aunty, Karna was your son, your firstborn, and yet you wrapped him in silk and placing him in a basket, abandoned him by the river where he was found by Adiratha and Radha, his foster parents. When this was about to start, I sent you to your son to somehow convince him of his folly and try to end this war. If he had been convinced by you then he would have done his best to change Duryodhana's mind and then there would have been no war.

But, you did nothing of that sort and instead requested him not to kill any of his brothers but Arjuna and also requested him not to use the dreaded Nagaastra more than once on him, thus dooming him and yet here you are, blaming me when you as his mother should have been the one to protect him and defend him.

You suspected that Karna was your firstborn that you had abandoned when you first saw him as he challenged Arjuna in the archery contest all those years ago but was insulted by Guru Drona and sent away. But, Duryodhana sensed his greatness and strength and took him under his wing and made him the King of Anga.'

Lord Krishna stared at Arjuna, ' cousin, what was it you said, that you killed him, this great soul, a warrior named Karna. I am sorry but you are wrong for it was not you that killed him for he had been killed many a time by many others, starting with your mother, who hid his birth.

If his bad luck started with him being abandoned at birth then it continued when he was cursed by his own Guru Parashuram for being a Kshatriya and not revealing it to him and cursed Karna and told him that he would forget all his sacred mantras and astras when he needed it the most. If he had not been cursed by his Guru, imagine the scenario as you would have all been dead by now and even I might not have been able to save you from your

deaths.'

Arjuna looked at Lord Krishna,' my lord why was he cursed by his own Guru? what angered the great man Parashuram to curse his student?'

Krishna smiled sarcastically, ' who else Partha but your father Indra who went in the form of a bee and began to bite and chew on Karna's thigh on which his Guru Parashuram was laying his head and sleeping. Poor Karna, not wanting to disturb his master's deep sleep, bore the pain and kept still and then the bee bit in more deeply and the gushing blood fell on Parashuram who woke up and saw what had taken place.

Worried for his student who he loved very much, he asked Karna why he had not moved when in so much pain, to which Karna had said, that his master's sleep was more important than his pain and so he remained still bearing it.

Lord Parashuram instantly became suspicious for he knew that only a Kshatriya could bear this pain but Karna had joined him by saying he was a Suta Putra ( lower caste). Parashuram closed his eyes and with his divine powers realised that Karna was indeed a kshatriya and not a lower caste man and that he had lied to him and angrily cursed him for betraying his trust.

Karna begged for forgiveness for he really had no knowledge about his birth and his real parents and so had indeed not lied. But a curse is a curse and which meant another nail for his doomed fate

But your father, Lord Indra, the leader of all the Gods did not stop at that and taking the form of an old and poor Brahmin went and begged Karna and took away armour and his earrings that he had been born with and which if had remained on him would have made the task of killing him impossible, not only by you but me and even by Lord Shiva himself.

Karna knowing fully well that it was Indra who had come him in disguise to weaken him still did not say no and gave away his protection and gave it away willingly.'

Lord Krishna stood up and looked at all of them, ' If fate had been kinder then Karna would have led the Kauravas to victory and it would have been all of your bodies that would have been lying here instead of his, your eldest, the bravest and the kindest of all human beings.

Tell me now aunty, did I kill him or did you? Tell me Arjuna, did you kill him or did fate just deliver a dead body to you for target practice?

How many of us are Karnas doomed from the start of the race called life?

How many of us are dealt bad cards at the table where the game called life is being played?