From & To Sathish #5 - Page 46

Avan, Aval, Adhu 131

His mobile phone rang and even though he was up in Kodai Kanal and far away from the presence of his employer Dharmalinga Thevar, it did not make any difference to Driver Subbu who leapt to his feet and answered the call.

' Iyaa, sollunga Iyaa.'

' Subbu, have you reached the resort?'

' Yes sir. Nearly an hour ago.'

' Has Gayatri requested your service to go somewhere else?'

' No sir. In fact, she told me to leave and I have finished carrying her luggage into the resort and am waiting to see her and wish her before I return home.'

' So, why the delay, Subbu?'

' Sir, Ma'am met Ravi iyaa before she went into the office and they have been talking seriously since then and I was not sure what to do and decided that I would rather wait than interrupt them.

' Good. Good job, Subbu. I am glad you didn't do that.'

Then he quickly enquired about Parthiban and his wife. ' Subbu, How is master sir's friend doing? Is he walking all right?'

' Iyaa. Better than all right and in fact, you won't believe me if I tell you that his legs are much better than our legs and really strong.'

' That is really good news. Poor chap. Forget that he survived the loss of both his legs which itself was a medical miracle but to hear that he is doing well is really such great news, Subbu.'

' Iyaa, if Ravi iyaa had not been there and if he had not carried him across the field I doubt if Parthiban sir would have been alive that day.'

A silence fell between then and Subbu waited patiently while his employer chose what to say or speak next and he did.

' Subbu, there is nothing that you don't about both our families. Ravi's father was my first cousin and there was a time when all our families were very close but all that changed after my first child, my son Pazhani was born. If that was a bad omen, my daughter Meenakshi's birth was far worse and things have not been the same ever since their arrival. Our families broke away and the distance that developed all those years has remained till now. Then came Pazhani's sudden and mysterious death that took years to get over with and then the alliance that I tried to make between my daughter Meenakshi and Ravi failed miserably after he refused it outright. I didn't know then and only realized later why he did what he did. But, Meenakshi has not recovered from that insult and I doubt if she ever will.'

' Iyaa, I am like dust on your slippers and I should not even dream of telling you what to do or even dare to think of it and yet I am telling you because it hurts me to see you suffer so much. Please stop tormenting yourself by recollecting old memories?'

' Thank you, Subbu. Your loyalty and discipline are rivalled only by your late father who served us until his passing many years ago.'

' Iyaa. I too wish for the same and hope to serve you until my dying breath.'

' Thank you, Subbu. Now, I know you are a smart man and a man who notices everything. I know that you are aware of the reason you chauffered Gayatri to Whispering Rocks.'

' Iyaa. Yes. If I may..'

' Subbu. Please speak freely and frankly.'

' Iyaa. It is as you felt. Gayatri amma is interested in Master sir but I am not sure about him.'

' Can you please explain in detail, Subbu?'

' Iyaa, I am sorry but I sneaked a look at both of them and from what I saw and also from what I gathered from chatting with Gayatri amma while driving up, she is interested in him but I guess he is not reciprocating.'

Subbu then heard Dharmalinga Thevar's instructions and heard his final warning loud and clear.

' Subbu, this is between you and me and stays between us. Not one word should reach my daughter's ears for then all hell will break loose.'

Taking a moment to calm himself down, ' It is enough what she has done to Adi and to a certain extent to her husband and to all of us and I doubt if I have the energy left to handle anything more from her. So, not one word about Gayatri being here with Ravi in Whispering Rocks. For if she finds out about Gayatri being interested in Ravi, I am sure she will not take it lying down and will surely do something drastic.'

Driver Subbu thought aloud, ' Iyaa, if only Ravi Iyaa had married Amma then....'

' No. Please don't say that. Never say that again.'

Subbu apologized again and again.

' Subbu, relax. I am not angry with you. Just that the very thought of Ravi and Meenakshi together makes me sick. It is like a God marrying a demon. Meenakshi is my only child and I love her a lot. But, the respect and love I have for Ravi sir is far greater than that. He is the son that I should have been blessed with and sadly lost out to his father. Still, I am proud to call him my blood. My family member and for now that will do.'

Vaanathai Pola 436

There were just a few reasons why Azhagan had followed Raman to Hyderabad. The most important of them was that Raman was now in a very vulnerable state and was in no condition to protect himself. The greenish contents of the vial that he had injected into Raman's body would need a minimum of 12 to a maximum of 24 hours to do what they were meant to do and if their process was halted, slowed or interrupted then there was no telling what the outcome would be for Raman.

Azhagan had promised to watch over him and he had yet to break a promise in all of his 800 odd years that he had been around on Earth and on other places around the Universe. His eyes flicked at his phone and saw that it was just a few minutes to 6.00 am. Outside the small cafe day, the light of the sun had already visibly brightened the world in shades of Grey and now appeared over the horizon like a fiery tornado. The light of the sunrise raced towards them a raging blaze of orange and yellow and its fingers slowly crawled across the road and then invaded the restaurant and into Azhagan.

Tearing his eyes away from the sun, he looked at Dr Sathya and answered, ' and for your boss, Dr Raja Rao.'

Her eyes filmed over with anger, frustration and strangely relief, ' I knew it. I knew there was something wrong with him for he was not being himself and has not been for a few weeks now.'

She had emptied her soul but she had not emptied her deepest thoughts and her deepest worries about Dr Raja Rao. But, Azhagan saw everything and read everything that was in her mind and in her heart. He absorbed all her thoughts and then with a worried look on his face, he asked tentatively, ' How sure are you about that? We have known it for some time but could not be sure as to what Dr Raja Rao was up to and who he was talking to on all those highly encrypted calls with that rather special phone of his.'

Now that the cat was out of the bag, Dr Sathya shrugged her shoulders in confusion, ' God only knows what he is up to. I and a few others have been aware of the secretive calls he has been making the past few months but there is little we can do about it.'

She looked at him angrily, ' He is our boss, our director and he can kick us out with a single phone call. He answers directly to the Prime Minister himself and who he happened to speak with last night and unaware to him my ears picked up a name that sounded like Sanjay or Sanjeevani.'

Azhagan stored the name away and asked the doctor what she had suddenly found vague and disturbing about Dr Raja Rao.

Rolling her eyes, she grunted in frustration and looked at him, ' Where do I start, sir? Should I start with the renovation of Level four a few months ago and an area that I and the others have been denied access to.'

Azhagan in the form of Rudran played along and carried her along wanting to know more before he decided on a course of action.

' Why, Dr Sathya? Why have you been suddenly denied access to level four? Surely, all of you have security clearances for that level.'

' We do, sir. But, the good doctor, our boss decided against it. He had almost all the stuff in Level Four moved up to level Three and informed us to carry on our most important and dangerous work there.'

The yellows and oranges of the sun had given way to bright and white light and Azhagan knew that it was time to get going.

He looked at her and said, ' Dr Sathya, listen to me very carefully and do exactly as I tell you to do and not one word to anyone about this. Not to your child, not to your husband and not a breath of it to your closest friends.'

Dr Sathya looked at him totally lost and totally scared.

' Doctor, leave your Id Card, your mobile phone, and your car right here and take a cab and go back home and stay put until I call you.'

Sir, I don't understand. Why. what is going on?'

Azhagan smiled as Rudran, ' Your boss, Dr Raja Rao is a traitor and has been working with a foreign agency for some years now. We were aware of it and it is time now to bring him in.'

Dr Sathya slapped the table hard with both her hands and said loudly, ' I knew it. I, f..king knew it. He has not been himself and has been acting really weird since his return from that medical conference in the middle-east five years ago.'

Azhagan's senses tingled and when they tingled, he knew danger was just around the corner. His eyes grim, his thin lips moved as he asked, ' Please, explain what your fears are and what you are thinking, Dr Sathya.' Even though he knew exactly what she was thinking.

She leant forward excitedly and said, ' sir, he came back with a blood sample and has been working on it continuously for five years now ' and shaking her head, ' I am not even sure if it belongs to a human being but he thinks so and has been obsessed with it.'

' Obsessed with it? How so, Doctor and why do you think that the blood sample he brought back from that middle east conference is not of that of a human?'

Dr Sathya smiling uneasily, replied, ' Sir, I mean no offence but you know what I majored in and what my research work is all about.'

Azhagan stared at her in the guise of Rudran and thought to himself, ' Lady, if I told you how much I know about life on this planet and on other planets outside this Solar system and outside our Galaxy, you would run screaming to the nearest asylum and never leave that place.'

Wearing an appropriately polite expression that was tinged with both awe and confusion, Rudran answered, ' Ma'am, the pioneering work you have done along with your team and the various research papers that you have published in the field of Genetic engineering and gene Mutation is well known all over the world and I too am aware of it. But, I am sorry for my knowledge does not go much further than knowing what a cell is and what DNA and RNA is.'

Flattery never fails and it did not fail now for Dr Sathya's face took on the composure of a teacher talking to a student. ' Sir, a normal human cell has 23 pairs of chromosomes. But, the blood sample that Dr Raja Rao has been working on has more, a lot more than that.'

Azhagan smiled but Rudran acted as if he was shocked and gasped, ' That is impossible. Then it is obviously not that of a human. Then why is he persisting with that blood sample.'

' God only knows but over the years, he has mumbled about it in bits and pieces and many a time, I have heard him whisper loudly and also talk to himself thinking that he is all alone and nobody can hear him.'

Suddenly, she looked all worried and scared, ' He has been working on it, testing it with genes of other animals and God only knows what else.'

' But, sir' she stopped and looked at him, ' Do not forget the fact that he is one of the leading research scientists on this planet and that means he is capable. Really capable of coming up with anything.'

Azhagan went still as he asked, ' capable of what, Dr Sathya?'

' Capable of coming up with new and more deadly diseases. If he has managed to work with that blood sample and if he somehow manages to extract some workable DNA from it, then all hell can be and will be unleashed. And now..'

' Now what, Doctor?'

' Now that he has got a patient who is exhibiting weird symptoms, he will use that pretext to test his findings on that poor man called Raman. Sad, for there is nothing anyone can do about it now.'

Rudran smiled as Azhagan spoke as him, ' I am here now and I will take care of it. Now, please do exactly as I tell you and stay safe and don't return until I call you and tell you it is safe to return. Promise me, Doctor.'

He walked out of the restaurant with her and stood watching as the auto-rickshaw drove away with her and then looked at her Id card and phone and with a sinister smile hung the Id card around his neck and getting into Dr Sathya's car, drove towards the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology.

He called Rudran who answered immediately, ' father' and Azhagan spoke hurriedly, ' Child, those men you are hunting in the desert are after something which is not there anymore. But, they are important to us for we need to know the person or people who sent them on this mission into the desert.'

' Father, it must be the Sons of Gaia. Who else can it be, My lord?'

' No, Rudy. I am very sure that there is someone else, some hidden enemy who is behind the Sons of Gaia. He, She or They are the ones, the brains behind this whole plot to destroy mankind.'

' Why, father? To what end would that serve them?'

Azhagan smiled sadly, ' I mean to ask that very question when I meet them.'

Taking a deep breath, ' Rudy, follow that group to the ancient ruins and kill them all. But..

' I know father, Get as much information as possible before putting them out of their misery. Done. What about you? Have you worked out a plan, yet?'

' No, Rudy. Raman has been shifted down to level four and I have only now come to know that, level four has been renovated recently and in secrecy.'

Rudran whispered in a grim voice, ' Father, please forgive my impertinence for trying to tell you something that I am sure you are already aware of. But, don't you think you should find out more about all of this before making any moves.'

' Too late for all of that, Child. I have been told that Raman has to be protected at any cost. They, I mean those you and I address as The Ancients have stressed the fact again and again and I am left with no choice other than entering the research centre on my own.'

Rudran swore angrily, ' I don't get it, my Lord. I met Raman and yes, I agree he is a formidable person and a great soul. But, you in all these years must have come across people as good as him or even better than him.'

Azhagan fell silent and Rudy impatiently pushed him for an answer, ' Why now and why send you on a task that is full of unknown dangers?'

' The Ancients think that Raman is special. Really special and they want him alive and unharmed.'

' Father, Please. You are special. Dhana and I and our children are special and so too are our new members, Radhu, Kavita and Jeeva. But, Raman.'

' Rudy, You, Dhana and all the others have risen because of my blood and carry most of my Genes but Raman does not.'

Even in the freezing cold of the desert night, Rudran felt sweat crop up like diamonds on his face and neck and he whispered his fear and shock, ' I don't get it. You are the firstborn. Everything flows from you and your blood.'

Azhagan smiled, ' I am sorry to disappoint you child but I am not the firstborn for many like me have come and gone before me.'

' What? What are you telling me, father?'

' Rudy, I am just a better version than the previous versions and the reason for that was my mother who carried some strange genes that pop up just once in several millenniums and are supposed to be a rare event.'

' Father, what happened to the previous versions of you? I mean where are all those heroes now.'

' Dead and gone, my child. Dead and long gone. One day, I too will be gone.'

Vaanathai Pola 437

Hearing his Lord, leader, Guardian and parent say the words " I too will be gone " felt like his heart had imploded inside his chest cavity. His lips tried to mouth several questions at the same time but only gasps and air came out. He had never felt the way that he was feeling right now and had never experienced such an emotion prior to this moment. Not even with Renuka and not even with Nikhil, his son.

This fear, this emotion that he was feeling was elementary and then his questions and doubts were answered by Azhagan as if Rudran had asked him verbally even though he had been silent and thousands of km separated both of them.

' Rudran, I am not God. We are not Gods and will never be. We are but agents, tools, means through which God, a higher power works its magic. Yes, we are strong. Very strong and skilled and even the weakest one of us is far superior to the strongest of human beings that ever was and will ever be.'

' Father, I am sorry but you are contradicting yourself. Raman is not one of us and he is but a human and yet you are being sent in to protect him.'

' Rudran, Raman is special and he is carrying certain genetic markers that my blind mother did and they pop up in human beings only once in several thousand years or never. It is supposedly a rare event and something which needs to be protected at all costs.'

The slight night breeze that ruffled the heads of the sand dunes died down and in the silence, Rudran heard the sound. Rattling sounds coming from where his right elbow was and ignored it. But the noises became louder in their intensity and irritating and Rudran turned towards the origin of the noise or rather the animal that was making the noise and snarled like a beast.

He snarled not as Rudran but as Bhairav who as always rose to protect his brother and snarled and then growled warnings to the large reptile that kept its eyes on him in the dark desert night.

' Don't kill it, Bhairav. It is just doing what it is meant to do. It belongs there and is rightfully there. You and Rudran do not. Many who live, deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. '

Rudran could not help smiling and whispered, ' Father, you are a cheat. Those words were spoken by Gandalf to Frodo Baggins while they are in the mines of Moria.'

Azhagan chuckled, ' Come on, Rudy. Good words, wise words are meant to be repeated and were meant to be quoted when necessary. That does not make me a cheat.'

Rudran smiled and whispered to the large Side-winder snake that belonged to the Rattlesnake family, ' Please leave if you want to live. There is only so much I can do to control him before he takes over completely. You will just be wasting your poison on me and in the process may even lose or break your fangs on me. Then, I will be forced to take action or rather Bhairav will act. So, go in peace, tiny one.'

The Side-winder Rattler that had curled on itself and that was all bunched and coiled up to deliver a lightning strike, saw him, felt him and slowly slithered sideways and vanished into the dark desert sands.

Rudran feeling a storm of emotions raging in him whispered to his father Azhagan, ' My Lord, none of us can do what you just did. See, feel, hear and too that on a phone call.'

Azhagan smiled, ' Child, the times I grew up in was totally different and much more dangerous than the times you are living in. All of you have the same powers that I have but sadly, you have neither the skill nor the need to use it and develop it.'

' Rudy ' He continued, ' The world has changed. Our lifestyles have changed and Humans have become less dependent on their senses such as smell, sight and hearing. Their brains have become larger but their senses have shrunk and that is why humans cannot survive where other animals can.'

He looked at his watch and said, ' Time is up, child, I have to go do what needs to be done.'

' Father, my lord, Can you wait for me to return? Heaven or hell. I will move it and I will be there by your side and we can handle this together. Side by side and as one.'

' No Rudy. This is something that I need to look into by myself. This is something personal and I am sure that I will learn more once I go in.'

' Alone. All alone, father.'

' Rudy, you just stated that I am strong and much stronger than you and Dhana put together and yet you fear for me.'

' Okay, Father. In that case, Happy hunting my lord, my King.'

' Rudy, there is something that is preying on my mind. A question, a darkness that needs an answer. Those men who you are tracking towards the ancient ruins are in search of something that was destroyed a long time ago. They are going there in vain.'

Azhagan hurriedly whispered what he wanted Rudran to do before killing all of them and then wished him luck.

The signboard pointed right turn and declared that it was 5 km to The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology. Azhagan knew that there would be CCTV cameras all along the route leading into the centre and so he looked into the mirror and shape-shifted.

He stared into the rear-view mirror and smiled as Dr Sathya and touching his chest, declared, ' Nice ti.s ma'am, if I may say so.'

He gently stopped at the large gate forThe Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology and the barricade was lifted and the security guard saluted, ' Good morning, ma'am.'

Azhagan smiled and wished him as Dr Sathya in her soft and childish voice and he thought, ' Thank God, Buddha is not here or he would have burst an artery laughing his guts out.'

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3NbPUTD5qA

Hi,

We are playing a game and need your help!

"Do me a favor, let's play Holi”.

You’ve been colored by Team Gabbar.

Post the following words in blue "I've been coloured by Team Gabbar" in this thread:

https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/indian-premier-league/5283622/atrangi-re-battle-of-the-best-r2-team-gabbar

Avan, Aval, Adhu 132

She glared at Partha who was busy rubbing his butt and cursing at the same time and asked him in a very slow and deliberate tone of voice, ' What did you mean when by saying no other man would do that and that too when kissed so passionately and by a good looking woman like that.'

Parthiban pointed towards Ravi in the distance, ' I meant him, you idiot. I meant that only Ravi has the self-control and the ability to stay calm even when a beautiful woman is kissing him ' ................... and then his voice died away as he finally realized what he had said and what his wife had understood.

' So, you mean to say that you will not have the control and will not remain calm if a woman, any other woman tries to kiss you.'

Parthiban stared at the ground and came up with the best answer in the circumstance, ' Sweetheart, I have had too much to drink. Even sane and sober and in normal conditions, I am known to put my own foot into my mouth and you yourself know that I am great at digging my own grave by saying the wrong things at the wrong time. You know me so well and yet after all these years, you still try to corner me like a rat with all these logical questions.'

Throwing his arms around her, he looked at her and said, ' Okay, my turn and I will answer your question with my own logic ' and seeing her frown deepen, he hurriedly asked her, ' Look at me. A man with artificial limbs and a middle-aged one at that too. Now, ask yourself if any woman would want to kiss me, this leg-less man.'

Her eyes instantly blazed with anger and tears, ' Of course, a woman would. You are good-looking and tall and you still have most of your hair and most importantly, you kiss very well and are great in bed. So, why wouldn't any woman desire you?'

Parthiban's face radiated like a full moon in full glow, ' Honestly, ducks.'

Then doubt crept into his eyes and he asked her in a husky whisper, ' But how would any woman know that I am a good kisser and that I am great in bed if they don't try doing both with me.'

The moment the words left his mouth was the moment her fist slammed into his stomach. But absorbing it, Partha smiled and hugged her tightly and she hugged him back.

' I was just kidding sweetheart. I love pulling your leg and more than that and anything else I love kissing you when you are in an angry mood' and saying that he kissed her and she melted with his kiss and kissed him back.

After a few moments, he looked at her, ' My body will age, I will go weaker and my senses will fade but what I feel for you will only get stronger and stronger day by day.'

Then whimpering in pain, he rubbed his back-side and she too joined him and tenderly and lovingly squeezed the place where she had planted her foot furiously.

They stood wondering what to do about Ravi and his friend Gayatri who seemed somehow to be lost in their own world and Partha whispered something and Daksha nodded and said, ' worth a try for I have no idea other than going up to them and telling them to come in from the cold.'

In the distance, Ravi was doing his best not to blush and at the same time translate the song that he had just sung for Gayatri when both turned hearing voices and sighing in relief he informed her, ' They are my friends, family and nearly everything to me.'

She looked up at him with yearning and reading it and understanding it, Ravi smiled lovingly and said assuringly, ' You too are that Gayatri.'

Ravi made the introductions. ' Guys, this is Gayatri ' and turning to her, ' Meet Parthiban and Daksha.'

Friends. Family and yet more than that were Partha and Daksha to Ravi and he was that and more to them both. From the moment, Ravi had said her name they had known that she was special to him. Their friend who had turned a blind eye to many women who had proposed with their eyes and who had politely brushed away marriage proposals from near and far had whispered a woman's name. Here was their friend whose celibate life would have shamed a Monk speaking about a woman and it was the way he spoke it that made them realize that there was hope for him yet.

It is always a bit of a strange affair when one's friends meet each other for the very first time. It is like that first meeting of two families before they become in-laws. It is akin to two rivers coming together at a junction before they become one and run on new shores together. It is a whole new ballgame.

Both of them took an instant liking to Gayatri and at the same seemed to understand why Ravi had warmed up to her in a manner so unlike him. Daksha stepped forward and hugged Gayatri to herself and said, ' Welcome home, Gayatri.'

One usually greets a friend, a guest or a visitor by saying, ' Welcome to our home' but Daksha had not said that and had said it differently and in that moment, that very instant Gayatri knew that she was home. A home away from home.

Smiling gratefully, she thanked Daksha and Parthiban, ' Thank you.'

Parthiban said, ' Gayatri, Ravi is everything to us and to this place. His friend means our friend.'

Daksha apologized to Gayatri, ' we are sorry for disturbing you but it couldn't wait ' and looked pointedly at Parthiban who looking appropriately flustered and all, acted and lied a good lie. ' Gayatri, the driver of the vehicle you drove up from Madurai has been waiting for you in the lobby.'

' Whatever for? I told him to leave ' and looking at her watch, ' Omg, that was more than an hour ago ' and looked at both Partha and Daksha and asked, ' He is still here.'

Parthiban smiled, ' He wanted to say a final goodbye after he had finished placing the luggage in the reception area and came out in search of you and seeing you both talking, decided that he would wait.'

Daksha jumped into the lie that they had created, ' Poor man, not a word from him. In fact, we were the ones who felt sorry for him decided to come and get you.'

Gayatri turned to Ravi and excused herself and hurried off towards the office cottage. They stood watching her disappear in the night mist and then Ravi excused himself saying that there was something that he needed to do.

Parthiban telling him to hurry up walked away with Daksha and Ravi turning to the distant west began his daily chat with a distant Madhu.

Originally posted by: radhu_raman

Hi,

We need your help!

Bura mano ya na mano Holi hai”. You’ve been colored by Team Basanti. Post the following words "I've been coloured by Team Basanti" in this thread: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/indian-premier-league/5283619/atrangi-re-battle-of-the-best-r2-team-basanti

Avan, Aval, Adhu 133

Ravi Kumar waited until he was alone and the only human being in the vicinity. He stared at the darkness where the sun had sunk behind the mountains and spoke to Madhu and spoke to his soul.

' My darling, I am here now and we are all alone now. Just the two of us and with our thoughts and emotions. I am sorry I am a bit late today and the reason for that is a friend. A lady friend.'

He turned and looked at the cottage in the distance and then looked up and locating their favourite brightest star " Sirius " said, ' Madhu, I am sure that you would have loved this new friend that I have made. Her name is Gayatri and she is from Mumbai.'

Smiling to himself, ' Imagine the coincidence. You are somewhere in Mumbai and I befriend a woman who also hails from Mumbai ' and shaking his head in wonder and pride, ' Madhu, she is one of the bravest, boldest and intelligent person that I have had the privilege to have met and the only person with whom I can compare this lady called Gayatri is with you.'

Chuckling, ' sorry, I know that there is nothing similar about the bold, brazen and out-spoken Gayatri with the soft, gentle and kind soul that you are. But, Madhu, I don't know why I feel so in my heart, in my soul that there is something about her that reminds me of you. You know me very well and so you know that I trust my soul and trust what it says and so, I trust it when it says that you and Gayatri are similar in some unknown way.'

The faint light from the 19th-century style lamp posts revealed a few dry twigs near his feet and he slowly pushed them away and they skipped, hopped and settled in a new place for the night.

' Madhu, I know that it has been more than 25 years since we last saw each other. I know that I have grown older and that my body has aged and that the halfway mark of my voyage is behind me. But, my soul and my love is getting stronger and stronger for you and has not faded a bit. Sometimes, I feel that my love for you is like a tiny candle flame that is struggling to stay alive in a raging storm. I feel buffeted from all sides and yet, like the tiny candle flame, my love for you burns strong.'

He stared hard at " Sirius " also called Alpha Canis Majoris or the Dog Star and smiled wryly, ' Madhu, I don't know what you will make of my words. But, please, don't misunderstand me or my intentions for that will be unbearable.'

Sighing tiredly, ' I don't know why Madhu, but my heart somehow tells me that I have to watch over this lady friend, Gayatri. It could be because she is from your city or because there is the slightest chance that both of you must have passed each other somewhere or touched each other as you passed one another and maybe it is that energy that you passed on to her that makes her more likeable to me and could be the reason why I don't feel any discomfort when she is around me.

Shaking his head, ' God knows what people must think of me when they catch sight of me talking to myself when in reality I am talking to you. Better they think that I am talking to myself for if they realize that I am talking to a memory that is 25 years old then I am sure, they will board me up in some madhouse and throw away the key.'

' Madhu, remember that evening in the mangrove when I taught you to read the stars and why our star is called " Svana " after the legendary dog of Yudhisthira, the eldest of the Pandavas. Like that dog, I have remained faithful to you and will continue to remain even after my breath has left my body. My spirit, my ghost will linger in all the spots that you stood, walked, danced and sang. Like Svana, even in the after-life I will remain devoted to you and to our memory of both of us.'

He lovingly blew a kiss to her memory, wishing her well and hoped and prayed that it would be borne by the winds and someday reach her and caress her and protect her.

Nearly, 1500 km away in Mumbai, Madhurima sat staring at the same Sirius star that Ravi was staring at and glanced down at her left foot and gently touched and stroked the tiny scar near her big toe. It was where Ravi's lips had first touched her when she had been stung by some poisonous plant whose name she still couldn't properly say. But, Ravi had quickly wiped her bleeding foot with his handkerchief and had placed his lips on the wound and had sucked out the poison. Then he quickly glanced around the mangrove and had stopped at a particular plant and plucking its leaves had made a paste out of it. Then he had slowly packed it around the wound and had used his kerchief to bandage it.

They had known each other for nearly two years now as classmates. But, each had known and felt it in their soul the very first moment their eyes had met that they had known each other for a long time. From somewhere else. From previous lives.

Madhu had sat quietly watching him as his lips touched the wound on her foot and had felt it in her young breasts as his soft but warm lips sent ripple after ripple of intense pleasure up her legs and into every part of her body. The hair on her arms stood up in response as did her tiny nipples and then they reached her insides and she felt for the first time what her Vag..a was capable of.

She had never experienced such intense pleasure in her life and she had moaned uncontrollably as she felt her inside going all wet and soft and ready for him. Ravi had mistaken her arousal for pain and had repeatedly apologised for causing it.

Madhu's eyes had filled with tears at what she had experienced and that is when she knew that she was his and he was hers and without realizing what she was saying, she had said, ' ami tumko balobashi amra hrdaya.'

He had looked up at her and just when she feared that things were going out of hand, he had smiled and said, ' This should do for now, Madhu. But, please, get Dr Tamilarasu to take a look at it and get a TT shot.'

Sighing sadly, she whispered to their star, ' Ravi, My love for you has been the same and hasn't changed a bit. But, my life, well that has gone through so many changes.'

Her eyes filled with tears and crying bitterly, ' You should have made love to me that day. I was ready and practically begging you to take me but the gentleman you were, you refused politely and said it could wait until we had been married.'

She cursed him softly, silently, ' you stupid fool. You beautiful, but stupid and conservative fool. See, where I am and see where you are. Far away and yet lonely and still pining for each other. Now, my time and my heart are filled with worries about the child my late husband has willed to me. If only I could convince her to take over the company then I will be free and I will fly to you as fast as possible. Wait for me, Ravi. A little while longer, please while I sort my life out here.'

Nearly, 1600 km from Mumbai, in the temple city of Madurai, Meenakshi, named after the Goddess and the wife of the three-eyed God, Somasundareeshwarar stared at her phone and cursed softly, expertly switching between Tamil and English.

She tapped her phone and opened the folder that was titled " My Heart " and stared at all the photos and then slowly tapped on her favourite photo.

In it, Ravi was standing knee deep in water wearing nothing but his boxers. She felt the heat stir like a volcano inside her and she cursed him.

' I came to you not once but several times. As a last ditch effort, I caught you when you were all alone in that mangrove and removing all my clothes, offered my naked body to you and practically begged you to make love to me but you rejected me.'

She cursed and spat her dark and dangerous thoughts, ' You are mine, darling. I chased one bitch away all those years ago and I will chase this bi..h away too. She has no inkling of who I am or what I am capable of ' and smiling an evil and terrible smile, she said, ' Ravi is mine. He belongs to me and to no one else. I wil kill all those who come between me and him and if I can't have him then I will kill him too.'

"I've been coloured by Team Basanti"

"I've been coloured by Team Gabbar"

Vaanathai Pola 438

" Raman, Raman, Child, wake up son. You have to wake up for there is so much to do. Ram, Wake up. It is time. It is your time now, son."

Deep inside his brain. Deep inside the folds of the brain and in the hidden abyss of his consciousness, Raman heard the voice and he woke up and flickered

back into awareness. He opened his eyes and sat up and looked around and panic gripped his mind and body. Fear screamed all over his consciousness but

he remained calm and unmoved and then placed a hand on his chest and found his heart beating steadily and slowly. Much slower than he had known, his heart to beat under normal circumstances.

He looked around and saw it was dark and yet far away on the distant mountain peaks, the sun was just about ready to rise again.

The voice whispered to him and he turned and saw a woman standing there with her hands held out in front of her, and Raman wondered who she calling out to.

her and then his eyes opened wide and took in everything. Her hands were reaching out but with her palms facing downwards as if she too was searching for something in the dark.

' She is not calling for me and she is not beckoning me for then her palms would be facing up as it should normally do ' Raman thought and he asked her, ' Lady, who are you and what are you searching for you? I heard a voice beseeching me to wake up. Was it your voice that woke me up?'

' Raman, child, you are right. I am searching for a way that will lead me to you.'

' But, lady, I am here. Right in front of you. Can't you see me?'

She smiled and nodded, ' Yes. I can't see you, my child.'

Only then, it struck Raman, that the poor woman might be blind and jumping to his feet he ran to her and taking her hands in his, assured her, ' I am here now, lady. I am here now and I will take you where ever you need to go ' and looking around, he wondered aloud both to himself and her.

' Please, give me a minute, lady for I don't know this place although I am fairly certain that it is some kind of forest and judging from the trees, an ancient one at that.'

Raman held her gently and kept looking around and then he heard her smile and turning to her, ' Lady, I don't know about you but I find this situation we are in rather strange and being in this forbidding looking forest is not helping either. But, I am glad that at least you are smiling and have something to smile about.'

Raman examined her face and then her body and saw that she was young and probably in her early 30s and smiled and thought, ' She is my age. Give or take a year or two.'

Raman noticed the anklets on her legs and saw that her body was covered with just a single piece of coarse cloth in a manner that was ancient and in a fashion that was still probably practised by tribals who lived deep inside the forest. One half of the cloth if I can be called a saree covered her lower body and the other barely covered her upper body and her breasts.

Quickly averting his eyes, he pondered what was happening and why it was happening in the middle of a forest and that too with a blind woman for company.

But, that was not all he was wondering about for his own body was throwing confusing signals and at the same feeding him information at such a fast rate that he was finding it difficult to absorb, process and make sense of it all.

Feeling someone's hand touching his left cheek he turned and saw it was the blind lady who was doing it and not knowing how to react or what to say, enquired,

' Lady, I am sorry to burden you with my rather vague and confusing situation. But you on the other hand are not feeling anything that I a man blessed with sight am feeling. Aren't you scared and worried that you are far away from your family and friends and that too stranded with a total stranger?'

The blind woman smiled, ' You a stranger. No. I know you child for you are like my son in so many ways and yet you are also different than him in so many ways.'

' Your son. But, lady, we have not met before this. I am very sure about that important fact although I am not sure about lots of other things. For example, what is this place?

' Perumalvaram. This forest is called Perumalvaram and that tiny but strong stream is called Sivatheertham.'

' Perumalvaram. You mean the ancient and sacred forest outside Madurai' Raman asked her and she nodded.

Raman shook his head, ' Wow! This forest seems to be getting around quite a lot these days.'

Turning to the blind woman, ' Just a few days ago, some of my close friends were here and one of them nearly died and was supposedly saved by a lion.'

The very moment he finished uttering those words, Raman heard a cough, a soft growl and saw a huge beast step out of the bushes in front of them and his first instinct was to push the blind woman behind him protectively and say, ' Lady, we are in big danger. I don't know what is going to happen next but I want you to run as fast as you can while I try and do my best to stop this beast from killing both of us. Get ready to move and move the moment I tell you.'

If the lion stepping out of the bushes was weird enough, the woman laughing like a little girl felt even weirder and then things got even stranger for Raman.

' Child, that lion poses no danger to us and in fact is a friend. His name is Buddha and he is here to welcome you to our world.'

Raman stared at the lion and then turned and stared at the blind lady and muttered, ' Buddha, where have I heard that name before?'

' On the plane. I am sure of it for I heard Azhagan address that fat dog as Buddha many times' and turned to her and gently holding her shoulders asked her, ' Ma'am, what's going on. Who are you and what are we doing here?'

The blind lady smiled, ' Preparing. You are being prepared for all that is coming towards you and the likes of us. You are being readied to face an evil that threatens this world with total extinction.'

Raman stared at her and slowly his mind began to connect all the signs and all the information that was being pumped into his brain.

' Who are you, Lady? '

' I am Avini. The blind mother of Azhagan.'

' what?' Raman gasped in shock and stepped back and asked again, ' Azhagan' and then it came to him. It all came to him.

He remembered the man on the plane who had transformed from his best friend Vijay into Suja and finally into his original self and with his eyes opened wide and filled with a million questions, ' Azhagan. Azhagan injected something into me. Some kind of greenish looking stuff before I began sinking away.'

Avini nodded, ' Is that all you remember, Raman?'

' No. I remember him telling me to address him as a brother or by his name, Azhagan' and looked at her funnily, ' I wonder why for how can I call a person who is 800 years old as my brother.'

Avini smiled, ' Because, in you flows the same blood, the same genes that flowed in his blind mother, Avini.'

Raman's face turned pale in shock and horror and he looked at her, ' how can that be, lady? You died 800 years ago. How can your blood flow in me and how is that possible when I already am here and have my own mother?'

Avini smiled, ' True. But, now you are being made all over again. You will be born all over again and anew and a bit different from what you were earlier.'

Raman quickly reached to his left upper arm, felt the place that was still faintly stinging from the injection that Azhagan had used and looked at Avini, ' That vial with the greenish fluid. Is that it?'

Avini smiled and then Raman's soul filled with sadness as he saw tears begin to flow from her closed eyes and he lovingly wiped them away and said, ' Lady, please. Don't cry. I am here and I will take care of you.'

Avini slowly lifted her head and opened her eyes and looked straight into his eyes and asked, ' Promise me, Raman. Promise that you will take care of everyone.'

Raman nodded gently, ' I promise, lady' and looking into her blind eyes, ' but who or what are we talking about here, Lady?'

Avini with her eyes wide open, said, ' everyone, my son. everyone. See for yourself and prepare for yourself for the time has come for you to rise.'

Raman stared into Avini's eyes and then a blinding flash of light filled his eyes, his mind and his soul and he became one with the light and one with the universe itself.

Yada Yada Hi Dharmasya

Glanir Bhavati Bharata

Abhyuthanam Adharmasya

Tadaatmaanam Srijaamyaham

Whenever There Is A Decline In Righteousness

And An Increase In Sinfulness,

O Arjun, At That Time I Manifest Myself On Earth.

Paritranaay Saadhunaam

Vinaashaay Ch Dushkritaam

Dharmasanstha Panaarthaay

Sambhavaami Yuge Yuge

To Protect The Righteous, To Annihilate The Wicked,

And To Reestablish The Principles Of Dharma

I Appear On This Earth, Age After Age.

Nainam Chindanti Shastrani

Nainam Dahati Paavakaah

Na Chainam Kledayantyaapo

Na Shoshayati Maarutaah

Weapons Cannot Shred The Soul,

Nor Can Fire Burn It.

Water Cannot Wet It,

Nor Can The Wind Dry It.

Sukhadukkhe Same Kritva

Laabhaalaabhau Jayaajayau

Tato Yuddhaaya Yujyasva

Naivam Paapamavaapasyasi

Fight For The Sake Of Duty, Treating Alike Happiness And Distress,

Loss And Gain, Victory And Defeat.

Fulfilling Your Responsibility In This Way, You Will Never Incur Sin.

The boy who went into the dark and came back with light

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X256Qxfnn5A